How do I paint weapons silver?

Posted in Custom Workstation

I've never customized a figure before. I recently bought a ninja turtle Michelangelo figure, and the weapons it comes with are brown. I want them to be silver, but the testors acrylic silver I got isn't even showing up. I know I could use spray paint, but I would much rather do it by hand, because I have nowhere to use spray paint, and I might need to do small detail.
Any ideas?
Thanks.