It took me a day , working on and off, then a couple of hours the following day to re-assemble. This included having two attempts on two parts of the case (the case is in three parts) and stripping off the abortive first attempts. If I had to do it again today I'm pretty sure i'd get it right first time.
Like any painting/coating process preparation is most important, you have to rub down the part to give a good surface for the paint. If it's plastic you need a special plastic primer. You then need a base coat, the colour of which varies according to the film you are using. In my case i had to use a silver base coat then 'candy red' lacquer. The paint was very quick drying so it didn't take very long to apply, ten minutes between coats and an hour before being ready to dip.
The actual hydro-dipping film as it comes off the roll isnt sticky at all, it only becomes sticky once you float it on the water and apply the activator spray. Once you hit it with activator is almost liquefies. At that point you 'dip' the component and the floating liquid film layer transfers to it. It's almost a magical process, the film easily forms around even complicated shapes. It's very hard to remove once applied. It even sticks strongly to your skin so use latex gloves.
Once it's rinsed and dried you put clear cote over the top to seal it and give it a glossy finish, though you could also use satin or mat clear cote if you prefer.