Ducklet's STF-1

[Ducklets]

Not looking so pretty atm.
Ok, the clear coats are a minefield. put a couple of coats down from the spraycan, then 3 coats (8 hours dry between) with brush of polyurethane... yes, it did end up quite streaky and uneven. started sanding it flat and hit a major problem... those 5 coats were not enough to submerge all the glitter. Ended up with two small patches (on the front) where the glitter is now silver instead of green, because I've sanded the tops off there. I stopped as soon as i realised. Decided to use the clear from the can, and hit problem #2. The can of clear seems to have two options. If i spray the recommended distance, all the clear seems to dry before it hits the surface. If I spray close enough to wet the surface, the top of the clearcoat puckers up into ridges. I tried sanding those ridges off (on the back), and they seem to tear off, leaving holes in that layer of clearcoat... If i sand those holes flat, I'll be back to taking the top off the glitter... I stopped instead, going to let the ridges dry more, sand as flat as possible, hit it with the brush, put 2 more layers down and try sanding again and see how good I can get it. I'm starting to consider taking the glitter off completely and starting over. At this stage, I'm continuing because it's a learning experience, better to figure out the mistakes now, so i don't have to start over more than once (if I decide I can't live with the finished product)

[Ducklets]

Ok, it seems the clearcoat from the spraycan has lifted the polyurethane, so the lifted areas have exposed the glitter. So, anything more enthusiastic than rubbing with my thumb damages the glitter finish. I've taken about quarter of the surface off with my thumb... that's the easy bits. Obviously, the correct thing to do now is to sand it back and start over. I can probably mask off the voids and just do the surface. At least I didn't use the spraycan on the headstock.

[pablopepper]

Unfortunately, your analysis seems correct. Starting over is probably the way to go.

Now, I'm gonna say, most likely, the spray and the brushed on poly are incompatible. Next time stick with one or the other, personally I would choose spray. Also, sanding through and removing colour is a very common problem with glitter finishes. That clear coat needs to be thick enough to bury the uneven surface of the glitter and survive a leveling. Err on the side of caution and build it up slowly with lots of coats.

Persistence is the key. You will get there in the end.

[Ducklets]

Spent the last couple of days removing paint from the body. back to scratch. (Mostly, going to re-mask the voids)