Just for kicks and giggles, I decided to refinish an old Ovation made out of cast iron - well it feels like cast iron anyway!
I decided to burn off some paints I've had around for winterizing my garden tools and things like shovels, hoes, rakes and Hula Hoes, etc --- things that mean
W O R K! .
At this point on the Ovation body, I only patched the chips with Bondo® and cut the first layer of grime off the poly on the body with 80# open coat and then followed that up with 220# dry and then dusted and blew it all down and shot the primer on.
Here's the paints I'm using:::
First --- the primer:::
This is the stuff you cannot dry sand! If you try the paper is gone almost instantly and you'll make some serious gouges in the finish that you're sanding!
Listen to your sandpaper at all times. It it's 'whistling' or 'singing' then something's wrong! Check on it!
Other than that - it is superb! It fills somewhat - not great though mind you so you've gotta get close to a finished surface with some other fillers if you need them - and it covers very well, dries fast and is workable in less than ½ hour.
BTW: this primer will fill and seal raw/cured Bondo! That's nice!
OK - I found a lot of compatibility with these three products, but you can't put anything OVER the Helmsman Spar Varnish! Don't EVEN try it! If you do, we never had this conversation.
Helmsman will readily adhere to itself for the next two generations if you want to reapply it - at any time.
NOTE::: I did NOT use the Helmsman clear on the yellow body here! I did NOT! Instead I used the Krylon gloss clear - same brand.
The Hemlsman (^) will be used to cover the neck - not the fretboard - and the headstock and in some cases be the last clear coat on the body. I don't care what they say about it non-yellowing - it yellows/ages almost instantly if you use it right. It's also very cool looking.
Here you can see the first three coats of Krylon Yellow - it's gaudy - but why not! Notice I did NOT use the paint for Plastics version! It is nasty and even dislikes itself.
SIDEBAR::: I have a Gibson 6-er that I did in the Plastic stuff and it'll need a stripping and re-do ASAP. It alligator crazed after a 6-month period, so that stuff is active until it burns at Armageddon! No pixs of that yet. Next time maybe.
This YELLOW is the Dupli-Color and it works very nicely and is smooth to put on. You can put it on too thick in one shot if you're exceptionally careful. For what it's worth: don't try it.
This blue paint went on another body that I've been building for the past three weeks - I know - no pixs. But it's a ringer for my Tele-type bass on the Luthier's area anyway, so who wants to see me do that again - huh?
This is a jig I built to hold the bodies as I'm spraying them - enough angle for access and highlights in the shop and yet it's flat enough to keep runs to a minimum.
The screw sticking out off the bottom is for resting the body on the bench, while it's standing up of course. I also use it as a handle when I'm moving or turning the body to a different position. It works for me.
These are just nasty contours to sand! This is after the first clear-gloss coat:::
Between clear coats, I use 1500# wet/dry (as in WET) to take out any imperfections (I'm human) and any dust bunnies that decided to commit suicide in my paint job. JUST USE IT LIGHTLY - V E R Y LIGHTLY!
