Spent the last couple of days putting the wing stripes on the right wing. The stripes were produced by Aerographics in Colorado. All three stripes came on one roll to provide the correct spacing however, it was just way too big for me to handle by myself. So, I made a template of the the pointy end and laid the whole thing on top of the wing and marked where the stripes crossed the trailing edge of the wing. This enabled me to cut them into individual stripes to make it much more manageable and still allow me to achieve the correct spacing. I started with the largest stripe and it was a handful. Half way into it I was really glad I had not attempted to do it all as one piece.
To those that have never done vinyl striping, there are three components to the piece. A clear plastic film, the vinyl tape, and a backing piece. You begin by peeling off the clear film which exposes the sticky side of the vinyl tape you are applying. The area where you intend to apply the tape is sprayed with a mixture of water/Dawn dish washing liquid. This gives you a bit of time to position the vinyl tape where you want it and then you squeegee out the excess water when you're happy with the position. It helps to also spray the vinyl tape directly before you apply it to the whetted area. Once you've squeegeed most of the water out and you're pleased with the placement, you then peel the backing off the vinyl tape leaving just the tape behind. Then you continue squeegeeing the water/bubbles out from under the vinyl tape. This takes some time and you won't get all the water out. It will eventually evaporate and will do so much quicker in hotter weather. You leave it to set up overnight and can then do the detail work of getting it pushed down around rivet heads, trimmed, etc.
Anyway, here are a few shots of the work in progress on the right wing.
