Well, I debated on posting an update for this build as I'd rather post some results that were closer to the finish line.
Right now I'm about 2/3 done with shooting finish. Specifically, I still need to shoot the final clear coats. There are a bunch of photos in this post, hope nobody minds.
The weather cooperated for a couple of days so I made fairly good progress during that time. One more warm day with low humidity will be enough for me to finish, but it may be another week until that wish comes true.
Anyway, here is what I've been up to. I decided to do a candy apple red finish with a gold undercoat. (well, my take on CAR anyway.)
The body already had a few sealer coats, so the next step was to lay down a black base coat to go under the gold. So, I used some Mixol pigment in Mohawk sealer for this.
Here we are after a few quick coats.
Next I mixed up some gold pearl flake into gloss nitro. This is very fine flake.
And after about 3 coats, this is the result. I sprayed with a little higher pressure and lower material flow to get even coverage.
Because the finish was a bit rough from the misty application, I shot a good layer of clear over the top. This allowed things to melt together. When this dried, I was able to lightly sand off any nibs in preparation for shooting red.
So, I mixed up some transparent red using WD Lockwood dye in gloss lacquer. After several coats, this is where I stopped. Not as dark as the usual CAR. I was trying to leave the gold undertone showing through for a bit of a coppery effect.
Next, I moved over to the neck. I keep a jar of "aged" nitro around to enhance maple. I darken it by leaving a jar in the sun for several weeks during the summer. When I get low, I set out another jar. I love that color.
So, I shot a coat of that to make it look just a bit aged, nothing over the top, It just adds a bit of depth to the color.
Here is the body out in the sun after a quick addition of a clear coat over the red. Indoors it does look darker, but outside the gold really comes through. My wife expressed her dislike, but I like it. IDK, maybe I should have shot another coat or two of red. The clear looks a bit uneven at the moment, but that will be corrected in subsequent steps.
Let me know your thoughts! As soon as I get some dry weather, I'll get this puppy finished up... literally.
Of course I had to put my initials and a date in there... even though they will probably get covered later.
