Solid or Metallic Nitro Finish?

lovestrat74

At some point in the near future I am going to try my hand at finishing one (or more) of my partscasters. I was wondering if it is easier to get a decent finish with solid vs metallic colour for a novice?

For some reason I have it in my head that it would be easier with a solid colour and also an alder (as opposed to ash) body...

Also, are some colours easier to achieve a better finish? I'm sure I've heard that black is not easy.

I am not looking for a factory/pro finish as I know this will not be possible, but something half decent would be pleasing.

Winny_Pooh

I would say solid is a tad easier if you overlap new finish on old but not by much (I did it alot with a metallic LPJ) you'll need to grainfill alder a bit less. If I did it again I'd use sanding sealer to cover any remaining grain and totally flat it before colour and clear. (Rather than a thicker clear to then flat any divots.)

Any finish with perfect gloss is harder as compared to fano style solid/no grain fill as you chance sand throughs in the buffing and levelling phase to get a nice gloss. 

lovestrat74

Winny_Pooh said:

I would say solid is a tad easier if you overlap new finish on old but not by much (I did it alot with a metallic LPJ) you'll need to grainfill alder a bit less. If I did it again I'd use sanding sealer to cover any remaining grain and totally flat it before colour and clear. (Rather than a thicker clear to then flat any divots.)

Any finish with perfect gloss is harder as compared to fano style solid/no grain fill as you chance sand throughs in the buffing and levelling phase to get a nice gloss. 

Well that's a relief as I am looking for a duller more aged finish, so I might be lucky there

lovestrat74

Something like this... But it will be on a bound Tele..

vanlooy1

Shouldn’t need to grain fill if it’s alder, scraping the the binding can be tricky.

lovestrat74

vanlooy1 said:

Shouldn’t need to grain fill if it’s alder, scraping the the binding can be tricky.

Yeah, was thinking of taping up before spraying.

vanlooy1

Definitely tape the sides but the top will need scraping…squeaky bum time!

lovestrat74

vanlooy1 said:

Definitely tape the sides but the top will need scraping…squeaky bum time!

I've got a non-bound Tele body also, so I think I'll have a practice on that first

vanlooy1

lovestrat74 said:

vanlooy1 said:

Definitely tape the sides but the top will need scraping…squeaky bum time!

I've got a non-bound Tele body also, so I think I'll have a practice on that first

Definitely more straightforward!

SRich

vanlooy1 said:

Definitely tape the sides but the top will need scraping…squeaky bum time!

Not the essence of this thread but the end result was excellent (not my work  - the magician @lamf68 did a sterling job on this Ash Baja Tele of mine - Candy Apple Red Sparkle with top & bottom faux binding)

Sarge

Black is definitely the hardest I've done so far, and white is by far the easiest.
Nitro I find is far more forgiving than the only 2k poly I've done. 
Couldn't say wether solid or metallic is easier as I'm yet to try a metallic, but that will hopefully be my next project 

RickLucas

I've done a few. My first was solid white on alder, then a couple of transparents on limba, and currently I have a metalllic on alder on the go. The metallic is a little trickier, but in all cases, the most important thing is to get it flat before you start.     

lovestrat74

SRich said:

vanlooy1 said:

Definitely tape the sides but the top will need scraping…squeaky bum time!

Not the essence of this thread but the end result was excellent (not my work  - the magician @lamf68 did a sterling job on this Ash Baja Tele of mine - Candy Apple Red Sparkle with top & bottom faux binding)
https://imgur.com/WLvuEIx


Dammit that should have embedded - I have lost my mojo on images
 

Have no fear, mine will not look anything like that

davros

The LP you posted is dakota red over goldtop, I believe, with a bit of moody lighting. This is my attempt at something similar with just dakota red nitro.

lovestrat74

Nice one @davros that looks epic

lamf68

If you’re happy with a lightly aged finish I see no difference in skill required at amateur level be it metallic or solid colour, if you’re looking for pristine and PRS style high sheen gloss the easier finish is blatantly one that requires less layers, so if you’re going candy with a gold/silver base and clear colour over that you’re opening yourself up to another period of spraying where mistakes can happen, if a solid metallic where the gold/silver is already in with the stain it won’t make any difference if you go solid or metallic, the issues you’ll have is if you fuck something up, cut through the finish, speck of shite lands in the paint, a fly/moth or other errant debris lands on it you’ll find it wayyy easier to drip fill the screw up with a solid flat colour than metallic, in fact you won’t drip fill a metallic finish to make it so it’s an invisible repair. In essence go solid and flat if you’re potentially gonna piss something up as you’ll have a better chance to cover any mistake, one final thing to bear in mind, if doing a metallic finish and you want it to look nice you need to get the base coat/prime coat sanded to a level where it is almost good enough as a top coat sanded with 800 grit or more before the metallic goes on if you have the patience … hope that made some sense.

lovestrat74

Apologies @lamf68 thought I'd replied to this. Think I'll stick to solids for now! Thanks, and Wiz duly awarded