Newbs First Batch Of Swirls

[wakajawaka]

I just finished my first batch of swirls,and would appreciate some feedback

I uploaded the ones that didn't fail miserably,of which there were many.As you can see, i have along way to go, and as i sit typing this i realise the advice that everyone on the forum gives is practice practice practice ,and then practice some more, is appropriate!.

To begin

I primed black and scuff sanded 10 scrap pallets.

3 only on one side,I wanted to see the difference the base coat made.Photo Labeled #3 is the swirl on raw wood.

for the strawberry shake swirl

I used Benjamin Moore Alkyd Enamel red , yellow/cream and grey All puchased as mis tints from a local paint store, and a garden variety paint thinner to dilute. (I know that the tutorial says to use paint time extender,but doesnt that just delay the drying time? not actually thin the paint?)

I had major problems with the yellow and grey being too heavy and running off the pallet when i pulled it out of the water.

But the red worked perfectly.

I mixed the red and yellow to get pink and that worked perfectly the first time.

After the first batch of the Strawberry swirl i never got the light colors to work again.

After that I bought a pint of Blue Varathane plastic enamel.I wanted to do a blue red, purple swirl, however Even as I write this i still cant get the blue to work on its own.I started thing maby the borax mix was wrong for the plastic enamel,

but when I mixed it with the red the purple is a monster.

I am still getting streaks, and i still don't think the paint is vibrant enough. I assume this has to do with the type of paint? or the finish? not sure if anyone knows i'd appreciate any insight.

so its back to the drawing board for now,I will post more when i do my next batch.I want to get some more colors and try priming a solid white.I also have an old jackson body laying around i am itching to dunk then the Jem replacement body!!

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

W

Edited April 8, 2007 by wakajawaka

[RGman]

I just finished my first batch of swirls,and would appreciate some feedback

I uploaded the ones that didn't fail miserably,of which there were many.As you can see, i have along way to go, and as i sit typing this i realise the advice that everyone on the forum gives is practice practice practice ,and then practice some more, is appropriate!.

To begin

I primed black and scuff sanded 10 scrap pallets.

3 only on one side,I wanted to see the difference the base coat made.Photo Labeled #3 is the swirl on raw wood.

for the strawberry shake swirl

I used Benjamin Moore Alkyd Enamel red , yellow/cream and grey All puchased as mis tints from a local paint store, and a garden variety paint thinner to dilute. (I know that the tutorial says to use paint time extender,but doesnt that just delay the drying time? not actually thin the paint?)

I had major problems with the yellow and grey being too heavy and running off the pallet when i pulled it out of the water.

But the red worked perfectly.

I mixed the red and yellow to get pink and that worked perfectly the first time.

After the first batch of the Strawberry swirl i never got the light colors to work again.

After that I bought a pint of Blue Varathane plastic enamel.I wanted to do a blue red, purple swirl, however Even as I write this i still cant get the blue to work on its own.I started thing maby the borax mix was wrong for the plastic enamel,

but when I mixed it with the red the purple is a monster.

I am still getting streaks, and i still don't think the paint is vibrant enough. I assume this has to do with the type of paint? or the finish? not sure if anyone knows i'd appreciate any insight.

so its back to the drawing board for now,I will post more when i do my next batch.I want to get some more colors and try priming a solid white.I also have an old jackson body laying around i am itching to dunk then the Jem replacement body!!

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

W

Sorry man, not that great..either too busy or and not bright enough, though i don't blame your skills..just the materials used.

My tips:

Use better paints, oil based paints (Humbrol model paint works well)

Don't use black as a base coat. (Stick to light colours, such as pastel greens and whatnot.)

Once you have done this, practice controlling your swirls, with a bit of practice you can get the paint to go where you want it and to do what you want it to do.

[low end fuzz]

well, we never said you wernt honest

[wakajawaka]

I just finished my first batch of swirls,and would appreciate some feedback

I uploaded the ones that didn't fail miserably,of which there were many.As you can see, i have along way to go, and as i sit typing this i realise the advice that everyone on the forum gives is practice practice practice ,and then practice some more, is appropriate!.

To begin

I primed black and scuff sanded 10 scrap pallets.

3 only on one side,I wanted to see the difference the base coat made.Photo Labeled #3 is the swirl on raw wood.

for the strawberry shake swirl

I used Benjamin Moore Alkyd Enamel red , yellow/cream and grey All puchased as mis tints from a local paint store, and a garden variety paint thinner to dilute. (I know that the tutorial says to use paint time extender,but doesnt that just delay the drying time? not actually thin the paint?)

I had major problems with the yellow and grey being too heavy and running off the pallet when i pulled it out of the water.

But the red worked perfectly.

I mixed the red and yellow to get pink and that worked perfectly the first time.

After the first batch of the Strawberry swirl i never got the light colors to work again.

After that I bought a pint of Blue Varathane plastic enamel.I wanted to do a blue red, purple swirl, however Even as I write this i still cant get the blue to work on its own.I started thing maby the borax mix was wrong for the plastic enamel,

but when I mixed it with the red the purple is a monster.

I am still getting streaks, and i still don't think the paint is vibrant enough. I assume this has to do with the type of paint? or the finish? not sure if anyone knows i'd appreciate any insight.

so its back to the drawing board for now,I will post more when i do my next batch.I want to get some more colors and try priming a solid white.I also have an old jackson body laying around i am itching to dunk then the Jem replacement body!!

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

W

Sorry man, not that great..either too busy or and not bright enough, though i don't blame your skills..just the materials used.

My tips:

Use better paints, oil based paints (Humbrol model paint works well)

Don't use black as a base coat. (Stick to light colours, such as pastel greens and whatnot.)

Once you have done this, practice controlling your swirls, with a bit of practice you can get the paint to go where you want it and to do what you want it to do.

I appreciate the feedback, I've only been at it for 7 days now, so im really posting to see if im on the right track.I definitly want to try better paint. Is Humbrol sold outside the UK? Is there a similar paint available in Canada/US?/Ebay?. Is regular paint thinner what most people use or is it extender to dilute the paint?

thanks again

W

[WezV]

Very wise to test this out first - rather than start on an actual guitar!!

I think some of the black and red ones look quite cool and hopefully would come out really well under clear lacquer. but i would be tempted to try white on black with a red toner over the top to get a richer red colour.

Some of them look too 'zig-zaggy', rather than 'swirly' but you seem to be getting the dipping technique sorted.

if you can get a paint sorted that is less likely to run it should turn out well

[Hunter]

My favorite is number 5, but you need another bright-ish color in there other than white, I think.

[Petrol]

Humbrol is a UK company, and they actually went into administration last year. Their products are still pretty widely available though, as I believe they were bought up by a model train company. Also, humbrol paints are oil not enamel for future reference.

I like your swirls, they aren't bright, but it always depends what look your going for. If you want the green/yellow/pink of Vai's Jem, then theyr'e WAAAAAy too dark, but for a more "metal" swirl, I like it. Maybe a bit more contrast though- check out a colour wheel and colour theory if you haven't already.

Also, I think enamel is very difficult to finish as I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that many laquers + enamel = problem.

Hope this helps,

Petrol

[RGman]

Also, humbrol paints are oil not enamel for future reference.

So the cans lie?

[gu1tarb0b]

I have Just swirled two guitars ( I have been experimenting for months ). To be honest, you made the same mistakes I did. I bought enamal house paint as well (from a local paint store)......the problem is, many of those paints are too thick, will run if thinned, and you get specs of paint. The two Guitars I have just done are not supurb (the first one flat out sucks) but they were practice. Ill post pics later. The paints I used with moderate success were a testors type of paint (Hobby Lobby). Yes the tutorial says not to use them, but they gave good results. I'm going to try some auto body paints soon. Hope this helps.

dont forget to use your borax!

[wakajawaka]

I have Just swirled two guitars ( I have been experimenting for months ). To be honest, you made the same mistakes I did. I bought enamal house paint as well (from a local paint store)......the problem is, many of those paints are too thick, will run if thinned, and you get specs of paint. The two Guitars I have just done are not supurb (the first one flat out sucks) but they were practice. Ill post pics later. The paints I used with moderate success were a testors type of paint (Hobby Lobby). Yes the tutorial says not to use them, but they gave good results. I'm going to try some auto body paints soon. Hope this helps.

dont forget to use your borax!

I appreciate feedback from anyone everyone,but particularly from those that have gone throught the process. I vastly underestimated the technique.Ya the concept is simple but......LOL

I'm still at the stage of figuring out that i don't know anything!! *Bows Down to all pros* "i'm not worthy"

On saturday I started another prepping batch.I went to local hobby store and bought the humbrol paints, man those tins are tiny!. The problem was they didn't have a good selection of colors(Mostly darker shades)I bought some metallic and gloss, of the blue red green and a really ugly yellow.

This time i wanted a lighter base to swirl on, so i bought some white BIN wood sealer in rattle cans. I figured when i eventually get to the point of trying bodies (ive got 3 in the wings waiting) im gonna ned to seal em right? so i wanted to see how the paint would react to the new surface.Not good at first. My first three the paint just slide right off the pallett.So i wiped it off let it dry,and sanded them really good and that seemed to do the trick.

I found that the metallic colors didnt work at all.Overall I got alot brighter results but the yellow i chose was way too thick and ran.

Today i found a real obscure shop in the city and found some awesome colors i cant wait to try.

My next step is to seal then prime or base coat a pallette to see how the paint reacts to that.

Does anyone have any rattle can brand suggestions for a base coat? Or any thing to lookout for when buying some?.(im in canada)

I have a rattlecan of Canadas Pride "true blue" enamel in the garage would that work?

Until next time

W

[wakajawaka]

I have Just swirled two guitars ( I have been experimenting for months ). To be honest, you made the same mistakes I did. I bought enamal house paint as well (from a local paint store)......the problem is, many of those paints are too thick, will run if thinned, and you get specs of paint. The two Guitars I have just done are not supurb (the first one flat out sucks) but they were practice. Ill post pics later. The paints I used with moderate success were a testors type of paint (Hobby Lobby). Yes the tutorial says not to use them, but they gave good results. I'm going to try some auto body paints soon. Hope this helps.

dont forget to use your borax!

I appreciate feedback from anyone everyone,but particularly from those that have gone throught the process. I vastly underestimated the technique.Ya the concept is simple but......LOL

I'm still at the stage of figuring out that i don't know anything!! *Bows Down to all pros* "i'm not worthy"

On saturday I started another prepping batch.I went to local hobby store and bought the humbrol paints, man those tins are tiny!. The problem was they didn't have a good selection of colors(Mostly darker shades)I bought some metallic and gloss, of the blue red green and a really ugly yellow.

This time i wanted a lighter base to swirl on, so i bought some white BIN wood sealer in rattle cans. I figured when i eventually get to the point of trying bodies (ive got 3 in the wings waiting) im gonna ned to seal em right? so i wanted to see how the paint would react to the new surface.Not good at first. My first three the paint just slide right off the pallett.So i wiped it off let it dry,and sanded them really good and that seemed to do the trick.

I found that the metallic colors didnt work at all.Overall I got alot brighter results but the yellow i chose was way too thick and ran.

Today i found a real obscure shop in the city and found some awesome colors i cant wait to try.

My next step is to seal then prime or base coat a pallette to see how the paint reacts to that.

Does anyone have any rattle can brand suggestions for a base coat? Or any thing to lookout for when buying some?.(im in canada)

I have a rattlecan of Canadas Pride "true blue" enamel in the garage would that work?

Until next time

W

ok

round three

I have moved on to humbrol and testers as per the suggestions of other members with mixed results. The paint is definitly more vibrant, but I'm having trouble getting the paint to move in the tub when there are more than 2 colors in the water. I am pretty sure i have all my mixes right cause im not getting the dripping nearly as much now, The first 1 or two move really well but any more and they seem to sit and glob. And when i attempt to swirl i get these annying little paint "dots" all over.(In the water).

By the time i have all my paint in the water and ready to swirl it mixes into a big soup.(no definition between the paints)

I got anxious and a bit over excited one night and dipped an old jackson body i had around. I had previously primed it white.The front turned out really bad, but the back and sides went very well as a test, not perfect but looks like a swirl. I sanded it off and will try again.

I uploaded the photos as well as my next batch of test pallets all are primed with an oil based shallac sealer.

I think i have improved my sense of color!, but still have a long way to go. I am geting a bit frustrated at the fact that they all tend to look the same. I know that it will require some more expirimentation with dipping, and how my paint is going in the water.

But if anyone sees any glaring errors/or comments or suggestions i'd appreciate a heads up!!.

thanks

W

W

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

[WezV]

If i was you i would be looking at simplifying the whole process , getting it right and taking it from there. So far you have made good progress but none are quite right just yet, but i do really like the blue and yellow test!

I havnt done this yet so take anything i say with a pinch of salt but i think you should try it with just one colour first. maybe a nice blue over white or something like that. It sounds like you are taking too long to get all the paints into the water and some may be starting to go funky by the time you are ready to dip the guitar. I also think you might be swirling the paint a little too much before dipping.

[Jon]

It really does look like you're dipping the guitar too fast.

[wakajawaka]

It really does look like you're dipping the guitar too fast.

hmmm interesting i do dip pretty fast i guess, i have 3 more pallets to do, i'll try to slow down.

I am basically copying the tutorial video.

But i think my problems are more to do with mixing paint. This may not make any sense, but when i look at the paint in my tub right before i swirl, the colors don't look independant enough.When you look at a pro swirl you can see that their paint looked identical on the water. i.e vibrant solid independant waves of color.

Maby i need a bigger tub, I'm using a rubbermaid garbage tub, 22 inches high 19 inches in diam.

W

[pmarlin]

I havent tried a swirl yet but I would think you would need to mix gently and dip slowly so the colors dont mix too much .

[wakajawaka]

I have Just swirled two guitars ( I have been experimenting for months ). To be honest, you made the same mistakes I did. I bought enamal house paint as well (from a local paint store)......the problem is, many of those paints are too thick, will run if thinned, and you get specs of paint. The two Guitars I have just done are not supurb (the first one flat out sucks) but they were practice. Ill post pics later. The paints I used with moderate success were a testors type of paint (Hobby Lobby). Yes the tutorial says not to use them, but they gave good results. I'm going to try some auto body paints soon. Hope this helps.

dont forget to use your borax!

I appreciate feedback from anyone everyone,but particularly from those that have gone throught the process. I vastly underestimated the technique.Ya the concept is simple but......LOL

I'm still at the stage of figuring out that i don't know anything!! *Bows Down to all pros* "i'm not worthy"

On saturday I started another prepping batch.I went to local hobby store and bought the humbrol paints, man those tins are tiny!. The problem was they didn't have a good selection of colors(Mostly darker shades)I bought some metallic and gloss, of the blue red green and a really ugly yellow.

This time i wanted a lighter base to swirl on, so i bought some white BIN wood sealer in rattle cans. I figured when i eventually get to the point of trying bodies (ive got 3 in the wings waiting) im gonna ned to seal em right? so i wanted to see how the paint would react to the new surface.Not good at first. My first three the paint just slide right off the pallett.So i wiped it off let it dry,and sanded them really good and that seemed to do the trick.

I found that the metallic colors didnt work at all.Overall I got alot brighter results but the yellow i chose was way too thick and ran.

Today i found a real obscure shop in the city and found some awesome colors i cant wait to try.

My next step is to seal then prime or base coat a pallette to see how the paint reacts to that.

Does anyone have any rattle can brand suggestions for a base coat? Or any thing to lookout for when buying some?.(im in canada)

I have a rattlecan of Canadas Pride "true blue" enamel in the garage would that work?

Until next time

W

ok

round three

I have moved on to humbrol and testers as per the suggestions of other members with mixed results. The paint is definitly more vibrant, but I'm having trouble getting the paint to move in the tub when there are more than 2 colors in the water. I am pretty sure i have all my mixes right cause im not getting the dripping nearly as much now, The first 1 or two move really well but any more and they seem to sit and glob. And when i attempt to swirl i get these annying little paint "dots" all over.(In the water).

By the time i have all my paint in the water and ready to swirl it mixes into a big soup.(no definition between the paints)

I got anxious and a bit over excited one night and dipped an old jackson body i had around. I had previously primed it white.The front turned out really bad, but the back and sides went very well as a test, not perfect but looks like a swirl. I sanded it off and will try again.

I uploaded the photos as well as my next batch of test pallets all are primed with an oil based shallac sealer.

I think i have improved my sense of color!, but still have a long way to go. I am geting a bit frustrated at the fact that they all tend to look the same. I know that it will require some more expirimentation with dipping, and how my paint is going in the water.

But if anyone sees any glaring errors/or comments or suggestions i'd appreciate a heads up!!.

thanks

W

W

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

2nd attempt at jackson body

ok heres my 2nd attempt at the jackson body, again the back seemed to work out better than the front.

It woulda been nice to get some more yellow in there the red blobbed and ran and there are spots where it looks like the paint didn't take at all.

I'm not sure if thats the sealer or poor body prep. I was happy with the coverage of the blue though.

Hard to miss the red landmine on the bottom right part under the tone hole grrr!!.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

[Jon]

It looks better, but those colors seriously do not blend. You should be working with 2 or 3 colors max to start with.

[Petrol]

Apologies for an earlier mistake of mine, meant to say ENAMEL NOT OIL.

Sorry, my English is atrocious, and I'm from England

[wakajawaka]

I just finished my first batch of swirls,and would appreciate some feedback

I uploaded the ones that didn't fail miserably,of which there were many.As you can see, i have along way to go, and as i sit typing this i realise the advice that everyone on the forum gives is practice practice practice ,and then practice some more, is appropriate!.

To begin

I primed black and scuff sanded 10 scrap pallets.

3 only on one side,I wanted to see the difference the base coat made.Photo Labeled #3 is the swirl on raw wood.

for the strawberry shake swirl

I used Benjamin Moore Alkyd Enamel red , yellow/cream and grey All puchased as mis tints from a local paint store, and a garden variety paint thinner to dilute. (I know that the tutorial says to use paint time extender,but doesnt that just delay the drying time? not actually thin the paint?)

I had major problems with the yellow and grey being too heavy and running off the pallet when i pulled it out of the water.

But the red worked perfectly.

I mixed the red and yellow to get pink and that worked perfectly the first time.

After the first batch of the Strawberry swirl i never got the light colors to work again.

After that I bought a pint of Blue Varathane plastic enamel.I wanted to do a blue red, purple swirl, however Even as I write this i still cant get the blue to work on its own.I started thing maby the borax mix was wrong for the plastic enamel,

but when I mixed it with the red the purple is a monster.

I am still getting streaks, and i still don't think the paint is vibrant enough. I assume this has to do with the type of paint? or the finish? not sure if anyone knows i'd appreciate any insight.

so its back to the drawing board for now,I will post more when i do my next batch.I want to get some more colors and try priming a solid white.I also have an old jackson body laying around i am itching to dunk then the Jem replacement body!!

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

W

Ok it has been awhile. I've been busy at work, and i'm getting ready to move very soon so these will be my last swirls until i get settled again. I have been productive though, i've been checking out other swirlers work, taking notes and studying techniques colors etc, doing more tests. I have made some inquiries into auto paint. I will go further into that when i have some tests done.

I wanted to get the trusty old jackson body 1 more dunk before packing up my painting stuff. I sanded it own from the last swirl attempt shown on photobucket as #25 & 26. I really liked the blue but clearly the red was a problem.

So i prepped the body again. I have been paying more attention to using rubber gloves when handling the body and making sure its clean etc.

I have been using mainly testers enamel, green and blue. I'm not having much sucess with humbrol yet, but still trying.

My first attempt tonight again was disapointing (shown in pics as second last atempt) The back was not bad but the front again had issues. The blue looked bad and i had the little dimples all over the front of the body. I was really pi***d off so i sanded it down fast and dunked it again using blue, green and red, so fast in fact that if you look closely at the back pic you can see the old swirl in the cavities...whoops, oh well i wanted 1 swirl that looked somewhat useable before i had to pack it in. The end result was pics labeled as "my latest attempt".

As always any suggestions advice or comments good and bad are welcome.

http://s151.photobucket.com/albums/s153/shrly2/

thanks

W

[The royal consort]

Congratulations youve got it sorted !!!!

thats brilliant....

The only thing is I prefer the back to the front... and thats for all of them... Perhaps hold the guitar the other war round?

must buy a big bucket....

and some spandex to go with the resulting guitar....

I wonder how my other half will take to the idea of me wareing more makeup than her...

But jokes aside I think youve done a great job on the last one...

Edited May 14, 2007 by The royal consort

[wakajawaka]

Congratulations youve got it sorted !!!!

thats brilliant....

The only thing is I prefer the back to the front... and thats for all of them... Perhaps hold the guitar the other war round?

must buy a big bucket....

and some spandex to go with the resulting guitar....

I wonder how my other half will take to the idea of me wareing more makeup than her...

But jokes aside I think youve done a great job on the last one...

thanks for the feedback, its interesting you mentioned liking the backs better i found that the back turned out better on every attempt. All the photos are actually the same body that i sanded down each time and repainted. I think you're right , if i get a bigger bucket that should help, because i have very little room to move the body around in the water. I am also thinking about the angle of the body and possibly dunking it sideways etc.The other thing that was a huge problem was that i used silcone from a tube to seal the screw holes,which as i discovered to my great embarrassment from talking to others is apparently the single stupidest thing i coulda used.SLICONE REPELS PAINT!!.I'm an idiot!! anyhow i know that this musta had an effect on the finished swirl.I know that if i use a different body it will make a difference. I am currently sanding down a 750 body , and i have my jem replacement waiting inline, i cant wait to get settled and get back at it.

W

[IbanezFreak666]

i want to paint the top half of a guitar fluro pink and the bottom black with a swirl in the middle, is there a way to do this without marbiling?

i was thinking of just painting one side black and the other pink, and while its still wet swirling the paint on the body with my fingers/a brush etc

but i have no idea if that will work so..advice needed!

[PTU 7's.]

Man, this it's gettin' better and better!

Nice swirls you made there, they look very cool!

[wakajawaka]

i want to paint the top half of a guitar fluro pink and the bottom black with a swirl in the middle, is there a way to do this without marbiling?

i was thinking of just painting one side black and the other pink, and while its still wet swirling the paint on the body with my fingers/a brush etc

but i have no idea if that will work so..advice needed!

hmm.... i suppose you could do that, though i think you get more smudges than swirls. I was trying to imagine about what effect you were wanting to achive.Correct me if i'm wrong but i think you want a guitar body that would be a solid color from the top horn to the mid section then a swirl effect over the pickup area then a solid color from about the tem cavity down?on both sides?

You could paint your solid colors first then mask them off and swirl the middle. Also i disovered by accident, (and plan to expiriment more with this technique). When you get a swirl in the bucket you like take a piece of thick paper (cardboard is even better) and lay it on top of the water. The paint/swirl will stick perfectly to the paper. You then lay the paper down on the guitar swirl side down ,dont let it slide around,lay it down and take someting flat and rub in up and down strokes all across the paper,lift carefully and voila you will have a swirl transfer!.You have to do this quick before the the paint dries on the paper though.this would work for situations where you wan a swirl in a small or defined area.

If what you are asking is how to do a swirl with out the bucket and water, take the paint and mix it around on a piece of paper and try the transfer technique.

Let me know how it works if you try it.

Good Luck

W

[IbanezFreak666]

hmm i might try that. and yer thats pretty much what i wanted but parallel with the neck

ill try it on cardboard first to see if it works