First Kit Guitar Finishing Idea

[teknohippy]

I've decided my first guitar project will probably be a SAGA HT-10 kit, helping me to learn about setup and finishing really.

I've been wondering how to finish it. I've thought about trans finishes to bring out the flame and all that but that didn't really excite me and I wanted something different from the norm. So I've come up with this:

Spraying a nice base coat of the yellow and then masking off for the black stripe would be fairly easy I guess, but how would you go about doing the blood spatters? Ideally I guess you'd want to do the black last if guitar finishing it anything like overprinting in the world of printingpresses.

Perhaps a stencil and spray? Any other ideas?

[mynamesucks]

you could try flicking paint or thining down some paint and blowing it into the shape of the wanted splatter using a straw or use an airbrush.

hope the ideas help.

[The Hurt]

If you take a strip of rag say 1x6 soak it with paint or stain and slap it on the wood you will get a nice splatter. If the splat is too wide or long use a thinner or longer strip of rag. Of course practice on a scrap, obviously the more paint/stain the bigger the splatter. It will work though.

[a bicycle made of anarchy]

wow, that's a very very cool idea for a finish

[teknohippy]

Aye I thought so too After I've solved the blood spatter problem though there's the Hatori Hanzo lion mark inlay to solve

Any process of trying to actually splat the paint on runs the risk of it being uncontrolably crap

I could laser print onto something I'd be able mask it off with I guess. That would require quite careful cutting out with a knife, and I'm not sure how it would lay over the carved top?

Anyone know of any masking material that would be suitable?

Perhaps I might be able to find someone who can laser cut a stencil from a cad file I provide?

I

[teknohippy]

Then again I could just cut my stomach open over it with a sharp knife

*grins*

[american_jesus]

looks pretty cool, but i suggest for the black, you spray that area down first, just wider than the line you want, then tape it off and do the gold.

for the blood, you could just take some red paint, cup your hand, and toss it on, it wont come out like that exactly, but it'll be a nice splatter effect.

[teknohippy]

Is it not better to apply the darker colour on top?

[american_jesus]

it'd be easier(in my oh so humble opinion) to do the dark first, because it's a much smaller area to tape off, and easier to get a straight line. i assume you're going to want the lines perfectly straight, you're going to need a level, ruler etc, and dont wanna scratch the yellow now do you?

[Maiden69]

Do the yellow or gold first. Never do a dark color first. Gold, Yellow and most metallic paints are very transparent. They need a base to show trhru their true color, I do mine as white base primes, then the color, in my case the LP was gold, then I mask and do the dark colors. In the LP, as you can see the cranberry color I had to do many coats since the dark color kept showing thru, next time I would do a pass of the white base before going over a dark color.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v195/Maiden69/DSC01043.jpg

And when doing the black, dust the passes until you came up with the solid color, that way it won't bleed under the masking tape and the lines between the colors will be much easier to cover with te clear. IMO I think that the yellow with the black will be nicer than with the blood splatter.

[68 lost souls]

How about doing the splatter the same way that custom headstock details are done? Printing on the transperent film and then cut it out stick it on, thenclear coat over it

[daveq]

I'll second that comment on doing the black last (or at least after the yellow). I tried doing that on my tiger guitar and it showed through - I had to sand it all off and start with the white and yellow first.

[teknohippy]

How about doing the splatter the same way that custom headstock details are done? Printing on the transperent film and then cut it out stick it on, thenclear coat over it

A possibility, I'll have to investigate decals I can color laser print onto. Though a decal of the waterslide type will be a nightmare to apply that size, have to be very careful.

It's probably the best way to get a nice clean edge to the red I guess.

[Drak]

For real hippies, there's only one real way to do that splatter, and that's a tennis ball dipped in paint thrown from ohhh, 50 ft. or so.

Or, for REAL hippy trippy, paint your girlfriends' nude body in different colored paint, then roll her body over the guitar body.

Then embrace the moment.

Now THAT'S doin' it '60's hippy.

[Ford]

Hey teknohippy,

You said you were going for a black stripe on that guitar, but I noticed in the picture that the stripe on the treble side of the body showed wood grain. You should think about leaving it that way, I think it look way cool that way, IMHO of course. But do what looks best to you.

I think printing a decal for the blood splatter is probably your best bet. Slopping paint on the wood would be too random I think, and you'd have no real way to controll how much of the yellow coat showed through. You could use a printed template, but cutting it would be a major pain, and you'd loose a lot of the rich splattering detale that makes the blood look so cool. I'd go for the decal method personally.

Then again, I may not know what I'm talking about...

[Southpa]

Looks like something the late Jackson Pollock would have done. Maybe read up on this famous artist and find out what sort of techniques he used. But most of his artwork was totally spontaneous. You want to get the REAL effect? Heres what you do. Fill a balloon with red paint and set it right beside the guitar body then shoot the balloon with a pellet gun or 22 cal. rifle. Hopefully you can avoid shooting the guitar , but if you get the spray/splatter angle just right... .

[a bicycle made of anarchy]

Pollock's technique was called dip a stick in paint and drop it (or throw it.. hehe) onto a canvas.

He's a cool guy... very sad life story though.

[teknohippy]

For real hippies, there's only one real way to do that splatter, and that's a tennis ball dipped in paint thrown from ohhh, 50 ft. or so.

Or, for REAL hippy trippy, paint your girlfriends' nude body in different colored paint, then roll her body over the guitar body.

Then embrace the moment.

Now THAT'S doin' it '60's hippy.

Drak you nutter!