5150 stripes level finish question

[willliam_q]

I did a Kramer 5150 hockey stick replica guitar a few years ago.  Masking off the stripes naturally creates bumps at the paint lines.  I made the mistake of using acrylic lacquer to try to build over the top. 

It didn’t build too well (Because i thinned it...another mistake) but I think I applied layers too quick and got terrible checking all over the guitar.

im considering redoing the guitar, although it looks like a beaten up relic at the moment which has a cool vibe too.

Does anyone have a similar experience and or advice as to which lacquer builds best for this purpose?  The idea is to sand back with 800 grit to get a perfectly level surface without sanding back to the paint.

Heres a pic of it finished but before I went too far and relic’d it

 

it’s worth mentioning that I did achieve a flat sandback but it did fade some of the black stripes a little( top layer of paint)...and then it checked on me

[ScottR]

I use Behlen, Cardinal or Mohawk, which is the same as Behlen. The thing with nitro lacquers is it keeps shrinking for months. The key will be to spray and wait and level and spray and wait, and level, then spray a lot and wait a lot and then level.....and make sure you leave enough over the stripes to level again in a few months. Getting enough thickness over the stripes is going to be the key with nitro. If I lived on your side of the pond I would be tempted to try Rustin's plastic finish.

SR