I dont think that would have been practical either. I have not seen any photos that support this either. I think there would be a distinct pattern in the streaks if they did this.
Also is you look closely at some of the photos of the cockpit areas, the streaks are thin wispy/wirey strokes....that appear to have been dragged across the linen.......until they ran out of dope and had to reload the brush. Its does look like they maintained top to bottom direction in the technique. Probably some standard they had for putting on the streaks.
It makes sense, the best way to mass produce something is to keep it easy.......3 coats of wet paints sounds like too much work.
just my 2 bits
