Danny,
I'd have thought life's too short for stripping paint off aircraft. Just rough it up a bit and slap on a new coat.
A pic of the VV during her time at the college has been posted over at adf.serials:
ADF Serials Message Board -> Veneance Ez999. My memory isn't fading, she really was silver.
I'll let this thread run it's course and pop on over to the Brevet thread from here on in.
Cheers SF