I do a lot of brushed finishes, and I have found that some colors smear easier than others. The greens and blues seem to be the worst for me. What I do is thin the clear at least 60% or more, and start by brushing right down the trim lines without going across them. I only brush back one time using a 2 stroke with the brush. I try not to go back over freshly dope areas. After the cleared trim lines are a bit dry, I go ahead and do the rest of the plane being carefull to not brush over two to three strokes. Another trick that works pretty well is when you still have your masking tape on and have just done the the trim colors, go over the trim with clear before taking the tape off. That way you will have a coat of clear over the trim already and will lessen the chance of it bleeding onto the base color. I think the most important thing is to use thin dope and do not use more than three brush strokes with the clear. Simple trim schemes also make it easier like on this Magician. There is a learning curve to brushing, but you can do finishes that will rival a sprayed job with practice. I hope this helps.

Hang in there Dan. Brushing dope is good therapy. One other thing that helps on wings is to apply the dope to the leading and trailing edges first, and then apply the rest going fore and aft across the wing. If you are using a color that wipes off when brushing, it will minimize that problem. I am sure there are a lot of things that I do without thinking, but you will pick them up as you go along. Happy brushing.

Dan,
One other inexpensive option is the Preval Sprayer unit from Home Depot (others carry it too). It is a power unit and paint jar (about 4 - 6 oz of paint) that works pretty darn good. The cost about $5 will last for at least one full size stunter and trim. I have used them for color dope, primer, clear dope with very good results. You can buy additional jars or power heads as needed.

The thing I like is you can thin the paint to get good flowout and also can add retarder if needed. Once done, you can toss the whole thing or clean the jar for future use. The power head can be cleaned by spraying thinner through it and drying with a paper towel.

Best,           DennisT