As you can see from the photos, I've applied the gold around the canopy as well as the red on the upper half of the fuselage.

After initially applying the gold, I realized that I didn't like the way it followed the curved bottom of the canopy. It certainly was different compared to both Naruke's and Helm's painted version. After scratching my brow (and maybe a curse or two), I decided to correct the line that the gold made. I think the photos illustrate what I'm talking about. What you don't see is that the red will cover over the curved gold portion so that the gold skirting the bottom of the copy will be as per the original.
Next was the red which went on real nice using 4 thin coats. The red as you see it used approx 15cc of paint. The Auto-Air stuff covers quickly after a few light coats.
Next step is to paint a thin (2mm) black pinstripe against the red.

Additional pointers ref Auto-Air:
-the stuff is easy to mask and I've had no lifting issues whatsoever using both Tamiya masking tape and the green painters masking tape. The Tamiya tape is low tack, flexible, expensive, and great for curves.
-I'm using my Monokote heat gun to flash the paint between coats which is the procedure recommended by Auto-Air. Of course I'm being careful not to overheat anything.

Speaking of heat, check out the link below to another thread. It pertains to Polycrylic finish and the resultant finish bubbling when exposed to the heat of the sun. I looked for such a thread after my father called me ref what recently happened to his own airplane after it was sitting in the sun on a real hot day. See the attached photo of his wing. Anyhow, I find the thread somewhat inconclusive as the real reason for the bubbling is difficult to determine. Having said that, I can't help wonder if this Aurora is doomed to the same fate. I used Sig dope and dope thinner to seal the balsa...3 coats as I recall. Comment??

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_5631297/printable.htm