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Thanks again Simon. Will give the sandpaper dragging a go, at least on the back to start with :)
You were right about the nitro being more expensive, it's just over twice the price as poly, and depending on brand, up to four times acrylic. Thanks for the offer or your nitro, but yeah, I think our respective post offices would have something to say about chucking them in the mail :)
Certainly for international travel, it's probably a no-go unless it's via container ship.
It's not unknown for a guitar to have a gloss body and a satin finish neck, but as you were going for an all-over satin finish to start with anyway, you should stick with your plan.
Time for an update - I finally got some time last weekend and have sprayed the first coats of acrylic. Thanks to phrozin, who I PMd with some questions, for his extra tips on how to do it - much appreciated mate.
So bit of a mixed bag. I erected my BCF-special outdoor dunny-cum-spray booth in my back yard, and hung the body up inside. By the time I'd done all the prep, it was a bit windy. I gave the body an ultra-light sand, basically just dragging some 600 grit over it without any pressure to remove the hair and then I blasted the body with some canned air and a large soft-bristled paintbrush to get rid of the dust. All looking good. Sprayed the three coats with a 5-minute wait between for flash off.
But after I'd finished, I realised there was some dust in the finish, especially on the back of the body (see photos). At first I thought it was the wind kicking up dust that got into the wet clear, but after thinking about it for a while it looks like the overspray mist that the booth was full of has sort of crystallised or dried into these snowflake-like things, and that's what is stuck to the body. After it was dry I took some photos but you can't really see them very well. I'm hoping that the sanding I'm about to do before the next coats will remove it. Anyone seen anything like that before?
Also wondering if I've done enough to start wet sanding? I used about half to 2/3 of a can (400g Septone from Super Cheap).
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Unfortunately it's hard to see those dust/flakes in the photos (none on the front that I can see, all on the back).
Apart from that, it doesn't look too bad. Obviously needs a lot more coats but if I can get rid of those flakes, it should be ok.
Oh yeah, one other thing, that wire is good enough to hang it from, but bloody difficult to control when spraying. Might have to screw a piece of wood to the neck pocket - what do you reckon? As it's a set neck there aren't any bolt holes, nor will there be in the finished product.
Cheers,
Pete
If it's very dry overspray, then they should just brush off after a wipe with a cloth.
cant really see them, how many coats do you think you done? it depends how heavy your coats are. In your spray booth did you have a extractor fan or something sucking out the spray mist. if you got a good 3 med coats give it a light sand to knock off the excess that's been built up id use 800-1200 on it you only want to take off the over spray. i screw a piece of wood in the neck pocket and hold it in my left hand and i do front side and back all together as a coat i spray horizontal in the 1st then vertical and 3rd back to horizontal so those 3 coats i do none stop then i let it flash off 30min with clear, then i repeat the same again but i start vertical and so on so that's 2 blocks of 3 coats if it looks a bit dry i will light sand with 800 then i do 1 more block of 3. There method in the madness you do the 3 coats in one as it gives enough paint that it wont dry off to quick and give the paint enough coats that will lay down smooth and gives you a shinny coat strait off the gun
With sca i use mainly the sca branded clear as it has a retarder that lets the clear time to lay down flat, down side takes a day or 2 extra to cure. i don't think you job looks to bad and now this why lacquer is so forgiving if you don't think you have enough coats give it another block of 3 this time slow you arm down a bit and DON'T do short bursts as that's the best way to bugger up a paint job as its just way to dry and the coat is not even you want to full stroke from 1 side to the other with out stopping. I myself i always want a smooth coat and a good shine off the gun. This is why i always say to use a block when sanding because it sand flatter and even and when you come to sanding it doesn't go though the paint, spray painter spend year developing a technique so don't worry if your having trouble laying a coat down
if you don't understand what i'm saying you know how get me best of luck Pete
mark
ps: on your guitar you will need 1-1/2 400g tins less than that you don't have enough coats that's a big guitar
Loving the colour.
Clear overspray is usually pretty easy to knock back.Just gently sand with a fine paper as Phrozin said.
For prep, I highly recommend grabbing some 'Tack Cloths'. They are about 50 cents each at the big green shed. Its like a muslin cloth with a sticky wax impregnated in it. After you've hung the guitar up to paint, you wipe it over all the surfaces and it picks up all the little stray bits of dust and hair. It makes a big difference.
Hey Phrozin,
Thanks for your informative reply once again. No extractor fan in my makeshift spraybooth unfortunately (see photos below). I did three coats, I would say medium, definitely not dust coats but not really thick either. I also did the first one horizontal, the second vertical, and the third horizontal again. The coverage that is there seems pretty even across the whole body.
Was planning to have another crack tomorrow (weather permitting), so will give it a light sand. It's been difficult getting 800 grit paper locally. At the green shed I managed to get some 600 and 1200 wet and dry, and at the local hobby place got some Tamiya sanding sheets (about 1/4 inch thick sponge with grit on one side) in 400, 600 and 1000. Not sure how to block sand on a curved surface but will give it a try. I guess the sides are flat, will try that first. Might have to do a Dan Erlewine and make my own small ones.
JB - Thanks! Took a bit of trial and error to get the colour I wanted, but happy with it.
Sonic - I did buy some back at the start, but found when I tried using it on the bare wood it just ripped the grain up (had lots of issues with grain raising on this build). But now that there is some clear on the body, the tack rag should work ok.
Thanks again for all the tips fellas.
Cheers,
Pete
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This dude is in your part of the world but postage is a killer so pickup if you can
https://www.thesandpaperman.com.au/