Undressing the Blanik

There were a lot of Blaniks at the Horizon Aerotow.  After the demise of my Nemere, I decided to be like everyone else and get one.  Of course, I didn't want to look the same as all the rest and advertise Red Bull.  A couple of the guys took off the decals and re-did their planes.  Everyone seems to stick with blue on silver.  One pilot told me he had a lot of trouble getting some of the adhesive off and that goo-gone, and similar solvents didn't work.  Sooooo... here's how I undressed her.

Peel off what you can without heat.  Leaves less adhesive.  If fresh, it's easier than if they've been on awhile.

There are a couple different types of decals.  The blue and white vinyl peels the easiest.   I ended up using heat on the screen printed ones. 

For the small bits, I used the removed decal and just tapped and pulled the adhesive off.  Very clean way to do it.

For the larger areas I used alcohol.  The 91% isopropyl worked, but I found the solvent type worked fastest.   Goo Off, Gone or whatever is in the paint thinner line did not work.  I did wipe everything down with the isopropyl afterward.  The alcohol doesn't dissolve the adhesive, but releases it from the surface.  Keep the towel wet and it goes fast.

  Now for the tough one..... the Yellow. 

This required heat and left most of the adhesive on the wing. 

Turns out it wasn't as bad as I thought.

  I kept the surface wet with solvent alcohol and the adhesive just pulled right off in sheets.

I was deciding whether to keep this :

Opted for a complete undressing.

The fuse and tail parts are all done the same way...

Ready for the hard part.... deciding how to re-dress it.