Alright, as you can see I've finally laid down 2 coats of the sedona red on a panel. This one's ready for the clearcoat. Another panel is propped up in my living room drying its second stain coat. Let me tell you now. Laying stain on the lattices is a bastard. I put at least 3 or 4 coats on those damn things just to get the color to match the color on the redwood frame. I don't foresee using poplar wood in the future unless it is absolutely necessary. Also, I've renewed my hate for oil based stain. It just takes too long to dry and you don't get nearly the vivid color you get from water based. Even the brush cleaning is easier. And even though I'd need to sand one more time to flatten the grain, it's still less frustrating than waiting for the damn stain to dry. At least it gives me something to do. But anyway, the color is very decent and the above picture gives no justice to that. I just hope that the water based clear coat I put on later doesn't react with the oil based stain. I'm thinking that I may have to go water based spar urethane. Oh, and as far as the finish selection, it's most likely going to be satin even though I enjoy shiny things.