This might be as good as it gets. You're technique seems excellent.

I've fiddled with this quite a bit and my experience is that:

• The brand/weight of rice paper makes a huge difference- they're not all created equal. Some are thicker, some have an uneven texture-  it can be hard to tell which are which just from online descriptions. I bought a few brands (sorry- the labels aren't in English so I can't offer recommendations) and resigned myself to wasting a few bucks on some unsuitable paper. In hindsight I wish I had called a specialty supplier to see if they had recommendations based on the application.
• Maybe just a personal preference, but I found that adding a solid border was helpful in that it interrupted the transition from rice paper to no rice paper.

Interestingly, clarity seemed best to me at wetout. I think the visible weave of the fiberglass confused the eye a bit and distracted from the contrast. After filling the weave the difference in the wood covered and not covered by the rice paper seemed more noticable.

Here's a label I put on the kayak I made my daughter.

Good luck.

Patrick North

   Looks a tad milky, but fine. I think both look good. I may give this a try

The ones on my WD12 went on perfectly and the paper was completely invisible, but after 7 1/2 years of sun, fun and weather changes it has turned into something like the first picture. So it may not be worth worrying about over the long run. The boat still floats just as well as it ever did.

Have fun,

Laszlo

   Sort of a Good News/Bad News thing?

Good News: I'm doing it right

Bad News: I'm not going to get better results next time.

I guess in the grand scheme of things it's not so bad, in some lighting it's barely noticeable, and in complete darkness I can't see the difference at all.

Thanks

Dave 

   where are some sources for the rice paper?

   ddeaton, 

I purchased mine from Amazon.com, there were a few options, but without knowing much about the different types of rice paper my choice was was more of a guess.

Dave