Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA
Stripping/repainting it will not improve the aerodynamics. Doing it is not woodworking.

But if having it look good is important to you, you've had good advice above.

By the way, all, or almost all, older planes and plane-like tools have paint splatters. I think there's a plane leprechaun who goes around with a paint brush at night, doing the work; the older the plane, the more times the leprechaun's been around. Mostly, for some reason, white paint, although my Stanley No. 78 was apparently hit by a paint leprechaun who's a fan of Barbie or My Little Pony, because the paint splatters are pink.