Wokkas IC-1 Iceman

[keloooe]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm......... That looks sweet there Woks!

[wokkaboy]

got about 5th coat of clear, the photos don't really show the gloss although it isn't as glossy as I'd like so couple more coats should be enough, then a nice polish

[stan]

looks ice cold...

[wokkaboy]

Hopefully the last clear coat and a few days curing will give it a polish

[gavinturner]

Looks awesome Wokka. How's the edge around the stars? Were you able to completely cover the boundary between additional paint coats in clear for that ultra-flat mirror finish?

cheers,
Gavin.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Gav,
I had a bit of a blowout on the weekend, applied a clear coat when the body was too hot (was 33 degrees ambient and probably hotter in the workshop) and the clear bubbled/cracked in parts. I was hoping this was going to be the last coat of clear. Sanded it down wet and dry for about 2 hours and there's still more sanding to get the cracked clear out. I'll have another crack at it soon, but my LP-1 kit arrived yesterday so I'll probably start that !
The clear was fairly smooth and was getting flat around the white stars.

[johnnychronic]

Hey Wokka, What kind of clear are you using? I use Polyurethane clears all the time and even 40 degrees wouldn't crack the surface but, too much clear would. For auto painting a thick coat of anything would not be ideal as it is too brittle and has no flex. For what I paint (and guitars wouldn't be vastly different) I never go above 3 coats of clear in one session and then, next day or two, sand smooth and give it 1 or 2 more coats (depending on how glass like the first coat is).

[wokkaboy]

Hey Johnny, thanks for your advice, I sprayed about 6 or 7 light coats of automotive acrylic clear (at least 24 hours between coats) but I gave the body light steel wool coats in between. In hindsight I should have wet and dry'd in between coats. I ran out of the automotive clear so put 2 coats of a cheaper poly spray can (can't remember the brand or details) and the 1st coat went on fine but the second coat cracked. Any ideas ?

[johnnychronic]

oooo.. I think that is most likely the failure right there. Some kind of reaction when mixing formulas; using two different companies paint system (one was acrylic and the other poly) has had BAD results more than enough times to warrant taking a chance on it. One system has rapidly shrunk the other causing it to split.

[Andyport]

Totally agree Johnny...using 2 differing paint types (acrylic then poly), 2 different drying rates = problems.