Estes DARC-1, #7307 Build Part 20, Pre-Painting

I didn't want to get paint on the inside of the shroud so paper towels were pushed into the interior. A long strip of masking tape was placed around the inside edge, not shown here.

Here you can see the tape along the edge.

I only had primer sprayed around the back by the fins to be sure the fillets were smooth. The fillets took a little sanding.

The landing skid is ready for a white undercoat.

The dowel is masked to keep paint off the dowel and give me something to hold onto.

After a first coat of white, I needed a backing to get the sandpaper into a few tight areas.

A few wraps of tape went over the sharp side of a single edge razor blade. 400 grit was set over the taped blade to get into the tight corners.

After the white undercoat was sanded, another white coat followed.

The final gray color followed that. 

TIP: Note how the two skids (I was building two kits) are "hinge" taped. This allowed me to spray one side, then fold over exposing the other side for spray. Using this tape hinge, I can flip over to spray the other side without the piece touching the cardboard backing.