Cheapest easiest way to do a light recoat/chip repair and decal on poly guitar

[BonghitsKillTumors]

I've got a 60 craiglist yamaha eg112c, it's got a chip or 2 and some scratches. I'd like to fill the chips/scratches paint a pot leaf on it then put a thin amount of clear over the acrylic paint after it is dry.

Using only stuff from dollar tree, hardware stores, etc no expensive special guitar super glues and all that, what do you think is the bes bang for buck method?

As far as I can tell, just paint black in the chips then super glue, then sand and/or buff/polish. With which grits and what else? The super glue looks foggy after I sanded it so far.

As far as a quick final coat; which do you think would be best, poly, lacquer or some other type of clear? Could I use a wipe on poly?

[Bizman62]

6 hours ago, BonghitsKillTumors said:

Using only stuff from dollar tree

nail varnish is dirt cheap, comes in a large variety of colours and is perfect for fixing chips as it seems to fill the gaps pretty well.

[BonghitsKillTumors]

18 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

nail varnish is dirt cheap, comes in a large variety of colours and is perfect for fixing chips as it seems to fill the gaps pretty well.

Thank you smart idea! I was trying to get the black nail polish there but the didn't have it. But I will look for the clear nail polish. 

[BonghitsKillTumors]

I was thinking of clear coating the finish after I paint on the guitar using a stencil.

 

So it's acrylic paint from dollar tree for the designs, and then I'd like to hit the front of it with some clear to protect the decoration and bring it all together in cohesion under some clear. Which type of clear should I use for this? Hopefully just 1 coat, or 2-3 but not anything really too thick.

[Bizman62]

4 hours ago, BonghitsKillTumors said:

I was trying to get the black nail polish there but the didn't have it.

That makes me wonder what it tells about your neighbourhood. Is it sold out or have they never ordered it? Do the locals match with the descriptions of articles like https://www.thelist.com/260667/what-it-means-if-you-wear-black-nail-polish/

If you're going to use acrylic paint then a similar type of lacquer might be the safest choice. Before painting and lacquering I suggest you to strip all electronics away and sand the body matte with wet sandpaper starting from about 800 up to 2000. Far Eastern guitars usually have a very thick coating so you don't have to worry too much about sanding through. A satin sheen surface will help the paint to grip (unlike a glossy one containing silicone polish and skin oils!). The satin sheen will then become glossy again with the clearcoat.

 

[BonghitsKillTumors]

On 3/30/2021 at 11:28 PM, Bizman62 said:

They just don't sell black nail polish. But they sell acrylic paint in the craft section. I can get black, and then I wonder which lacquers are compatible with the dollar tree acrylic paint. I can just google acrylic laquer I suppose. So yeah I will do like you said and scuff it with the 800 before I paint it, everything is already stripped out of it. I just need to fill the few chips it ha, then I will proceed to do as you said with the sandpaper, then using a stencil i will paint a decoration, allow that to dry/cure and then clear over that.

I already have a new can of minwax nitro laquer for my other guitar neck project, so I was hoping to use that instead of buying another something. But it is worth it to not have problems.

 

That makes me wonder what it tells about your neighbourhood. Is it sold out or have they never ordered it? Do the locals match with the descriptions of articles like https://www.thelist.com/260667/what-it-means-if-you-wear-black-nail-polish/

If you're going to use acrylic paint then a similar type of lacquer might be the safest choice. Before painting and lacquering I suggest you to strip all electronics away and sand the body matte with wet sandpaper starting from about 800 up to 2000. Far Eastern guitars usually have a very thick coating so you don't have to worry too much about sanding through. A satin sheen surface will help the paint to grip (unlike a glossy one containing silicone polish and skin oils!). The satin sheen will then become glossy again with the clearcoat.