I was thinking of changing a finish on my "experimental" strat (zebracaster), I'll post the current picture tonight.

I was thinking to involve my kids to paint it. What paints are safe for kids and are still usable on bare wood. Of course this will be done in a bit controlled meaner otherwise it will turn into the mess .
Canadian winter is coming and this would be a cool art indoor project.

Design wise it would be whatever the "inspiration" takes. Since both kids are very young most likely it will look like psychedelic and that is ok with me it will definitely make the guitar unique. This guitar used to be squier CV 50's so no worries about the value.

Once the base paint is finished and dry, what is the suggestion to smooth out the paint overruns and protect (clear coat it)

There is plan to do paint the neck too. The neck is maple and is finished in poly shiny coat.

Thanks

Hi Daniel: away from the Forum this touches on the core of my day job, so I can give you an informed answer.

In short, no paints are safe around small children other than maybe the crumby kiddies' poster paint type stuff they use in kindergartens - and you don't want that on a guitar.

The problem is the issue of them getting it in their mouths: no matter what base a paint has (oil, acrylic - whatever) the pigments in it are often highly toxic. We all know about lead in paint in the old days and how that has been banned for a long time on children's toys - but actually very many other pigments are made from things such as metals, minerals and organic compounds you seriously would not want to get inside you, let alone inside your children.

Paints that are supposed to be safe for children are made from a very limitted range of pigments and even those I wouldn't really like to see eaten. And those "safe" pigments are frequently not colorfast, so are the last thing you want on a guitar. And the binders in them are probably pretty horrid too and will likely flake, crack and fall off over time. Clearcoating over the top won't help.

I don't at all want to be a killjoy, so two possible ways to go. Either use acrylic based paints and supervise your children very closely to make sure the paint doesn't go in their mouths. OR. First paint the body white, using an acrylic based car paint in an aerosol from an automotive supplies shop. Then let your children draw on the body using their colored marker pens, Sharpies, pencils - whatever.

Either way, you can then "fix" the results by clearcoating with either a can of clear automotive lacquer from the same car parts shop. Or use Plasti-Kote polyurethane lacquer, also in an aerosol. I'd go for the latter. But keep the kids away from those products.

A sensible question and hopefully a sensible answer.

Now. Please show us photos of what your children come up with. I bet it'll look great!

Cheers - C

Howdy!

A chap called Willie Vega has a couple of Warmoth Strats that have been decorated using all sorts of different stuff.



http://www.stratoblogster.com/2009/05/w ... stica.html

Been thinking of doing a similar thing myself for years! Just though they might inspire.

Enjoy!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

I am in no way advocating this suggestion, but a lot of the kids where I live use Spray Paint, although I don't think it's with adult supervision.

So here is the one to be repainted. This used to be a Squier CV 50s but it had an accident and it was refinished.