Matt's WL-1 build

[mjg]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

So stupid question now - is that sort of fading from red to black going to be something I can do with spray cans? I don't have a proper airbrush setup, etc. Am I setting myself up for fail? (I was going to try it all out on scrap wood first... but if it's not achievable without proper spray gear I'd rather know sooner rather than later...)

[wazkelly]

Hi mate, late on the scene and that colour scheme reminds me of the most common native spider species in and around Canberra. Yep, the Red Back Spider.

Ambitious colour scheme ideas thrown up for comment and tend to like # 2 as it could be the easier one to do as it is more of a 'framed' burst effect that could be achieved with rattle spray cans where you lightly feather the black in from the solid edges.

Keen to see which way you go.

[mjg]

Ahh yeah, there are certainly lots of Red Backs in the garage watching as the sanding progresses.

Still thinking about the colour scheme. I figure there is still a bit of sanding to do before we have to make up our minds.

Sanding has started... am I evil enough to make my kid work on his own birthday present? Hell yes.



So far we've just done some 150 grit with the sander. I'll move on to the finer stuff by hand.

I've also shaped a bit out of the back. The basswood is very fluffy wood. I'm used to working with Australian hardwoods, so this is pretty novel stuff for me. It's also very soft - easy to accidentally ding, so I'll have to be more careful with the tools than usual.

[wazkelly]

Looking good and yes, Basswood is very soft and easy to ding.

[mjg]

Sanding down to 320 grit is done, and we've done the first coat of primer. I've ended up going with auto acrylic spray cans... it was too much effort to get all the proper spray equipment for this one guitar. So, Super cheap auto it is.

Haven't sprayed primer before - wasn't prepared for how textured and 'gritty' it is. Was a bit worried it was coming out of the can wrong at first!

Also had issues with the kid doing the spraying - his smaller hands were having trouble holding down the spray nozzle enough, so there was some splattering going on mid spray. Once we worked that out it was much cleaner from then on.

We'll be doing some more primer today, assuming that the fog rolls out, the temperature picks up, and the wind stays away. Spraying hanging from the clothes line, so we are at the mercy of Canberra weather.

Once the primer has some more coverage, back to the sanding (with 400 grit next).

[phrozin]

wow that is pretty dry for acrylic did you shake the can a good 2 min before you sprayed it, use supercheap primer filler has the light blue cap put 3 or 4 good coats on it, theirs nothing wrong using a spray can i use them when i'm feeling slack. also use 240 grit aluminium oxide sand paper its the white stuff 240 then 360/400

[mjg]

Yeah that's the stuff I used - Super cheap auto brand, primer filler, blue cap.

Shook it for about 5 minutes before spraying, also sat it in some warm water as the air temp was about 16 or 17 when spraying.

I think I was a bit paranoid about putting too much on so have probably not sprayed enough on each pass. Once the sanding is done I'll be able to see how it came out. Might just do another go at the primer if it's not got enough coverage.

[mjg]

Here's what has happened when I've wet sanded the primer with 400 grit - I can't seem to remove all the texture without just sanding through to the wood. It's smooth, but still has that obvious pattern of the primer until I hit the wood.

Anyone recommend a good video or something where I can learn how to do primer properly? This is my first time using paints on wood, I usually do oil or wax finish. So kinda no idea if this is being done correctly.

So far I've used about 3/4 of the 400g spray can of primer. How much of this stuff would I expect to use on a guitar? Maybe I'm just not putting it on wet enough, hence the texture?

Looking at the back of the guitar, which I've not started to sand yet, I can still see the colour of the wood through the very bumpy pattern that the primer is putting on. So it seems to be really clumping and building up, but not covering the wood.

Advice appreciated! I think I should just leave it alone for today anyway. I've got the Man Flu, which makes everything worse.

[mjg]

Also, do I need to worry about those spots that the primer has put on? I think that is where there was some splatter when spraying the primer. Is that going to show through on the solid colour coats? The colour coat is going to be black / dark red.

[Simon Barden]

It may be a bad batch of paint that missed their QA. From reading his build diaries I believe Phrozin puts about 6 coats of primer on before sanding back smooth, so I'd be tempted to buy two cans (if there's a batch number on the can, try and get another batch) and start from there, but don't buy

by mistake.

It needs to go on wet but though not too thick. It should look wet for at least a second or two, though it may then dry up pretty quickly. If it's going on all dry and powdery, then you're either too far away with the can, or else the paint/solvent mixture is wrong in the can. It should be fine spraying from 25-30cm away. Move your arm parallel to the guitar to keep the spraying distance constant, don't rotate the tin in your hand.