Fuselage progress

Started on the fuselage today, first project is to repaint the red stripe. The surface must not have been prepared properly or they used the wrong paint, because it was peeling in spots. 

I was hoping to just feather sand in spots, then repaint with Stits Aerothane, but that did not work out. As I sanded the paint kept peeling. I ended up using masking tape and duct tape to completely strip the red stripe. It took about 5 hours but came out really nice. The yellow and red paint  did not bond to the Randolph White dope and it peeled of easily with the tape. This shows the process.

It took a little time but I got 90 percent of the paint off this way. Then I went back and wet sanded the remaining areas with 280 and then 360 paper. Then I scrubbed the entire plane with Stits 310 cleaner. I guess they screwed up on the left side of the vertical fin because they actually got the paint to stick there! Here is the finished product.

The right side peeled clean.

Ended up with just a little Hazmat waste !

Tomorrow I will tape off the red for painting and if all goes well maybe shoot the red .