Masking woes

While Vallejo paints dry to the touch quickly, they need a full day or more to harden.    Save the masking until tomorrow, then top coat with clear

I agree with Ed. Though you can quicken the process with a paint dryer ( basically a dehydrator set to 105-108f for 40 minutes or so). You can speed up flash dry times with a hair dryer too.

Additionally I wouldn't be so much worried about pulling the edge of the chrome because the paint was too thin but perhaps the clear was too thick. I'm not saying that is the case on your model but that would be my concern. You can pull the tape usually as soon as the clear tacks up well or flash dries but the base colors have to be fully dry.

On a final note I moved from model paints to Molotow pen for chrome. For side chrome on cars I also usually mask, apply the pen and in ten minutes or so pull the tape. No issues yet. I don't mask for window trim and I don't clear the trim ( yes it's fragile, I live with that fact).

Acrylics dry from the outside in. As opposed to enamels which stay tacky longer.

Also, adding coats over paint does nothing to improve adhesion. It's all about the initial paint-to-plastic.

In fact, as maybe OMG suggests, if you clear coat over paint and adjoining tape, the clear may well form a bridge that brings some paint up along with the tape.

I generally wait a day for coats to dry, although I do like to take the tape off earlier.