Hey,
I've searched for some info on this but I've had a lot of trouble getting answers.
I've built a Randy Rhoads polka dot V. I filled the grain with a shellac based sanding sealer. For the color and clear coats I used dupli-color auto lacquer which is acrylic based (which I chose over nitro for its greater resitance to chipping).
I've used the dupli-color on a separate project and it worked fine, although I had less coats of paint because it was a re-finish/touch up job.
I started with 4 coats of black which I sanded back a couple of days later to smooth it out. Then, I masked the guitar for the white dots which were sprayed in two heavy coats. Over this, I sprayed 6-8 coats of clear which I also sanded back twice to get a smooth finish (3-4 coats, sand, wait two weeks then another 3-4 coats). When sanding these coats back, I actually sanded to the level of the white dots in some areas. The goal was the get the dots level with the clear coat.
To completely finish the guitar, I sprayed a final 3 coats and sanded that back. I waited about a month before buffing the whole thing. I had a couple of small spots that buffed through around the edges. 2 weeks later, I final polished the guitar with Turtle Wax minor scratch remover. The guitar is now very shiny BUT the finish has gone soft on me. Its wasn't super hard before the final polish but it seems the polishing made things worse. Its marks very easily with a fingernail and even with fabric.
I put the guitar hanging (so the paint doesn't touch anything) in my basement in a room with a dehumidifier. Its been 3 days and the nail test is showing that its not as soft as 3 days ago but I'm worried still about this now...
What I'm wondering is how long should I wait for the finish to cure so I can put it in a case and not worry about it getting marked by the fabric? What are teh ideal conditions for the finish to cure?
Did I do something wrong?
Please help!