After 3 days worth of clear coats with White Knight gloss acrylic (3 coats per day), the 12 String Telecaster was ready for a couple of weeks hanging over the Christmas period. Now with its builder sporting a rather rotund post-holiday visage, the acrylic has cured sufficiently (just a slight lingering smell) to allow the clear to be flattened with 600 grit. With the orange peel removed and the surface brought down to an even matt finish, I was able to spray the final 3 coats of clear.
Time now to let this baby hang for a month or so to let the clear coats fully cure. It will then be time for the final cut and polish. In the meantime, I have to get started on the neck finish. I still have to get some 400 grit paper to finish the sanding, then a grain fill, amber dye job and copious layers of Tru-Oil.
With hindsight, I'm not sure that the choice of a trans-black finish was the best for this build. I think that in the end the dye job was too heavy and that the flame maple figure is lost in all that black. I definitely applied too many dye coats, and I should have stopped when the body was more of a "grey" tint with the flames standing out. Oh well, lesson learned. It's still gonna be a nice black Tele.
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| Acrylic levelled with 600 grit an final coats applied. |
With hindsight, I'm not sure that the choice of a trans-black finish was the best for this build. I think that in the end the dye job was too heavy and that the flame maple figure is lost in all that black. I definitely applied too many dye coats, and I should have stopped when the body was more of a "grey" tint with the flames standing out. Oh well, lesson learned. It's still gonna be a nice black Tele.
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