Are you ready to rock! This month I take you through my process for painting a 1980’s Fujigen Japan Strat. Guitars are a bit of an addiction with me, and the more mojo they have the better. So every once in a while I take that mojo a step further with paint! Making a one of a kind, utterly unique instrument.
And as a bonus here is another custom Ibanez RG 570 that I used colored resin to fill in body damage and gold leafed a phoenix. Before me this poor thing was burned, stepped on breaking the knob through the control cavity, AND had the lower horn chewed on by a dog. So I brought it back from the ashes.
Is that a tablet pen in the cover photo? so funny!!
Great artwork by the way! =)
Really nice work on the guitars, but I really cringed when you stated that you sprayed a coat of nitrocellulose laquer over 1-Shot enamel. I’ve used 1-Shot for more than 50 years and would not recommend spraying ANYTHING in a rattle can over it, especially lacquer. Thereason is that the spray can finishes (even enamel) dry much faster than the enamel, and when they dry they shrink “curdling” the paint below. I think you were very lucky to pull this off. You would have been quite depressed, I’m guessing , if you sprayed on the laquer, and the surface instantly started wrinkleing.
I would have recommended a coat of polyurethane, or automotive clear using a spray gun.
It is also a good practice to use automotive fast reducer in the 1-Shot if you intend to clesr coat it after. Use slow reducer in the clear coat.
Never use lacquer over enamel! It’s as big a mistake as painting an arrow pointing left on both sides of a double faced sign. Every sign painter does it ONCE.
Sorry about the big lecture. Just trying to save some newbies a lot of grief. Really love the posts keep up the great work.
Think he sprayed it over the acrylic and ink he used on the head, not the base…
Yup as J mentions (Thanks J!) the lacquer is only on the headstock which was painted with acrylic. The body has no lacquer on it, just the enamel. But I really appreciate your experienced contribution to the discussion! I actually was wondering how I might thin the enamel, and it sounds like automotive fast reducer may do the trick? Thanks again, Scott
You might want to try House Of Color alkyd enamel for pinstriping and lettering, as it has both a reducer and hardener. Most good airbrush jobs, as well as pinstriping on vehicles is buried under a nice coat of clear. Airbrush work is applied so thin that it wouldn’t take a great deal of abuse without it. House of color has a nice array of colors also.
Thanks again. Just put an order in with Alpha 6. Looks like nice stuff and especially excited that the bottles are easly resealable!