My Hardtail Strat

[Twelvebar]

Not sure if this belongs here, or in the 'Work In Progress' section:



So it's a warmoth hardtail strat body.

I wanted to finish this in Nitrocellulose products, but as i am in Canada I have no access to anything like reranch or anywhere with an array of premixed colours.
So i bought some Behlens Nitro, and some stuff to tint and colour my own paints. This includes the metallics.  All the paint here at least started as Behlen's 'Master' Pale Yellow Nitrocellulose lacquer.)

I sealed with a vinyl sealer.it then did a white primer coat (I got some white tint from the local paint store and mixed my own.)

(sorry i suck as a photographer)

Then since I have never done a metallic, much less a Candy color, I saw no reason not to try make this as hard as possible.  i did some test blocks with my red over silver, and red over gold.

I liked the gold better, but the silver gave me an idea.So i did some taping.

Next i took off some strategic pieces of tape, and shot some silver lacquer
2 coats

did a protective shot of clear, then retaped the next morning, and removed all the other bits of tape and shot some gold.

then i mixed some red lacquer and started the candy coats. i did 6 coats over 3 days.

this was about haflway through, i always forget to keep taking pictures.
at this stage it was a nice candy tangerine color, i almost decided to stop then.

After i got the red i wanted i let it dry enough to remove my tape, and I couldn't resist laying the hardware on it for a mock up. Since then i haven't had any good weather, I spray outside, so i still have to do the clear coats, but here's where it sits now.

I also still have to do the neck, maple with Pau Ferro fingerboard, in the first picture.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Looking good! Like your idea with the silver/gold.

Would you be so kind to tell how you mix the tint and nitro? At some point I would like to shoot candy red myself, and living in Denmark I do not have access to all the great American products either. So all info you could give will be highly appreciated.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

Looking good! Like your idea with the silver/gold.

Would you be so kind to tell how you mix the tint and nitro? At some point I would like to shoot candy red myself, and living in Denmark I do not have access to all the great American products either. So all info you could give will be highly appreciated.  :icon_thumright:

I'm curious why you wouldn't have access to the same kinds of things we have here, as far as painting supplies. Surely the Danes do some fine finishing? What about car repairs and furniture building/restoration?

It might be that you're looking in the wrong places. For instance, here, it's difficult to find some chemicals like xylene, acetone, naptha, toluene, methanol, etc. in bulk. But, if you go to a professional painter's supply store instead of a music/hobby/hardware store, they've got it all, and usually for substantially less money. Often those kinds of outlets don't deal with the general public, per se. They may have a will-call counter instead of a store, so you have to know what you want and call for it. Maybe if you look up a furniture or automotive restoration business, they can tell you where to get a lot of that stuff.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

One thing is that many American products are not allowed because of a stricter EU-legislation on some of that stuff.

And off course there are other products to choose from - but then the knowledge base regarding using it on wood or even guitars is non existent. Most DIY-folks here uses rattle-cans, which could be fine - but it doesn't do my OCD for doing the best job any good.  :icon_biggrin:

I got some places I'll look into regarding supplies. But until then I'll suck up any information I can get.  :icon_smile:

Actually I already got something I want to try out - but I can only do it outside. And it has been raining ever since basically - with record high humidity to follow. As soon as the weather gets better I'll build me an outside spray cabin ...

 

[Cagey]

I understand. But, most of the knowledge base about finishing is able to be commonly applied. The manufacturer only really matters in as much as you don't have to worry about some unexpected reaction due to additives one company might use vs. another. It's simply safer to dance with the one who brought you. But, even there, I'm not sure it's as critical as some believe.

Better not to tempt fate, though. Stripping finishes is a real pain in the shorts. There's a VIP body for sale here locally at a very attractive price with a quilted maple top that the guy's been trying to get rid of for months, but it's got a bad finish on it so whoever buys it has a long row to hoe in front of him.