Solid is done, now what?

Ok, I started a new project last week, a Squier Fat Tele I got cheap. I did the usual, lightly sanded, primed with BIN shellac primer and painted with Reranch dakota red. Didn't cover worth a damn and I didn't like the color so I decided to repaint with Duplicolor Acrylic lacquer "Flash red". Again I sanded, primed with BIN and painted. I really love this color it is more of a hot rod red, in between Fiesta and Dakota. Covered beautifully with 2 cans. It has sat for 24 hours and will probably sit most of the week with the daughter having a baby in the next few days. So what's next? Do I wet sand before clear or not. It is pretty smooth but I'm concerned the Nitro satin clear I'm going to use won't melt in as it does with nitro solid paint and I will have to really load up on the clear to have a decent base to wet sand. What's the consensus?

Here it is with the Flash red.

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It's usually a bad idea to sand the color coat unless you have imperfections as you run the risk of sanding thru. You could scuff up the color with some 0000 steel wool but it isn't really necessary. Alot of the clear gets removed anyway when you wet sand it.

If you sand with 400 you will see if you have low spots small or large ones.. Then you can decide how to proceed wet sanding or dry is probably going to be your next what should I do question.. Some sand paper and or some paint will load up and some not..
probably if it loads up a bunch the paint may not be dry enough yet.. I don't see much mention of plugging the screw holes while wet sanding but it makes sense because water can cuase cracks and we don't want to create defects for sure .. I think people use car wax to block any ingress of water.. once you see the low spots and defects you will have an ah ha moment of "now I see why preparing the surface was more important than I thought " Use a sanding block and you will quickly see how well the prep was done.

:)

I would skip the clear altogether... just put on some more red... wetsanding with 400 between every 4 th coat or so.

Clear over solids really doesn't make any difference visually... I got at least 10 red Porches behind me to know that.

A single type of paint for color and build will be more durable and easier to repair in the future as well.

Do keep the water out of the holes...but not with wax. I use vinyl spackle, or latex caulk... and dig it out (easy) when done.

I started to use spackle and went with dipping a tooth pick in sealer and driping a drop and pokeing the holes with it... we'll see... LOL I started to look for wax and then thought better of it thinking it might have silicone... and clear or no clear is probably more dependent on how well you spary and how well it flows and your equipment the temperature.. on and on.. Probably the point of clear is to save the sanding part assuming it is shot properly huh? I doubt it was inteneded to double up on sanding..

Do NOT sand the color coat. It's something you should really research (same with how clear coats go on) before starting a project, but since you're in the middle of it it's time to slow down before things are fouled.

Sanding the color coats can result in sand-throughs (and with little experience they are not easy to fix, compounding problems), dullness, contamination, blush and all sorts of problems. Clear lacquer melts into colors - lacquers melt into lacquers period (as long as they are the usual acrylic nitro blend or the harder to find pure nitro.).

I disagree with the practice of omitting clear coats for a couple of reasons:

1. Even polishing can burn through your color coats like a sand-through. Then you need to apply full coats again to ensure everything is consistent.
2. Color coats left bare will "burnish" and wear/stain far more easily than clears.
3. Clear coats add a depth to the color that makes the job look very rich and professional.

FWIW I used the exact product you did on a '64 Mustang restoration and it is a dead-on match for aged Dakota Red - once you get the clear coats applied. But 2 cans of Duplicolor on one body is a LOT of material, and you need to let that thing cure for at least a few weeks before reassembling it or you WILL create depressions in the coating film that are permanent, and possibly cracks at the corners of the neck plate and bridge.

I tested the product long before I ever tried it on a guitar and you really do need the clear coats for protection - but either way you're in for a bit of a wait or you'll have a damaged finish.

Do NOT sand the color coat. It's something you should really research (same with how clear coats go on) before starting a project, but since you're in the middle of it it's time to slow down before things are fouled.

Sanding the color coats can result in sand-throughs (and with little experience they are not easy to fix, compounding problems), dullness, contamination, blush and all sorts of problems. Clear lacquer melts into colors - lacquers melt into lacquers period (as long as they are the usual acrylic nitro blend or the harder to find pure nitro.).

I disagree with the practice of omitting clear coats for a couple of reasons:

1. Even polishing can burn through your color coats like a sand-through. Then you need to apply full coats again to ensure everything is consistent.
2. Color coats left bare will "burnish" and wear/stain far more easily than clears.
3. Clear coats add a depth to the color that makes the job look very rich and professional.

FWIW I used the exact product you did on a '64 Mustang restoration and it is a dead-on match for aged Dakota Red - once you get the clear coats applied. But 2 cans of Duplicolor on one body is a LOT of material, and you need to let that thing cure for at least a few weeks before reassembling it or you WILL create depressions in the coating film that are permanent, and possibly cracks at the corners of the neck plate and bridge.

I tested the product long before I ever tried it on a guitar and you really do need the clear coats for protection - but either way you're in for a bit of a wait or you'll have a damaged finish.
Thanks for the input. Yes, being patient is the hard part for sure.