The Deluxester Prototype - Sonic's foray into repeatable scratch builds

[Woltz]

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.

I like the look of it. As long as you can stabilise those cracks they are a unique feature.

Also I know the feeling of changing your mind all the time. My pitbull TL kit has been sanded and is going to be resprayed because there were a couple bits in the red finish (e.g. chips) I wasn't happy with and in the process I changed my mind on colour and now it's getting a colour change again haha.

[Sonic Mountain]

I like the look of it. As long as you can stabilise those cracks they are a unique feature.

Also I know the feeling of changing your mind all the time. My pitbull TL kit has been sanded and is going to be resprayed because there were a couple bits in the red finish (e.g. chips) I wasn't happy with and in the process I changed my mind on colour and now it's getting a colour change again haha.

Yep. I get frustrated and want to chuck it in the bin...then come back later and see how I can work with it. There isn't much you can't salvage if you think about it- might not be what you originally intended, but sometimes its even better.

I think the cracks are stable. I took it to Armidale and back and they didn't change, and it was significantly colder and drier there. I think these are just par for the course for the timber. It'd normally be a fence post or firewood. I'm going to go and talk to my guy next weekend, take this and some others around and show him what I need and see how that goes. He had a heap of other stuff there, I'm sure I can find some nice pieces a bit more suited.