Welcome back to 'Sonic changes his mind again'

I had a good week away from this doing other stuff. Always worth stepping back.

So I've decided to persevere as I've come this far and it is still the 'prototype'. I spent a bit more time shaping and sanding then went ahead and gave it a hit with some mahogany stain.

As usual it's revealed a couple of areas I haven't sanded enough... So I will have to knock back and do it again, but I am really liking the overall result. If you flick back to the first page you can see it's pretty close to the concept image. So I'm pretty happy about that.

I am planning to slowly fill all the cracks and borer holes with poly and keep them as 'features' of the wood. I figure that should work not only to seal but to act as a bit of a bonding agent.

Once I get enough coats on it can sit and harden for a few months while I go back to getting the neck built.

It may still not work out, but at this stage I'm feeling good about it.