Masking for the final colour

Exciting progress in the paintshop!

Once the metallic black and gold stripes were complete and hardened, masking was applied ready for the last colour.

As mentioned last time, the registration letters are complicated … here masked ready for the red outline.

First view of the colour I had chosen.

Choosing the red was a long process, which has involved spotting suitable colours sported by various cars over the last few months …

… asking bemused drivers if they knew what the name of their car’s paint etc …

… and finally walking into a Mercedes-Benz showroom, not to buy a car, but to ask the paint code of the lovely deep red on that car outside!

Anyway, Mercedes-Benz Bright Patagonia Metallic Red, paint code 993.

Beautiful finish and looking very promising : )

The colour hue changes slightly depending on how the light falls on the paint surface.

Unmasking!

After drying the masking is carefully removed, piece by piece.

First view of the rudder …

… and elevators.

Actually the elevators and rudder are not yet finished, since we have asked for a “fade” on the checkers.

Fin.

The “Butterfly” Emerges

A fellow RV14 builder here in the UK likened the wheeling out of the paintshop to a butterfly emerging … a very good description.

I felt quite emotional seeing it in the sunshine for the first time!

A worthy moment for a team photo.

Safe in our hangar next door.