Painting Neon

[rubber314chicken]

Looking to get a neon green finish on my guitar.  Looking at using this paint here: http://www.rustoleum.com/en/product-catalog/consumer-brands/specialty/fluorescent-spray

According to the TDS on the website, it is a Modified Acrylic Lacquer.  I want to use minwax gloss polyurethane in rattle cans to put the clear coat on (I like the durability of a Poly finish).  Obviously I'll test the finish before I apply it, but does anyone know of any compatibility issues with these two finishes?  Has anyone used that paint before?

 

[bagman67]

Generally, you can put lacquer on top of polyurethane, but not the other way around.  Covering lacquer with an incompatible finish brings the hazard of the lacquer being less-than-fully-cured before you topcoat it - which could cause your topcoat to fail if the lacquer continues to outgas.  I'd use an acrylic lacquer clear topcoat.

 

[Cagey]

Lacquer and polyurethane are incompatible finishes for a lot of reasons, some of which Bagman mentioned. Don't do it. You'll be sorry.

You wouldn't gain anything by putting poly on lacquer anyway. A chain's only as strong as it's weakest link.  Besides, finish sanding, buffing and polishing lacquer is a lot easier. Shoot 8-10 coats of clear lacquer over your finish coat and you're good to go. Properly done, you can make it look like wet glass.

 

[Ace Flibble]

You can get neon in polyurethane and polyester sprays elsewhere, just hunt around. Just be aware that these colours begin to fade very, very quickly. They're not designed to be permanent. It doesn't matter what top coat you put on, any neon spray you get in an aerosol can is going to fade.

You can get more permanent neon shades mixed for proper spray equipment, but if you're doing it with cans then brace yourself for a much weaker colour.