Small update. I'm now in the waiting process, supposed to wait 2 months before I wet sand it.

There was some debate over whether or not I should put the #22 on the body (mainly from my wife). So I found a place that does custom neck plates. So I did that instead. It turned out pretty nice.

Wow!! nice neck plate!!!!!

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Well, got a few more weeks before I can sand it, but here's a mock up of what it should just about look like when it's done

Now that is a wife!!! Does she have any sisters?

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Stagemaster
Roadhouse Strat
Epi Traditional Pro Les Paul
Ovation Celeb
Esteban Celestial Night(nicely tweeked)
Blackheart tube amp

My daughter wanted a Hello Kitty for her 6th Birthday but couldn't find one used and didn't want to shell out for a new one so got her something else and told her to wait for Christmas. Still can't find a used Kitty but this post has me thinking of painting an old Squier pink . Anyone know if Fender sells those corny Kitty pickguards by themselves? Maybe loaded with some upgraded pups?

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Stagemaster
Roadhouse Strat
Epi Traditional Pro Les Paul
Ovation Celeb
Esteban Celestial Night(nicely tweeked)
Blackheart tube amp

Nice job. I was a bit skeptical when I first saw the plans but man, I have to say it turned out great. Again my friend, congratulations on a job well done!

Russ

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'08 Amer. Dlx. Strat, '98 Amer. Std. Strat, '10 Squire CV Tele Custom, '96 Seagull S+6 Cedar
Deluxe Reverb RI, Tweed Blues Jr., Champion 110, Champion 600, Mustang I, Line 6 Vetta

I am presently painting an old p-bass copy that I got for next to nothing. I am using as suggested by someone above car paint from a car parts shop. You can chosse your color and they mix it for you.

My experience is showing as discussed previously that you need to do a real good job to fill all bumps cracks, dings or uneven spots in the finish before you start painting. I did not quite do that and ended up using wood filler after the primer, which worked not so bad, but was a lot of work. I also ran out of the white primer I had first and used another one for auto paint which was grey. Then I sanded to get it even and started painting on that base. I then realized that I had sanded some of the grey primer into the white at some spots, having thought that it didnt mind since the paint was opaque. BIG MISTAKE. The grey makes the colour much darker, and you can see the some of the spots which were on white, which are much lighter. Anyways there were only small spots like this so it does not show too much.

So far I put some clear coats and it is starting to look quite nice (its kind of a metallic tangering/red color). However, I'm still not sure if I need to sand and polish the clear at this stage or what...

Dan

Here's what the tutorial I went off of says,

Before you begin with the all-important step of wetsanding the clear coats,
you’re going to have to do something even more important than that -
you’re going to have to let your body sit for 1-2 months without doing anything to it.

I know, I know - I realize that you’re anxious to get it done. But, here’s what you need to know: Paint takes time to settle and sink into the wood. Although it dries really quickly, it takes time for it to settle and harden properly. If you were to start with the wet-sanding right away, in a
matter of a few weeks, you would’ve noticed that the perfect
sanding and buffing job you had done is no longer perfect - that’s
because the paint was still settling.

In other words, your perfect job would no longer be perfect.
As much as I know it’s going to drive you crazy not being able to finish the body, try to remain strong and trust what I’m telling you. I’ve ruined several guitars simply because I was not willing to be patient and let the paint settle.

From what I’ve been told, Gibson lets their guitars sit for 6+ months
before sanding and buffing.

If you can remain strong and wait out the 2 months, your finish will be
that much better because of it.

PLEASE NOTE:
If your body has just a base coat and roughly 8 thin coats of
clear, you won’t have to let it sit for 2 months. Three weeks
should be fine.

I am not sure exactly how many coats I gave, but I am using areosol, and I emptied 1 can of white primer, 1 can of grey primer, 1 1/2 cans of the base metallic color, and almost the whole can of clear. Its car paint so I guess its poly ?

Now what I am wondering is whether I need to keep doing a few more coats of clear. As it stands the finish is getting pretty shiny, but not yet perfect. From far its nice but up close we can see some slight imperfections, slight orange peel look and spots which appear a bit duller. I am not sure about what to do next Should I do some more clear coats to get it as shiny as possible. Then, after waiting (2 months ?) do I wet sand with 1000 grit and then 1500 grit and then polish with a special compound ? I saw someone mention this but was not sure it was for poly.

I would appreciate if you could let me know what the procedure is next.

By the way your strat turned out fantastic congradulations.

Thanks for your advice.

Dan

You want enough clear coat down so you have enough of a base that you can wetsand it down even without getting to the paint. I used 4 cans because the stripes on mine weren't level so I tried to build it up some. If you only use color paint, you probably don't need a lot, but I would still do at least 2 cans.

Yeah wet sand it with some very fine sand paper, I would start higher and see if it's doing the job, then if it's not, I would go alittle more coarse. Then you want to use a rubbing compound that's safe for clear coats. You want to rub small areas at a time to get out the swirl marks from the wet sanding. The tutorial I'm going off of suggest 3M Perfect-it. I seen it at Autozone a few months ago, but wasn't needing it yet, but I checked a few stores in the last week and none of them have it, so I'm not sure if they stopped carrying it, but there's a few other brands out there.




You should post some pics.

I got a few pics at various stages. Basically looking at the last pictures I guess it does seem like I still need a few more coats of clear. How do you post pictures ?? Tried clicking on Img but it does nothing ?

Dan

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You need to have the pics hosted on a site, like photobucket, and then use the img button to post the link.

WOW! you did a really good job on that guitar.

Thanks. I'm not the best painter in the world, but I think it came out better than I expected.

I bought a another MIM Strat for $20 that has cracks in the paint. I sold it on Ebay, but the buyer hasn't paid yet. If he doesn't pay I might try painting it too, but my wife will probably want me to relist it.

That's funny Jason, my wife is also not too hot on my painting activities in the garage but still stinking up the house

Here goes nothing, some pics of my baby coming about...

I get the links but how do you get them to show up directly on the page ?

Dan