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danluland@dodo.com.au
06-01-2015, 10:02 AM
Hi all,

Has anyone tried painting a design onto a headstock? I'm wondering if I can use a stencil and maybe those enamel modelling paints to do a rose design on my current build.
I've never seen anyone do this so I'm sure there must be at least a dozen reasons why I shouldn't!

Dan

wokkaboy
06-01-2015, 10:23 AM
Hi Dan, I don't see any reason why this won't work. I'd suggest you cut a piece of scrap wood a similar shape to the headstock and have a practice run. Be sure that the clear coats you are planning are compatible with the enamel paints. Were you going to airbrush the paints on using the stencil ?

johnnychronic
06-01-2015, 03:53 PM
There are only two things you could have a problem with that I can think of 1) If you don't seal it the enamel paint "could" soak in and spread. 2)When using enamel under a polyurethane clear you will have long term problems IF you don't add some PU hardener to the enamel paint.

Scott J.
06-01-2015, 07:18 PM
... I'm sure there must be at least a dozen reasons why I shouldn't!

Hi Dan, there's always a myriad of reasons why we "shouldn't" do something but as long as you've got the want to do it, then you've got the one good reason that trumps all the other "shouldn'ts" ... (wow, I guess I'm getting pretty deep with that! :D)

As JohnnyC points out, its going to be a good idea to seal the timber first (either with a clear or a solid colour) and then paint on top of that (for all the reasons that JohnnyC pointed out) ... but it does leave you with a huge range of possibilities with choice of sealing coats, paints that you'll use for your design and then clear coatings to protect it ... just make sure that each of the mediums are compatible.

danluland@dodo.com.au
07-01-2015, 07:15 AM
thanks for the replies, I plan on using dingotone for the headstock face and then just painting onto the top coat once it's cured. Maybe a further top coat to finish? I guess worst case scenario is sanding back to bare and starting from scratch...
I was going to use a modelling brush, it doesn't have to be "factory" perfect, just look half-decent and not crumble off after a few months.