Heli Talk: Painting Plastic Canopies

I had always just bought canopies before. Now I am playing with painting the plain plastic white ones you can get. No, I am not doing air brushing (yet) but I thought this was a cheaper way to make the heli look good. Well, I have painted one and this is how I did it.

I went over it with 240 grit (or finer) sandpaper. Go over the whole thing until it looks like it was painted matte white.
Then clean the thing. I used a rag and some white-spirit. Just make sure you do not use soap. You want it very clean. What ever you might use to clean paint brushes is probably a good choice.
Getting some pliable paint is going to help (Plastikote, hobby spray paint, Krylon. just ideas). I think the sanding is more important than the paint, but good paint will help.
Spray on lightly. The first coat should not be shiny. Let that dry for at least an hour (depending on paint).
I would go with two coats of any color you use. I went with two coats of white.
Let that dry over night.
Mask it with newspaper and low tack masking tape.
Spray your next color, again two thin coats are better than one runny one.
It is probably a good idea to take your masking off while the paint is still wet, but not runny. The new paint in the masked area won't peel this way.
Repeat the steps the are necessary to get the style you want.