How to spray paint a pickguard?

carlos

It's plastic so I assume a good spray of plastic primer, followed by a couple of coats of the colour I want? Do I need a varnish on top of the colour? Not sure where to start, thanks.

Corvus

What pg is it? Some work better than others, like a Strat type will prob get the paint chewed out by the screws but Gretsch thickish clear type I have stripped those and painted them underneath. And used other tougher paint on other pgs but that paint isn't normally a DIY option.

It's usually second favourite to getting one made or buying one though, vs time & cost and rattle can paint not so durable.

But clean & degrease, maybe plastic primer/adhesion promoter depending what pg is. Colour coat, then usually clearcoat for gloss if it's rattle can 'car paint', 1k acrylic. And definitely clear if metallic/pearl. Use the same type of paint, like Halfords have colour cans on the rack and clear lacquer to go with. Might want to sand & polish if you want it super smooth, or dog hairs and kamikaze flies do their thing.

carlos

@Corvus ;
It's the pickguard from an Ibanez RG550XH. Unfortunately this model is a bit unusual w/ the extra frets so I can't just buy an RG550 pickguard and use that. I asked for a quote on a custom one, but it would take 10 working days to get it back and I don't want to be 2 weeks without this guitar.
Thanks for the suggestions

bloodandtears

Use TIm at https://www.originalscratchplates.com/ for a custom..

Gizmo

Maybe try a sheet of coloured vinyl wrap and a razor ?

carlos

Gizmo said:

Maybe try a sheet of coloured vinyl wrap and a razor ?

Okay, that's a great idea. Plus they have the red glitter I want!

Gizmo

carlos said:

Gizmo said:

Maybe try a sheet of coloured vinyl wrap and a razor ?

Okay, that's a great idea. Plus they have the red glitter I want!

Sweet please let us all know how it goes would be cool to hear if it works out as a quick method

carlos

@Gizmo ;
No go on the vinyl. Couldn't get it to wrap around well on the pointy bits. In the end bought a £2.99 pot of red sparkle nail polish, did a few coats after primer and finally 5 coats of spray poly on top. Well pleased with the results.

Gizmo

@carlos Thanks for the update  

Shame the wrap didn't work out,nail polish/clear coat looks pretty good though well done.

btw i have a can of red sparkle canbrush im using on a charvel re-finish atm sure to have some left over so if you get another plate and want to try a straight up spray give me a shout 

carlos

@Gizmo ;
That's enough red sparkle guitars for me!