I picked up the kit in the middle of last year, for something to do during Melbourne's second lockdown, but never quite got to it. I'm on my way now, thanks to lots of information I've gleaned from this forum! So thought I would share.
So far, I've been octave shifting my guitars down, but soon I hope to have the real thing up and running. I've started on the neck.
1. Shaped the headstock. I was going for a F-type vibe, without being too similar. I hand drew the pattern on the paddle and cut it out with a jigsaw (using lots of relief cuts, as the maple is hard).
2. Levelled the frets. There was only one that needed any real attention.
3. Sanded the neck to 220 grit.
4. Finished the neck with 6 coats of tru-oil. First 3 coats applied with a clean rag, then a scuffed with 0000 steel wool, then three more coats with a clean rag. I think I got lucky using the steel wool, and didn't leave any metal bits in the finish, but next time I would probably use high grit sand wet/dry paper (thanks Trevor)
I think I'll leave the finish on the neck there, as I'm a big fan of a satin feel. I'm hoping that I'll end up close to my favourite neck so far: back in the day I had a 1999 Maton MS500, and I hand-polished the neck on that thing through lots of practice and gigging. I'm hoping that with a light tru-oil finish and some play wear, I'll get to the same place with the neck on this.
Now I'm on to the body, which I'm planning to sand and then grain fill before going for a solid colour.
After reading this thread I'm going with Rust Guard's all purpose primer, Montana MTN94 for colour, and then White Knight Crystal Clear. At this point, the colour is a three-way tie between Boreal Pink, Iguana Green, and Borneo Green. But the body is a nice piece of timber so, depending on how it looks after grain-filling, I may yet go with just tru-oil! Because I'm planning on solid colour, I'm experimenting with ebony timbermate to see if I might use that on a future transparent colour, so perhaps that will seal the deal...
However, I've since been warned (thanks again Trevor) that there is a rule not to mix timbermate with painted finish coats (because of swelling later), so if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated.
I've already had some really good advice on other threads (thanks Simon), and I really appreciate this helpful place!
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