Replicating an aged poly finish

[dingobass]

It all depends on what type of finish you are wanting to use... Acrylics can easily be aged by adding a few drops of "dirty" yellow pigment to the paint.

If you want to use Dingotone, it is much the same process... Ask DB nicely and he can age up the top coat slightly

If you are after that beautiful crackle effect as well, (on acrylic finish) it is a simple matter of attacking the finish coat with a xacto knife, basically drawing the crackle onto to the surface.. Then rub the approprite coloured stain into the cracks, clean up the excess and then apply one or two more coats of your tinted clear.

BTW, it is most probably the white base coats that have yellowed.... White poly is renowned for going yellow over time when exposed to UV light..

[metalhead]

Thanks for your reply db! I thought you might be quite against this type of finish, but your knowledge and experience is much appreciated!

It all depends on what type of finish you are wanting to use... Acrylics can easily be aged by adding a few drops of "dirty" yellow pigment to the paint.

If you want to use Dingotone, it is much the same process... Ask DB nicely and he can age up the top coat slightly

If you are after that beautiful crackle effect as well, (on acrylic finish) it is a simple matter of attacking the finish coat with a xacto knife, basically drawing the crackle onto to the surface.. Then rub the approprite coloured stain into the cracks, clean up the excess and then apply one or two more coats of your tinted clear.

BTW, it is most probably the white base coats that have yellowed.... White poly is renowned for going yellow over time when exposed to UV light..

Interesting thoughts. Is the poly type finish something that I can do at home, then perhaps leave in the sun a lot to start it fading? I do have the ability/equipment to spray, I have sprayed a couple of cars. What type of paints are used on these guitars? How would acrylic paints compare in appearance and aging? Funnily enough, I would have read a dozen forum posts at least in the last few days while looking for info on this from people saying adamantly that "White poly does not yellow". Gotta love internet experts sometimes, thanks for your input and sharing your experience with this.

I like your thoughts on the crackle finish too, I'm not sure how it was done in the factory as it is quite different in appearance to most of the crackle effect paints, with the big slabs of colour and thin straight cracks. Not something I'm looking to do for this project, but I had considered a red and black crackle for the V I am building, but have been unable to find a product that gives me the effect I want except for in the UK, and they haven't replied to my emails asking about shipping.