ubersam

Was that 68 coats from 1 can? You might have been doing some very light dusting, too far from the body and you were moving the can too fast, and there was a breeze blowing in your spraying environment. And, if it is from 1 can, I don't think you'll see a very thick build anyway. I used 4 cans of Duplicolor clear for my project. It is a different type of substance, acrylic laquer, so it won't be an accurate comparison to your scenario. Some things you could try: 1. Shake the can for longer than the instructions suggest. Shake it every so often, after every few passes or so, but not while you're spraying of course. 2. Don't pull the can too far away from the surface you are spraying, start at about 12" and move closer as you feel comfortable. I tended to spray from 8"-12" away, starting about 2" off the sides, top or bottom, then passing over the body. Don't bring it too close either, 6" would be about the closest I sprayed. Check the manufacturers recommendation. 3. Find the right passing speed for the can you are spraying. Start a bit fast, slow down and observe how much paint is layed down as you slow down. You want it thick enough but not too thick that it runs. Anyway, there is a sticky'd set of tips on using rattle cans in the tutorial section that covers more. Check it out.

I tried the 30 min epoxy from Home Depot, can't remember the brand though. It had a light yellowish tint to it, something to consider, you might end up with a slightly greenish guitar (blue+yellow). Well, after some enthusiastic sanding, I didn't realize that I've sanded off more than just the excess and I was back to bare wood. I recently tried CA glue, Krazy glue to be exact, on a headstock repair. It spreads easier, and it sands much easier than epoxy. So, if I ever need to fill grain/pore again I'll be using CA glue.

Very Nice!! If Giger made guitars, I think they'd look something like that.

ding it with your nail and let us know if it leaves a mark, if it does, it's not the kind of 'hard' we want.

I used dupli clear and it's been curing for the past couple of weeks and it still hasn't passed the nail test. I'll give it a couple more weeks.

I remember seeing that guitar. He even used the Dupli Sandable Primer instead of the base coat. One reservertion I have with the Deft clear is that it is Nitro Laquer and the Dupli/Mirage mid coat _is_ Acrylic Laquer. I have no doubt it works fine in the intermediate, it's the long term effects that I have doubts about. I seem to remember reading something about not using Arcylic and Nitro on top of each other, in that it creates a problem in the long run.

So, what clear are you using now? I thought about using Deft since it was suggested as a better alternative to Dupli's clear. But it is nitro laquer, so I'm not sure how that would workout over acrylic laquer over time. Anyway, I still have a long way to go. I'm still sanding off the excess epoxy.

Nice! Did you use the clear that came with the kit? I'm in the process of re-doing the whole guitar. I experimented with doing a spot repair on the nail mark and failed miserably. The area looked worse after the attempt. So, going by Maiden's tip, I stripped the guitar back down to bare wood. This time around I used epoxy for filling the grains. Hopefully I won't need to use as much primer as I did in my first attempt.

Well, after the about the 3rd or 4th dusted coat, I thought the clear would be thick enough to handle a heavier coat. I guess I was wrong, and I have bad technique (sprayed in one area a bit too long). But this just sucks I was checking out the blemish and I dug my nail into the finish right above the bridge p-up cavity. Well, I'll be gone till next weekend. Maybe I'll try to do a spot repair on the damaged areas when I get back. If I don't like the result, I'll just have to re-do.

O.k., everything was doing well until, cheet!!! the 5th coat of clear [kinda heavy] looked like it re-flowed the midcoat a tiny bit. Now there is a streak that looks a little off. I'll try to get a pic of the area. Anyway, I'm hoping that it's not a re-flow and it's just the clear, and that it can be sanded away. If not, what would you all suggest for a spot repair. I was thinking of sanding the streak down to the base coat, masking off the surrounding areas, laying down he base-mid-top just on the area. Would this blend in or would the fixed area stick out? Thanks.

That is very nice! What is it? I mean, what kind of clear coat is it? Poly, nitro, laquer, epoxy?

That's pretty much what I was asking. I never really thought that the mirage clear would continue to shrink as it cured. It makes sense that laying a faster/harder curing clear on top of that would have adverse effects. Would 2 part poly be harder then? What is 2 part poly anyway, and does it come in a spraycan?

Thanks for the tips guys. I was under the impression that the Dupli Mirage Top Coat was of the automotive kind, ie. durable, hard. Now it sounds like it is not. Would the Dupli Truck & SUV clear coat be the same or is it better. I have a can of the stuff. Here is a theoretical: If I went ahead with the Dupli Mirage top coat and found it's hardness/durability unacceptable, would laying a harder curing clear over that improve things? Oh, do you have any tips on prepping the mid coat before laying down additional coats or laying down the clear? Like maybe running a tack cloth lightly over the surface?

I just finished applying a 3 pass coat of the black base coat, on top of a smooth black primer. I noticed that there are a couple, or so, tiny specks that landed on the paint. Since I'll be laying another layer of base coat, I figure it should be o.k. to wet sand the first layer of black base coat. Here is where I'm undecided, I've read someone giving a tip to not sand the base coat before applying the mid coat. In your experience with Duplicolor Mirage, is it better to leave the base coat as is? Imperfections and all. Or should it be prepped, wet sanded, before the mid coat. I know the mid coat shouldn't be sanded at all. The last part, the clear coat, Would it be o.k. to wet sand between coats? How abou for the final sanding, rubbing and polishing, do I have to wait until the clear coat is fully cured? Does it really take weeks to cure? Thanks.

Well, theres the tutorials section here and @ the main PG site. Theres also an article @ stewmac, somewhere in the tradesecrets area where someone was finishing up a blue prs type guitar. I don't really have much, I'm just on my first re-finish. If it would help you though, I just grain filled the body (mahogany), scraped of the excess before it dried up. Sanded with 150 once it was completely dry. Raised the grain then sanded with 220. Since I'm doing a solid color, no stain involved. So far I've used up 2 12oz. cans of Black Filler Primer and 3 12oz. cans of Black Sanding/Sandable Primer (all Duplicolor kind), sanding w/ 400 between coats (each coat about 3 or 4 passes). That seem like a lot of primer, but I like the smoothnes of the body right now. Next weekend will be the base coat, hopefully, I can do the mid coat as well.