Newbie attempting to build FB-1!

[sbkiwi]

Hey guys, this is my first build so I'm after as much advice, help, tips, feedback, and abuse as possible!

I've already had some good advice from Gavin Turner and Stan regarding the finish. I agonised over staining or painting my guitar and have decided on paint. On Gav's advice, this is what I'm going to use for the paint job:



I want to paint the body mainly black, with some really deep blue down the middle strip of the guitar.

I guess my first question is has anyone used the "Dupli-Color Autospray" before? It wasn't that cheap at about $13 for the 130g from Supercheap Auto but I'm unsure as to it's suitability. I've sprayed a couple of coats of primer down and one layer of it on a test piece and it seems ok so far. Ideally I want to go for a matte finish but have settled on the White Knight Acrylic clear coat in Satin. Unless anyone can give me some good tips for a matte finish?

I'm all ears!

[sbkiwi]

So I've managed to shape my headstock, maybe not as tidy as I would like and pretty standard but I wanted to keep it in the Firebird style:

So now I'm just doing sanding, sanding and more sanding

[Fretworn]

The headstock looks great.

[gavinturner]

Great job - the headstock looks awesome. Personally I would take the nut off and level up the nut ledge before painting the headstock (personal preference). For a solid colour, I think all your products look great. The primer is perfect, and the septone will work well with the acrylic clear. I have used the super cheap colour before and it was great (my son's BC-1) but I didn't use white knight acrylic on that. You might just want to do a quick compatibility test between the dupli-colour and the White knight, but I reckon they will be fine. Sounds like a great colour scheme you have planned and am waiting with interest to see it come together!

cheers,
Gav.

[sbkiwi]

Thanks for your help mate, as always your advice is appreciated. Not sure about taking the nut off, sounds like a bit of a mission!? I'll definitely check the White Knight with the dupli-color...that blue is very nice, exactly what I was after so hopefully they will work together.

[Nickosaurus]

That primer is godly. Gives such a level finish

[sbkiwi]

Nice to know Nickosaurus! Hopefully I'll get it right.

[stan]

I used the duplicolour on my green LP - it worked really well

[sbkiwi]

Sweet, I wasn't sure but they had a good range of colours so thought it was worth a shot. Fingers crossed anyway.

[stan]

spend the time on good prep, it is the key. when you finally go for top coats, you only need enough for good coverage, you dont want it too thick. 2 or 3 should do it. You can go thicker on the clear, as you will be cutting it back and polishing.
Always go with several thin coats and not a few thick ones or curing is a nightmare.

Enjoy mate, looks like you've got it covered