Reranch or Colortone Cherry Red?

[raystankewitz]

Okay, I'm planning a Strat build with mahogany body and neck. I want to do a red as found on SG's, not the dark  red but a medium transparent red. Having Warmoth do the work is out, since the parts are coming from another source, done with the control layouts and back routes in a manner Warmoth said they couldn't do for me.

Looks like my two choices are Reranch Red or Colortone Red. The third option, mixing dye into clear lacquer is not on the table at the moment. All work will have to be rattle can base/clear. My cheep HF compressor is making copious amounts of water (running hot) and my Binks Mdl 115 touch up gun is being particularly fussy atm trying to shoot Marine Spar Varnish that's been thinned. Would need to replace both to do dye in clear.

I know I need a dark grain filler to accent the grain and sealer over the top of that. I'm just not familiar with either products' handling qualities so I was hoping someone had used one or the other for a project. I'm trying my best to avoid shooting the neck and body a solid color and call it a day.

Any suggestions? TIA.

Ray

 

[stratamania]

All I can suggest is comparing both on some similar scrap wood prior to committing to either on your body.

 

[JaySwear2]

If you want it professionally done Tonar is an awesome option! I've had work done by Tonar and it was phenomenal. Just perfect. MJT used to offer to do finishes on other manufacturers bodies, BUT they've since purchased USACG so I don't know if they'll still accept parts from other sources.

 

[rgand]

If you would like to mix your own dye & clear, you could get a couple of those Preval sprayers to do the job if your sprayer isn't working right. I've used them with Imron to touch up paint on an airplane before and they work really well.

 

[raystankewitz]

Well, the thought had crossed my mind to use those Preval sprayers. I have used them before to shoot Dupont Centari 5000 catalyzed paint and granted, they did do the job. I know you really need to have a few extra nozzles on hand and the cannisters seem to get cold pretty quick, hampering the spray pattern. I guess this could be option #3 for the job. The question with that direction would be which clear to use; Mohawk or Colortone? I know the Colortone colorant will mix with either base stock. Oh well, more to ponder.

I may try to get in touch with Tonar for another build coming up, a ES-Trini Lopez lookalike kit build that will need a buitt-tonne of attention for the binding, especially around those triangular "Diamond-Holes" instead of "F" holes. Not sure if I'm going heritage cherry red or a three tone burst for that one.

 

[Seamas]

I used the alcohol based dyes from Reranch after doing a mahogany grain fill.
I think reranch changed the color names, the medium brown and scarlet might be what I used.

I also did the nitro with the rattle can, warming the can up in hot water before use seemed to help.

The finish came out more or less in the SG range.