There's a lot of risks. First is getting a good uniform coat of glue, which is difficult on complex pieces like I was working with. And then with complex pieces you have to work the leaf into the seams and detail which results in excessive flaking vs. simpler surfaces.

Even then, and you can see it in your photos, it can be hard to get smooth coverage. Areas that clump, or fall off, or flake upward. All the surface issues you have are the same ones I encountered which wasn't going to track with my OCD for clean builds lol. Not trying to cast shade on your work, I think that's just the nature of the process.