I have an amerimist silver color for my airbrush machine, but i'm not using the airbrush and need the silver color, can i still use it in my icing as if it were a gel base to color my icing silver so i can pipe it?

I've tried this before in the past and it does not work. For one, it thins your icing way to much and you dont get a true silver color, it looks more like a pale gray. I have even tried using silver paste/gel in buttercream, and still have never gotten very good results. The paste/gel does not thin the icing, but you still dont get a good silver color. I have resorted to just painting the silver color on the piping with a small paint brush and putting several coats until I get a good silver color. You have to make sure your piping has had a chance to dry good before you touch it with a brush though or it will smear. Also make sure each coat dries good before you apply another on or you will pull off the previous coat.
I would be interested to know if any one else has a better idea though, because it sure would make things easier.
Hope this helps.