You really have to keep the weight down if you are going to use electric in an old DF. They turned out heavy if you did not watch when building them in the day. You have to remember that you will be adding a few Kg's in batteries when you are ready to fly. I used 12 cells in a Byron F16 and that was 1.5Kgs (3 pound) batteries. The lighter you can keep the model the better the flights will be. If you are worried about the cost of paint (BVM or other) you are going to run into problems with the electrics as they can't really be done on the cheep. As for crome or alloy finish check out some of the new paint types from the auto industry. You may have to see a coustom paint shop to see if they can mix the colour you need. My nephew is into airbrushing and he has a crome paint that he uses in that work, as I live on the other side of the lake to you, you will have to check out what is advailable over there.

Cheers