I'm Building A Green Meanie

[Model1VH2]

Looks awesome Bengal65!
I'm not trying to pick, but in the closeup pic of the screwhole, there looks to be some sort of debre in the paint ... is that the "spitting" you're talking about?

Nice looking guitar, dude.
Congratulations.

[Joelski]

That is insane!! Love it!

[Bengal65]

Looks awesome Bengal65!
I'm not trying to pick, but in the closeup pic of the screwhole, there looks to be some sort of debre in the paint ... is that the "spitting" you're talking about?

Nice looking guitar, dude.
Congratulations.

Yes, there are spits all over. It changes in density, but does not look bad as a whole. It shows up in photographs because of the lighting. The more intensity, the more you are able to pick out the "spits". If it's normal indoor or outdoor lighting, you can barely see it. I spoke to Marty about it and basically he spent a lot of time dealing with this issue, to the point of not offering this finish anymore. He told me he lost his ass on this paint job. He's done several before this one and really has to struggle with this type of paint. I can understand, because a transparent fluorescent finish is really a "Catch 22". (You have to be transparent, but have enough pigment to reveal the fluorescence)

I'll post some pics of what it looks like in indoor lighting later.

[sonicsamurai]

looks good bengal

[slash]

It looks cool, and I'm not trying to pick on it, but the lower horn doesn't look right, nor does the fit of the pickguard. Why is the upper horn rounded on the edges, and the lower more squared? Looks good though, keep up the good work!

Here is one that I did as compromise between the normal horn and the one like on his guitar. I stopped the scalloping of the lower horn short enough from the pickgaurd that I could apply a small radius to it. The picture is with a normal pickgaurd.

[sully]

Sully, glad you asked that. THE PAINT SPITS It's a trans fluorecent over a white base. The main deal is you have to mist the color coat over the white base. The paint is very thin. I asked Marty if he used the Auto Air Color's and he said it was the most difficult stuff to use. You have to mist the color and what happens, the gun tip will spit. I've had that problem with airbrushing. With the misting, you have to keep it just right or you will loose the transparency and it will go solid opaque. It's very similar to the old Nitro opaque blonde paints used on the old Fender guitars. Too much Blonde and you cover the grain. I haven't tried the Auto Air Colors myself, but I've used Parma paints for R/C cars and that stuff is a pain as well, but it's on the backside of the Lexan, so the "spitting" isn't as bad when you look through the front side. I've got some AA stuff that I am going to try out, just to experiment. Marty ended up using a paint from the sign industry, although he didn't tell me what brand.

glad i asked! i guess my second question is how do we know that steve's actual finish isn't something basic?

oh, and as far as the AA stuff goes....oy. i tried it once. that was enough. granted, at the time, i didn't have a whole lot of patience, and i was trying to move into a new house and get that guitar painted and done before i had to move, so take that into consideration.

sully

[mm2002]

Yes, there are spits all over. It changes in density, but does not look bad as a whole. It shows up in photographs because of the lighting. The more intensity, the more you are able to pick out the "spits". If it's normal indoor or outdoor lighting, you can barely see it. I spoke to Marty about it and basically he spent a lot of time dealing with this issue, to the point of not offering this finish anymore. He told me he lost his ass on this paint job. He's done several before this one and really has to struggle with this type of paint. I can understand, because a transparent fluorescent finish is really a "Catch 22". (You have to be transparent, but have enough pigment to reveal the fluorescence)

I'll post some pics of what it looks like in indoor lighting later.

What causes water based paint (like Auto Air Colors) to "spit", is a combination of not mixing it thoroughly enough with the reducer (which is basically distilled water), or attempting to use regular tap water instead of the Auto Air "reducer", using a gun tip that's too large, using too low of an air pressure, and last but not least, not using heat to cure it. The first couple of attempts I made at spraying that stuff had the same results Marty's did with that "speckled" look.
After a little trial and error I got it down to a science. Mix it good with the proper reducer, spray it with a 1.0mm tip at a higher than normal pressure, then heat cure it with infrared. Way too much hassle for something that doesn't provide as good of a finish as HOK bases. I'll NEVER use that crap again. Fuck the EPA !

Looking good though, and I didn't know that about the lower horn on Steves. Cool!

[sully]

heh. mark, you remember my AA experience first hand, don't you? that blue you shot for me still looks great.

sully