Woltz's TLA-1Q

[wcieslik]

So after my previous post where I removed the veneer I thought quite a bit about which way to go from there. In the end I decided that I'd have a go at a solid colour finish.

So more sanding to remove the lacquer and most of the colour from the rest of the body. Then grain filled and now ready to spray some primer.





All primed up.





Then I start block sanding the primer to make sure it's flat before the colour. Then many many swear words when I looked down the body towards the neck pocket.....



Somehow I had managed to concentrate on one area too much while sanding and unintentionally create like a mini arm cut. Pulled out the calipers and measured the difference to check it wasn't my imagination.

Now I'm thinking, what do I do now given I don't have that many tools. I contemplated things like thicknessing the body (assuming I could find somewhere that had a thicknesser) and then gluing on a cap. In the end I pulled out my hand planes first to have a go at getting it close to level and see how things went. After some careful work with the planes and then a little sanding it was looking very close to level again.

I then test fitted the control plate to check the clearance for my switch. As I suspected I no longer had enough clearance. So out with the dremel and increased the depth of the cavity slightly. Neck pocket at this stage I'm hoping won't need any modification.

Time for some primer again and then sanding.

All sanded and ready for colour.





And here's the colour (it is Ford Nitro Mica).





It's been a frustrating couple of weeks and even now, despite putting a lot of work into the body, I have a couple little blemishes on the front but I have decided to accept that. It's my first attempt and I'm doing the best I can with whilst learning along the way.

I'll let it dry and then scrape the bindings before the I spray the clear.

I may have to gently sand the body as well to remove a couple of droplets that have landed on the body. What grit do people usually use at this point?

I have use 800 to sand off drops and drips. I don't do the whole body, just the drip itself.
Cut a long thin strip of 800, maybe 6-8 cm long but only as wide as the drip, or a little less.

To sand the drip off, lay the strip over the drip, and hold it down and in place with a little finger pressure, and while maintaining that pressure, pull the strip through carefully. You should be able to sand 'just the drip' and not anything around it....

Best to practice a bit on some scrap first and get your pressure and 'steering' right.

I'm a bit late to the party, and was loving the blue !!
That new binding looks beautiful !