WOW! AMEN AND AMEN...FROM THE ALPA TO THE OOOOOOOOMEGGGGGAAAMEGA! U RULE BROTHA RANDEL DANDLE!THAT AWESOME FADE RED, TO ORANGE TO YALLER NO. 26 WITH THE GHOST SHADOW [/color] TO OFFSET THINGS...STUNNING COLORS...ACCENTED BY THE BLACK-WHITE CHECKS...GIVE ME DA GOOSEBUMPKINS!
THIS BEAUTY RULES MY MINDS EYEBALLS AND DEMENTED BRAIN CELLS!

Now that is one BEAUTIFUL paint job!!

Randy, that's one of the coolest paint schemes I've ever seen on a stunter. You've really outdone yourself here.


(I'm definitely going to have to steal it for one of my planes)

Thanks, guys. I really need to get better pens for inking. And I will never use decals again. They just didn't work out all that well. They are OK, more or less, but in the future, I'm going to stick with vinyl masks.

Steve,

The checks are just me being artsy-fartsy. Here's a pic I took tonight after I got the clear shot on (we actually had a break in the weather and it was warm enough to shoot) that shows the checkerboard a bit more. And a second pic just to show all the pieces parts.

Some parts are really cool, others, well, not the greatest. but the overall effect is kinda nice. I got some overspray on the wing that will have to be sanded out. Hopefully, it will be cured enough by tomorrow night that I can start sanding and buffing. Usually 24 hours does it. The surface was already cured to touch after about an hour.

The best part is, it's still light. I picked it up to carry it back into the shop and it still felt like a feather. Hopefully a good sign.

I hope to have the ready to fly pictures up in a few days.

Clint,

Same as the top. OK, so I'm boring.   

I got the thing all sanded out (more or less) and have begun buffing it up. Parts of it look really good.

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OK, so it's now it's all buffed up (or as good as it's going to get). It's always at this stage that you find yourself wishing you'd done this or that. Spent more time getting things flat or taken care of this flaw or that. But overall, it's OK. I went really thin on the base color and the top coat and so, buffed through in a couple of areas. Oh well, at least most of that is on the bottom.

I got the hinges glued into the main airframe. Tomorrow, I'll glue on the control surfaces and finish putting it together. I did a preliminary weight (weighed the main airframe and all the parts up separately) and it looks like it will be a bit heavier than I had hoped. Guess I still went a little too heavy on the paint. Probably be around 48oz. At near 600 square inches, I suppose that's OK. Not as light as I had hoped, but no porker either. With a PA .40UL up front, should be good to go. When I finish putting it together, I'll post some pictures.

Ty,

>>WHOA!!! Now that is a PAINT JOB!!  Nice, very, very nice. I'll bring mine up next week seeing as you have nothing left to do.<<

Next up is a finish on the PA plane that has been sitting in the rack for like 5 months awaiting a finish. THEN I'll have nothing left to do. But I'm sure I'll think of something... Like the landscaping my wife wants. Or the house paining or ....

James,

This my second Shoestring. When I built the first one, I made a mold for a carbon gear that duplicated the original as far as track and angle and with fairings. I just laid up another one when I built this. I still had the mold. I just sanded it, shot it with primer and painted it pretty much with the rest of the plane.

Randy,
its way nicer than the Ornamental oriental,,
I dig this airframe and the color  scheme really suits it well

Greg,

Look at the topic Shoestring-The full ride and see the completed plane. I should get some test flights tomorrow if the weather doesn't go in the toliet.