i should be able to get some pictures this afternoon or in the morning, so i thought i'd start a thread for my build.
won't quite be from start to finish, but, almost.
kit arrived all in order, nicely matched cap and neck fit snuggly, no big glue marks or scratches etc. at first i went for an all-natural finish, which was nice, but when i went to assemble it all it just didn't look quite special enough, so after some consideration i decided to dismantle the instrument, sand back all of the finish from the back and most from the front and start over.
this time around, i went for something a little different and used a few techniques i used at art school, probably not too kosher but to good result. on the front i hand rubbed yellow food dye, then rubbed back with a scouring pad (like from the dish sink...) and repeated a few times until the colour was as even as it was going to get.
then for the back, i mixed a tiny little bit of blue stain into some black, which i again clothed onto the back and sides until it was quite dark. at this point, i grabbed the same scouring pad i had used before, soaked it in some diluted yellow food colouring and scrubbed back some of the dark stain starting in the center. the blue and yellow combine to make a sort of dark green with a black burst.
after all the stains had gone on and dried, i decided i wanted the look of binding but without actualy binding the body, so with a fine file i went around the edges of the front face and beveled them to approx 45 degrees so expose a thin, angled, stainless strip around the entire face.
after all this, ive started to rub on gloss polyurethane which i will steel wool back and repeat until i am happy with the consistency. i'll then go back and apply a similar finish to the neck, only less gloss on the back of the neck than elsewhere on the project.
photos to come, stay tuned
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