Scratches in the primer showing under the paint coats! Help!

[Watchie]

I am using Duplicolor acrylic lacquer to paint the body of my guitar.  The primer is a BIN as recommended by Guitar Ranch.  I sanded that down with 320 until smooth and for good measure even did a wet sand using 600.  Disappointingly, I am still seeing scratches under the black gloss paint coat.  At this point I have not applied any clear coat, and post this for any guidance as to how to best proceed.  Should I sand it all back, and if so using what grit?  Will additional paint coats take care of the problem?  Clear coats?

BTW, when I did my headstock I sanded between the paint and clear using 600 wet and similarly CREATED scratches that showed up under the clear.  I sanded this all back and second time around did no sanding before applying the clear (paint was very smooth).  Second time came out much better.  Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for all input.

 

[Jusatele]

I am no expert, but I think that  a lot of the problem you are having is the black color, it shows everything in gloss.
I would do a good block sand and makes sure the surface prep is stellar and apply a few more coats of paint, however I do not know how deep the scratches are.

 

[-CB-]

first - it may be a major problem in respect to mixing the re-ranch primer and duplicolor lacquer - one being nitro based, the other acrylic based. 

That aside (and you should have used Duplicolor primer), consider the black as an additional primer coat.  Let it dry a week or more.  Sand it with 600 paper wet to get out any sub surface imperfections, and also remove any orange peel you have.  The key here is to LET IT DRY because you're dealing with lacquer, the varying thicknesses will effect the shrinkage rate and amount.

Let me 'splain......

Even after sanding and leveling, the imperfections will be deeper than the surrounding areas.  When you reapply more finish, the imperfections will swell more.  So now, drying time becomes critical - to allow sufficient gassing off of the solvents, and thus regulate the shrink-in.  Just let each coat dry for a week or more.  Dont go heavy on things until you get to the last clearcoat application.

 

[Watchie]

Got it and thanks.