steps of painting

[hachikid]

I've pm'd a few people and I haven't gotten a response, so I figured I'd post a thread. you guys have seen what I plan to do with my future bass. I figured it'd be simple enough since it'd just consist of painting, masking, painting again, pulling off masking, clear coating. but, I know there are more steps than that. could someone help me with the steps involved and how you should go about painting a body from pulling it out of the package to just finishing up the final step? if there's a place I can read to help me understand, that would be very appreciated too. I may also use some high end spray paints since I don't have a full gun, and all. I have a big compressor in the garage, just don't have the gun available to me. is this going to be generally ok? or will it looks like SERIOUS scheisse?

 

[RU36]

What kind of wood is the body and neck?
What kind of paint job did you have in mind?

With out knowing that its hard to give any input

 

[hachikid]

the body wood is alder and the neck and fretboard wood is canary. the neck won't be painted, though, as it's fine without a finish.

 

[RU36]

Step one:
Use grain filler to fill the alder.
Sand flat with a sanding block and 320 grit and repeat till you have a flat surface.

Seal the wood with zinsner spray can shellac
Sand back with 320 grit and do a second coat.
This will give you a flat starting surface.

Spray 3 or 4 light coats of deft clear gloss lacquer in a can.

Spray your desired brand and tint of red nitro in a can.

Go to your local sign store and have them make you a big die cut sticker of the graphic and stick it on top of the red.

Spray gloss black nitro laucqer in a can from stew mac on top of the sticker and the red.
Just enough to make sure its black. Let it dry overnight and check it closely with a light to make sure there is no red showing through.

Peel off the sticker to reveal the red graphic.

Spray about 5 coats of deft clear gloss, let dry then sand back just a little with 320 and a sanding block.
this will get rid of the unevenness from the decal stage.

Then add a about a can or two of deft on top of that, just do a light goat every 30 minutes and let the whole thing cure for a few weeks.

Once its cured dry sand the whole thing with a block and 800 grit very light. then wet sand with 1200 grit, 1500 grit, then 2000 grit.

Use turtle wax or another similar polish and one of those foam buffing wheel drill attachments and buff it to a shine.

There are many ways to get the same result but his is just my method.
The real pros are =CB= and tonar
I actually read all their posts and ordered the finishing book from stew mac before I tried to finish my own and it helped alot!

Gives you something to do while you waiting for your body to show up

 

[Patrick]

you've put a lot of time, energy, and money into this project so you probably don't want to ruin it with "high end spray paint". go with rattle can lacquer. not spray paint.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[hachikid]

I've found out some information about this bass, so I'm gonna wrap it back up and let Warmoth finish it. details will be released as soon as the order is in the books.

 

[MedianMusic1]

wuss... :icon_scratch: (you have a garage!?!)