Good observation, Gary.

Here's a less complicated example of this technique. This one is done using only straight lines thereby eliminating the need to apply the Mould Tool to the individual letters in order to make them follow the curves of the outer lines. I think this example shows what's going on a little more clearly.
  1. Create two lines separated by an appropriate distance
  2. Create an odd numbered step blend between the two lines
  3. Convert blend to shapes (Ctrl+Shift+S) and ungroup (Ctrl+U)
  4. Shift select odd numbered lines/shapes and group (Ctrl+G)
  5. Shift select the even numbered lines/shapes and group (Ctrl+G)
  6. Create your text and/or shapes and position them over the lines
  7. Select your text and convert to shapes (Ctrl+Shift+S)
  8. Shift select your text shapes and any other shapes (if you have any), excluding the two line groups, and group them together (Ctrl+G)
  9. With the shapes selected, shift select the even number lines group and perform an intersect shapes operation (Ctrl+3)
  10. Change the color(s) of the different groups any way that pleases you


TIP1: If you keep copies of the even and/or odd line groups you can perform other intersect shapes (Ctrl+3) or subtract shapes (Ctrl+2) operations using different overlay shapes for added effect(s).

TIP2: After creating the String Text/Shapes you can select that group and perform a break shapes operation (Arrange > Break Shapes). The group can then be ungrouped (Ctrl+U) and individual sections can be grouped and colored, deleted, or further manipulated. WARNING: This may take a long time depending on the number of shapes involved and may cause Xara Xtreme to generate errors and/or crash. SAVE YOUR WORK OFTEN AND MOST DEFINITELY BEFORE ANY BREAK SHAPES OPERATION INVOLVING A LARGE NUMBER OF SHAPES IS ATTEMPTED.

Both of these tips were used to create the image shown below.



This is just a quick rundown for anyone wanting to give this a go before I finish the tutorial.

Simple, like me,
Harry