Clear primer, white primer and relicing

[King Diamond]

Hello members of TDPRI.

I am working on a partscaster and got a question for you all.
My plan is to relic the alder body (yes, I know it's not everyones cup of tea) so I am confused which primer to use.
I get my primers from Nitorlack in Spain and they have a clear primer and a white primer.
They write on their website that the clear is for transparent finishes such as sunburst and the white is for solid colors.
I want the guitar to be black and then reliced, but if I follow the suggestions from Nitorlack there will be white primer showing.
Now I have seen pictures of reliced guitars with white primer showing underneath and it's really not for me.
So my question is, can I use the clear primer and still spray a solid black color on it?
If it's clear then the relic won't have a bunch of white stuff showing underneath.
Or should I just use a grain filler or sanding sealer and then just spray black on it?

What's the best approach?

Thank you.

 

[eallen]

White, clear, black nitro. All the same except for toner added for color. White is often used under black to provide and even color over the grain for accurate color representation. Other times it is used because that's what they did in the old days. Use clear if you want clear cracks. White if you want white cracks.

 

[King Diamond]

White, clear, black nitro. All the same except for toner added for color. White is often used under black to provide and even color over the grain for accurate color representation. Other times it is used because that's what they did in the old days. Use clear if you want clear cracks. White if you want white cracks.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Wyatt]

Since you don't want white or gray primer showing, use the clear. Just understand you may see light/dark banding in the black from the wood grain and have to spray more color coats.

 

[Silverface]

My plan is to relic the alder body (yes, I know it's not everyones cup of tea) so I am confused which primer to use.

So my question is, can I use the clear primer and still spray a solid black color on it?
If it's clear then the relic won't have a bunch of white stuff showing underneath.
Or should I just use a grain filler or sanding sealer and then just spray black on it?

If you're using grain filler you don't need any primer with black lacquer.

Use clear sanding sealer just as you would normally.

Tint the grain filler with universal colorants to either a grain color or buy a black filler if you can find one.

Then apply your second coat of sanding sealer over the smooth-sanded filler.

Then apply normal, thin color and clear coats DO NOT sand except to fix minor runs (wet sanding is only done as a repair procedure for a fouled-up coating system. The final coat should leave you with a smooth enough surface to go straight to the buffer. If you have uneven coating or heavy orange peel you didn't do enough practice coats) - then buff the surface.

Then do your relic work. And do ALL of this repeatedly on scrap until you get the finish you want. Don't learn on the guitar.

One of the keys to relic work is that the coating system must be either correct and look like a new guitar *before* starting the relic work; or with experience you perform certain procedures and use specific material during the finishing process that enhances the relic look later.

I've finished a couple dozen gloss black bodies using the procedures outlined above.

One caveat - gloss black is the single most difficult lacquer finish to apply. If you don't have much experience you might want to do a few other colors first. I strongly recommend it - gloss black as a first attempt at finishing is ery, very difficult and the practice coats will be time consuming and burn up a ton of material.