greyshark Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 So I have a 95 MIM Jazz that I am planning on repainting. Right now it's in sunburst. I want to paint it black and finish it with nitrocelulose. The thing is I want the black to go over the sunburst so when it will wear the sunburst will show underneath kind of like what Fender CS does. I am pretty sure it's finished with poly and it has some marks where the finish cracked open from a bump. So what exactly do I have to do to get what I described. I've never done this before so I am a complete noob. Appreciate your help alot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 I think you've maybe had no replies because mixing finish types is not usually done. I'm not an expert by any means but I seem to recall that shellac can be used as a buffer between poly and nitro. Prostheta would possibly know but doesn't drop by that often. I'll give him a heads up via other means and see if he can offer any advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 I've bought some Zinsser BIN primer which is shellac based. Not used it yet but all the decorators swear by it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Thanks for the heads up, Norris. Poly is a catalysed finish, that is, it cures by chemical process rather than the simple solvent evaporation which nitro does. Spraying nitro over nitro for example means the solvent will reflow the existing nitro slightly so they become one finish. Poly doesn't do this, so any nitro sprayed over it will have poor adhesion. Perhaps in some respects this is what you want, however it might be so weak that it sloughs off in sheets or big chips rather than the relic-y wear look. Not what you're looking for. The nitro will need some kind of suitable surface to bond with, such as one that has been scuffed with sandpaper. A mechanically-keyed bond like this should be sufficient for a good nitro over poly finish. Norris mentioned shellac to me in passing, which is an option, however I'd think that simpler is always better. Shellac is fantastic if you're trying to keep the top layers in place over a potentially incompatible base, maybe not so much for something that you want to relic. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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