Okay Randy Powell, Sparky, and several others with the expertise.  So here is the thing, I'm way behind (in my mind anyway) on my Junar for the Nats and am wondering how long it would take to go from bare wood to final clear with a traditional dope finish.  I've never tried to finish one in a time crunch like this.  I can use car clear for the final clear if necessary.  I am thinking of going with an iron on finish (the wing was built int Bob's lost foam jig).

James

I agree with Randy.  I'm not an "expert", but I have painted a few model airplanes! (and a couple were pretty nice LOL!!)  Two to three weeks is very "doable" and still get a very nice finish if you can work on it on a regular, daily, basis.  Gassing off of the dope is a time constraint.  Sanding is the other big one!  Letting the coats dry enough to sand before the next sequence is a slow process.  I want the "smell" gone before moving on, which is a pretty good indicator that the dope can be sanded without gumming up the sandpaper.  If you use automotive primer for filler instead of dope & talcum/zinc sterate, a day or two can easily be gained.  Back masking and such can speed up the color sequence by a day or so, too.  

Remember, you can start flying the model as soon as the final clear is "dry".  Rubbing out the clear dope final coats needs to be done a good bit later, anyway, as you already know.  I know that at the '96 NATS, the final "rubbing out" of my model was done there, but I had been flying the model for quite a while.

James,
with lacquer (dope) if you dry it to fast with heat, it will do just as Randy says, it will skin over, and then trap solvents. this will cause it to shrink out after you sand it, because sanding opens the pores and allows the solvents to escape. Best to build it up with reasonable coats, one in the morning, one in the evening. If you want to help dry it out, best bet is to wait about an hour after you spray it, then lightly scuff the surface open with something like 320, just enough to get a uniform scratch pattern on the surface. In fact, when I used to paint cars with lacquer, we used to break the surface about every hour to facilitate drying. moderate heat, say 80 to 85 degrees wont present problems as long as the heat is surrounding the airframe. If you expose one side to heat, and not the other, you are encouraging warps to occur. I personally never attack a model with a power sander of any sort. its way to hard to control and you will end up making the surface ripple. Better to sand with blocks, by hand. if you have done your woodwork well, its not as bad as it seems. Just work on one part till its done, then move on,, dont jump around or you will get confused and miss things. set a goal, say this evening, I will get the upper outboard wing sanded completely, stay at it till thats done, it will be a motivator that you are "completing" a task each time you work on it.when you get frustrated, STOP, walk away for awhile and then come back when you are fresh. It takes a LOT longer to fix screw ups than it does to simply walk away and come back later

You have plenty of time - no need to rush .

I pump out a few models a year - To Paint takes only a few days - week tops depending on how many colours.. 1 day to paint 1 day to dry 4 colours 4 days - 1 to clear - 1 to wait for clear to go off - thats 6 days.

Its the PREP - any car body place - and GOOD painter will tell you this. Its all in the prep ( mind you buffing out clear will hide SOME things just not all things )

I could if PUSHED - like randy get a model to paint from bare wood to clear in 6 - 7 days. - This would be mostly on prep and would pump the paint down to 2 days- paint in a booth - each colour drying time of 30 - 40 mins.

The key is PREP PREP PREP.  - One shortcut you can use - is skip sanding the dope , spend all your time sanding the top coat with dope / talc mixture.. - Ideally you dont want to skip any steps - but ive had good finishes just giving it a token sand. then focusing on the final stage.. Use an auto sandable primer also and wet sand that - you can shave off 3 days.

I concur also with Randy - Depends on your time schedule.. I'm trying to get my Nats model finshed also -
Get home from work 6ish - eat .. out in the garage by 8pm - Work till 1:30 - 2.  ( thats 5 hrs )
Do that 4 Nights a week have Tues nights off.. ( 20 Hrs a week )
On weekends - Treat it like a work day - Get out into the Shop by 8am - work till 7pm stopping for lunch and dinner  ( 11 hrs )
Repeat on Sunday ( Another 11 hrs )

Thats a total of 47 Hrs in a week..  Can get close to 100 hrs in just over 2 weeks of SOLID and i mean SOLID work.

I would also do this during a season to get the model up to a building stage - then slow down - I dont enjoy pushing myself EVERY week day - But I have an old saying " I can sleep when its finished.. "

Whatever my project..