Gavins Aqua Surfer ST-1

[Brendan]

Looking great - nice job!

[57strummers]

Headstock looks great... I am not into Strats normally but that looks very cool!!

[gavinturner]

hi guys,

Got the 6th colour coat on the body today. Looking pretty damn good. My neice should be pleased. No sure how many more coats to put on. Want a pretty uniform colour, but I would like to see a little wood underneath. One more and that'll probably be it.

cheers,
Gavin.

[stan]

looks fantastic Gav, she will love the colour for sure

[wokkaboy]

Looks great Gav, the darker colour than surfer girl suits the strat for sure. Love the headstock and decal. One more coat should do it fine. Do you hang the body in the shower for curing ? good work indeed !!

Nice green, almost hear the surf crashing.

[gavinturner]

thanks guys.
@Wokka: yeah the shower is the only place out of the way that's clean . No chance of the kids bumping it there. BTW, I can't wait to see that LP-1 in Aramathine and Black Flames!!! Wicked.

cheers,
Gavin.

[wokkaboy]

Good work Gav u must take all measures necessary to keep the axe safe.
Yes looking forward to the LP-1 kit arriving and starting the black stripe/ama combo, should turn out well, those kits are great value for the finish you can get on them

[gavinturner]

Hi guys,

I finally finished the Wudtone clear coats (high gloss no aging) a week ago and have been waiting (im)patiently for the finish to cure. Ok, so I waited a week. A month would have been better, but hey, who can wait that long?? :P Anyway after 6 coats of clear the body was looking pretty good. There were a few subtle streaks in the clear finish (I probably put it on too thick) but in general it set strong, hard and flat. The finish wasn't a 'mirror' finish by any stretch but it was, um, shiny. Obviously more work was required to buff it out. Not a problem! With my trusty Stewmac ColorTone Polishing Compounds to hand, I set to work.

I successively applied the Medium, Fine and Swirl Remover compounds to the body using good old elbow-grease and a piece of old t-shirt. My shoulders were aching by the end, but the result was worth it. The finish is quite a deal shinier now and I'm pretty happy with it!



The next step (Wudtone purists please look away at this point) is to add a coating of poly over the top of the finish. To be honest, I'm pretty happy with the finish as it is (Wudtone comes up trumps!), but a few coats of poly will protect the finish a lot better during it's hard life to come. As I found with Eben's flaming monster, you can't have enough protection on a kid's guitar. I mean it's hard to get a guitar through the doorway when it's on the strap and you've got a peanut butter sandwich in one hand and a laptop in the other. It's basic physics.



cheers,
Gavin.

[wokkaboy]

looks great Gav, looks like its glossy enough with the poly over the extra gloss wudtone. DB may send you to the naughty corner for doing that, but hey it looks good.
So you should have this bolted together for November GOTM ?