ST-1 Build

[Ausar]

Great thanks, weather looks to be good for painting tomorrow!

[Ausar]

Agh it's been a while since I posted anything on this build, life just gets in the way of fun but I have another paint question. After final coat with the rattle can do I need to put some sort of clear coat sealer on it?

[wazkelly]

Definitely need some clear coats to seal the solid colour and protect it from chipping or scratching.

[Simon Barden]

Probably 4-5 clear coats, then let dry really hard (2-3 weeks in warm, dry conditions) before wet-sanding back to flat, going up through the grit grades and then the final polishing.

[Chuck]

I think we all have our own painting recipes and there's no single right way, but I have done up to 10-12 clear coats as I spray them quite thinly, almost a "misting". For me that's helped reduce the curing time a little as each coat dries much quicker. I do a coat each morning and evening for 5+ days, then leave for a couple of weeks to cure.

When I first started I read every thread I could find here on painting technique - there are some great techniques and tips to be found in the collective brains trust here from folks way more experienced than me!

[Ausar]

Just a quick update on my build here is the finished neck which I'm pretty happy with for a first timer.



And i couldnt resist a quick build to see how she played.

[andrewdosborne]

Looking good and a reverse headstock love it!

Sent from Android Nougat

[FrankenWashie]

Mmmm, that's puuurty! Nice and clean, what scratch plate are you running with?

[phrozin]

Agh it's been a while since I posted anything on this build, life just gets in the way of fun but I have another paint question. After final coat with the rattle can do I need to put some sort of clear coat sealer on it?

hi mate I am going to say if your going for a strait colour like white, red, black ext, don’t use a clear the best results is to mix about 10% clear in to the colour which give a nice vibrant look, clear over strait colours makes it look pasty and dulls the colour a bit unless you put some colour in to the clear, if your using a metallic or pearl you will need a clear but strait white using a can just get 2 400mm cans of white ( super cheap auto white acrylic $12 a can ) and do as many coats as that will give you, not using a clear it will harden quicker as well I see a lot of posts on here about paint and don’t quite understand how to correctly use it. If your going for a stain look then everything is different again lol

The secret to a mirror shine is get the body as flat as you can there are a few short coming with using acrylic on wood it needs to be put over a body that has been grain filled with in a inch of its life. the best way to do that is go to a hobby shop and buy there epoxy wood modelling kit comes in two bottles $20 and grain fill it with that or a couple of bottles of the ca modelling glue a medium (super glue) don’t use timber mate as acrylic will shrink back like a bitch again and again as will just keep falling back in to the grain, when its all painted wet and dry it with 1200 and then polish it you don’t need to sand any higher grade as most compounds handle 1200 with out a problem

As for the neck just use a clear over the maple about 3 or 4 coats doesn’t need to be grain filled if you like a fender like feel sand it back with 2000 wet and dry and leave it as it is, if you like a shiny look polish it after the 2000

[Ausar]

Scratch plate is white as are all pickups and knobs. The paint looks white in the photos but it's actually gloss antique white which I think looks great with the stark white electrics. Neck has been tru oiled with dingo wax on the fret board.