A method is provided for making a composite laminate aircraft skin for a fuselage in multiple composite panels. A resin-impregnated composite tape is placed on a lay-up surface of a mandrel tool to form the composite laminate aircraft skin as a barrel that is substantially the shape of a fuselage section. The barrel is cut into a plurality of panels on the mandrel tool, and at least one panel of the plurality of panels is transferred, individually and independently of all other of the plurality of panels, from the lay-up surface of the mandrel tool to a first cure tool of a plurality of cure tools having an aero surface tooled to an outer mold line. The at least one of the panels is cured on the first cure tool to form a cured composite panel. The first cure tool defines and controls the outer mold line of the at least one panel. The cured composite panel is removed from the first cure tool.