What's your plan for the process? How many color coats? Sanding between color coats? How many clear coats?
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Painting a headstock
- Thread starter Mammoth_Bass
- Start date
Honestly I’m not sure! Figured a good 3 color coats with sanding then I figured several clear coats. A good 3 or so then decal then a few more. Then wet sand. I’m a total rookie and wondering if I should hold off on this..
So am I that's why I ask. But I've read and watched a lot of videos so I can offer a few tips.
You don't want a super thick color coat. Only enough so that it's evenly covered and fairly smooth. Do very very light coats. You'll get tempted to lay a thick coat but that only leads to bad things. Runs and spitting cans. My routine is to but a color coat on, wait an hour, then do another coat. It's taken me about 3-5 color coats before I think its ready for clear. I have never sanded between color coats except if there are imperfections like runs or spit marks that I need to get rid of. Then I'll sand with 400 grit until they're gone. Some people do sand between color coats, others don't . My reasoning is nitro melts into itself so even if the color has a orange peel like texture the clear will take that on and you'll sand that out during finish sanding.
I don't have a good number of clear coats to tell you to do. Only that it needs to be enough to be able to sand and not burn through. 10-15 maybe? Hopefully an expert can chime in on that. Again, I never sand between coats unless it's to remove imperfections like runs or spits.
Sanding is the toughest part and the most frustrating. Don't get upset if you sand too much, burn through the clear and color coats, and have to start all over again. Even if you're able to make it through 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 and then buff and shine, there still might be fine scratches that are visible. I think the blue may hide them though so that's a plus.
Oh and wait at least two weeks after finishing the clear coats before sanding so the cleat coat and cure. If you're in a humid place may need to wait longer.
Nitro is a very slow process so expect a month or maybe longer until it's done.
Nitro is a very slow process so expect a month or maybe longer until it's done.
If you haven’t bought the clear yet, Minwax makes a clear lacquer in a spray can that I’ve had great success with. You can find it at many big box stores, and it’s not expensive. Maybe around $10/can.
Read the can of nitro. it should have specific times on it. i would spray all the color. At this point, if the color is not flat and smooth, i would lightly sand the color to make sure its flat before spraying the clear. if the color is flat and smooth, i would spray the clear without sanding the color. spray a couple more coats than you think you need. this helps avoid sand through. i dont spray nitro so i am guessing at 4 or 5 nice wet coats of clear before final sand and buff. water based poly is 15 or so coats and auto poly is 3ish for me depending on how it's laying down. this is based on my experience but i don't spray nitro so there's that.
Did the first two passes. Now to wait an hour or so before another two swipes
Looks too dry for me. You should spray more wet coat so that the color coat levels and is shiny, not rough like it is now. Metallic leaves a bit rough surface but still, I'd go for a bit more wet.
What clear are you using? If it's the krylon stuff you posted earlier that might be the issue. What issues did you run into?
Yes tried the krylon and it was very heavy so it ran a lot. Will try something else...
I got some different clear and am having much better luck! Will likely put the decal on tomorrow or Wednesday
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Got up early this morning so I put the decal on. Will continue with a routine of clearcoat and wet sanding to soften the edges of the decal. It’s not perfect but looks pretty good to me!
Looks awesome! I haven’t used any water slides on any of my builds but I’m curious to know how many coats of clear it takes to completely make it even. Let me know how many it takes you.
Thanks!! Hoping to have it done over the weekend!! Will post pics of final assembly