Crackle Finish

[avengers63]

After the tele build is finished, I'm going to re-finish the strat-bodied axe I've been playing. I want to do something very similar to the crackle finish that was used in the late 80's & early 90's. I know dang good and well that I'm NOT going to get those types of results. I'll be happy with something similar.

After reading up on the way crackle finishes are done, and taking into account that I don't have a spray booth, the real option is to use rattle can spray. The big question for me is will the crackle finish mess with the colors underneath?

What I'm envisioning is laying the undercolors, sanding them flat, then laying a thin layer of clear to act as a buffer between the color & the crackle. Is the buffer layer necessary?

After the crackle is on & dry, the question of top finish appears. I'm under the notion that the crackle will be HIGHLY textured. Is this inseed the case? If so, how will I ever get the finish flat without messinf up the crackle?

Please tell me someone has some experience with this.

[avengers63]

NEVER MIND!!!

After I got home tonight, I re-read and re-read again the page in Flexner's book the page on crackle finishes. It covered pretty much all the questions I had.

So, with that being settled, does anyone have any pics of their successful crackle finishes to show off?

[HuntinDoug]

The last one I did was in 1990. It was a Jackson refin I did for a friend. The type of crackle paint I used was called "vreeble". The colors were yellow base w/ black crackle. I shot it 7 times before I was happy with the results. Each time I sanded the black off, then re shot it. It's cool to watch the cracks open up as the paint dries. The heavier you lay the crackle coat on, the wider the cracks are. It takes a LOT of clear to make the finish smooth.

I think a swirl under a crackle coat would be cool.