How to do a Mystic Dream paint job tutorial..

[ibanezcollector]

Well here we go im going to make a tutorial here on how to do the Petrucci Mystic Dream paint job on a budget.. No need for $300 a quart House Of Color paint.

Things Needed:
A guitar duh
Heat Gun
Paint Scraper
Palm Sander
TONS OF SANDPAPER
lots of time and patience

So here we will begin with a brand new Ibanez GSZ120 which I chose for the arch top which will really reflect the color change more dramatically then a flat surface. When doing a color change paint job angles are your friend. The more you have the more dramatic the change will be.

here she is new and shiney in all her glory

Front


Back


Neck (Rosewood)


Just a cool shot


Neck Binding


Hardware Shot

[ibanezcollector]

Ok tools we are using, Heat Gun, Paint Scraper, Palm Sander, Sandpaper and of course your HANDS



Now im not going to go to much into detail on how to remove the paint because each guitar is going to be different. I will tell you its not a simple process as heating it up, burning the paint and then scraping it off.

I basically get the paint warm, never bubbling or burning, just warm enough that it softens the paint up, I then CAREFULLY use the paint scraper to remove maybe a inch to a inch and a half at a time. In the tutorial at www.projectguitar.com they basically are burning the wood not what I suggest.

Anyways with time and patience you will finish up with this on the floor.


Now doing the way I mention above you will still have the sealer on there which I prefer to remove and start fresh. I dont want to paint on top of something that might not be level, smooth or compatible with the paint im using.

Here is a shot of the front side with the sealer removed

[ibanezcollector]

Ok now here comes the fun part, brace yourself, check if your insurance covers tendinitis and get ready to sand off the kryptonite they call sealer. This is not a easy chore and takes alot of time. Especially in those pesky little horns..

Now I start off with 100 grit and sand with the flow of the grain, I want to eliminate as much scratchinig and running across the grain as possible. No sense in having to do twice as much work. Just do it right the first time.

I had a real fun time with the arch top and I wouldnt recommend it to someone with little to no patience. It literally took me around 6 hrs to just do the arch.

Anyways if were doing a flat surfaced body you can pick up the palm sander and do it that way. Remember you dont have to push hard to get the paper to work. Just put some elbow grease into it. Try to stay with the grain pattern.

Ok so now basically you will have the front and back done at this point. Now comes the fun part the sides and the horns. I will just say this get a sawed off piece of broomstick and wrap the sandpaper around it and wrap some tape on the sides to hold it in place. Trying to do the horns by hand is a adventure to say the least.

If you took your time and sanded right you will have a body that has minimal scratching and minimal cross grain problems. If you do have scratches or grain issues dont sweat it we got tons of sanding left to do

Sealed Sanded Off

[ibanezcollector]

Couple more shots of the cleaned body

[ibanezcollector]

one last shot of the clean body

[ibanezcollector]

Next step? you guessed it more sanding LOL just when you thought it was over.. I then take and smooth the wood out to 150 grit again following the grain of the wood as much as possible to reduce scratches and cross grain. Once I get it smoothed out to 150 grit we will begin what I call Semi-Filling the grain.

Ok now we have our body cleaned of all its original finish and sanded down to 150 grit. Now what do we do. Well here is where some might debate my way of doing this. But I have done several guitars with great success this way.

I will be spraying this with what is called a High Build Sandable Primer, this does a wonderful job of filling in huge gaps in the woods finish but not making the wood grain totally disappear. It is possible to finish this body with a regular color spray paint and still let the grain totally show thru. In this case I will be applying 2-3 coats of sandable primer and then knocking it back down with 150 grit each time. Now you dont want to remove it completely off, but you dont want high and flat spaces either. I will use this phrase alot "KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID" no sense in having to do more work then we need to. USE COMMON SENSE..


Ok here is some pics with the sandable primer on

[ibanezcollector]

and that leaves us to the next step, you guessed it some more paint and sanding. So now I got the majority of the deep grain filled. I now will sand the entire surface very lightly with a fine grit paper, I used 250 grit. Again be careful on the edges that you dont sand thru otherwise you guessed it you start over.

Ok so I got my body sanded down to 250 grit and its smooth as glass, Now comes the first part of the actual painting process. To achieve the Mystic Dream paint color changes, we will be using Dupli-Color's Mirage paint. It is a 3 step process but were going to make it much more involved then there instructions.

Ok now the three step process is this. Stage I: black base coat, Stage II: the mid coat(Color Changing), Stage III: the clear coat.

Ok now since the bottles of paint supplied are kinda small I recommend getting two sets of it, as well as a couple cans of Flat Black Laquer, and Clear Gloss Laquer. Were going to need it.

OK now I have 9 cans of paint in front of me..

1 Full size can of Flat Black Laquer (Bought seperatly)
2 Small cans of Flat Black Laquer
2 Small cans of the Color Changing mid coat
2 Small cans of the Clear Gloss Laquer
1 Full size can of Clear Gloss Laquer (Bought seperatly)

The mid coat is where the magic happens and the more that is applied the more dramatic the change will be, hence why we will be using two kits instead of one.

I start by getting the full sized can of Flat Black Laquer this is going to be our groundwork for what will be a killer refinish. When spray painting laquer ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE GOOD VENTILATION this stuff is not good for the brain cells. Dont rush, keep it simple, its better to have 90 light coats than 3 heavy. And if you rush this you mys well stop reading now.

Light coats will allow the paint to blend better so we dont have zebra stripes since were using rattle cans. If you never seen the zebra stripes its generally caused by someone painting to heavy and getting overlapping paint.

Always give your paint appropriate time to dry. Why rush something.. Rome wasnt built in a day.. Keep it simple stupid

Your body should now look like this.. After a few coats.. And this is where I will stop for the day. As you can see the grain isnt entirely hidden but its also not as pronounced as just bare wood.





TO BE CONTINUED... be prepared for yet more sanding were no where near ready for the mid coat magic

[ibanezcollector]

Just a teaser this is the actual Petrucci Mystic Dream model and what were going to look like when we are done with this tutorial.. Got to love the Music Man guitars I wish I could afford one

[Petrucci]

quality topic !!! congrats mate, impatient to see the rest

[elcid]

Agreed, too bad I don't have the patience to do this, I have an explorere begging to be refinished

[ibanezcollector]

ok did a little more work today.. Now that the first coat of Laquer Primer is completely dry(24 hrs) I will VERY LIGHTLY sand it just to rough the surface up a bit. I dont want to knock it all the way down of course, just to let the next layer have something to adhere to and also if there were any glossy spots that means you sprayed to heavy in that area.

Here is a picture of what I used. As stated I use Dupli-Color Laquer for the whole process. Sanding sponges are your friend when it comes to light grit paper. I used 400 to rough the surface up..


Here is the tool for the horns as described above


The second coat is on now remember the mid coat is when all the magic begins.. Were getting there..

Maybe 1 more layer of primer than were going to move on to the mid coat and now all the efforts you put in are going to start paying off.. Its just incredible how nice this paint system is if done correctly and patiently... Remember ALWAYS HAVE GOOD VENTILATION WHEN USING LAQUERS.. unless your into that kind of stuff haha.

[Chris From Singapore.]

Oh man, awesome work...

I can't wait to see the finished product!

Keep up the great work man!

[ibanezcollector]

ok I began with the mid coat and its looking fantastic.. by not sealing the body like a normal guitar paint job, the wood grain is still showing thru as planned and is looking killer. The color change is slowly begining to show after 2 coats.. I will apply about 9 coats of the color change then will let her dry for 48 hours before applying any of the clear.

I will have pics tonight of the mid coat hopefully I can get all 8-10 coats on tonight. Dupl-color recommends recoating after 3-5 mins but I allow it to dry 15 mins before recoating so its a boring job. But the results will be worth it.

After 15 mins of drying in 60 degree weather, it is touchable by hand, now im not saying grab it but a light touch will not harm it..

STAY TUNED....

[ibanezcollector]

Well here is a sneak peek LOL..

This is after 5 coats.. Got about 4-5 more to go..

Anyone who has this guitar finish knows its hard as heck to get the color change to show up on film and to be honest I didnt try to hard..

It is after all just a sneak peek at whats to come..

[ibanezcollector]

small update 9 coats are on and finished.. Its incredibly dark in the garage and its hard to photograph the guitar moving on the hanger and without a flash but it changes colors like no ones business.. Once its fully cured in 48 hrs I will bring her inside for some still photographs..

Then its back out to the garage to begin the 9000000 coats of clear.