Hi,
Build newbie. Long time bass player.
The name's Dave, and located in Ballarat Vic.
I figured I should start a build diary even though the gear isn't here just yet. By the end I suspect I'll have forgotten why I started.

Why the TB-4? To be honest, I've actually always hated Thunderbirds. I also hated Fender Aerodynes until I played one. Now I own it. If the build turns out, maybe I'll take to the whole Thunderbird look. If it doesn't, I'll let the kids play it. Weird? Possibly, but it's a first build, so I'm not sure how attached I want to get to it.

What I've got on order - the TB-4 with shielding tape and bone nut. The only good machine heads I could get were the Grover golds. Everything else was out of stock. They'll probably never make it on the bass. I'm impatient to wait for PBG to get new stock, so they'll likely vanish at some point and be replaced with black ones. The rest of the hardware in the kit is chrome apparently. If I happen to like the bass after it's built, that'll all get upgraded anyway. I'm not however inclined to drop the cost of the kit on a decent bridge.. and likewise on pickups for a first build.

Colourwise:
Dingotone Karijini Red with Black stump around the edging. I don't want an intermediate colour to go the whole burst effect, but I'm hoping I can just get the red progressively darker as I layer it away from the centre, then some black around the outside.
The neck I plan on being red.. if I can darken it up a bit, I will, though I want the head stock light enough to see the decal.
No idea how possible any of this is yet until I try it on some timber off cuts.

I hate pick guards. None of my basses or guitars have them (bar an acoustic), so that'll never be attached.

Pre-prep:
I've cleaned up the workbench in the shed so I have adequate space of sanding with adequate light. Once that's done it'll likely be where I need to do the stain work.

My biggest concern is drying. The garage is pretty close to ambient temperature, which this time of year in Ballarat is lucky to make it past 14C during the day. I've seen a lot of complaints about the Dingotone finish taking a long time to cure.
I'm not terribly sure if I really should be making a rig in the house to let it dry under a central vent (house is usually 19-21C) and do this from once I stain it or if I should just do this once the final coat is on it.

Looking forward to getting the gear in so I can do the mock up and see what I'm working with, then get on with the prep. It's something I've always wanted to try despite my woeful DIY stills (electronics are fine.. working with timber.. not so much).