Crackle guitar finish

R. Lamar Duffy

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Feb 12, 2013, 12:05:14 PM2/12/13

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For any here who are into guitar construction & finishing, do any of you
know how to recreate this finish?

http://www.lamar.drncognito.com/temp.html

Is this really a "crackle" finish? There are dozens of techniques for
creating crackle finishes out there, often w/ commercial products, or
using a white glue undercoat followed by a top coat of paint &
blow-drying. Most don't work well, or are inconsistent, & I've wasted a
lot of time experimenting & failing.

But there's something different about this finish compared to a lot of
crackles. The patches of light top color are all "islands" surrounded
by the rust-colored cracks. All the crackle techniques I've tried, if
they work at all, create random cracks & splits, such that all of the
top color areas are connected, not "islands" surrounded by the cracks.

So this has me baffled (and, unfortunately, fixated). Could these
cracks actually be artistically painted-on by an extremely gifted
painter w/ a lot of attention to detail, & not a real "crackle" finish?

And if anyone has any tips for a crackle finish that gives you
consistent results, I'd appreciate them.

Thanks,

Lamar

Sue Morton

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Feb 14, 2013, 6:33:30 AM2/14/13

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To me , the entire guitar looks like a graphic rendering, not a
photo of a 'real' guitar (enhanced or not). But I'm no expert, so
that's just my $0.02 USD :-)
---
Sue Morton

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R. Lamar Duffy

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Feb 14, 2013, 3:48:09 PM2/14/13

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On 02/14/13 8:54 AM, Glennbo wrote:
> I didn't see anything guitar specific, but there are lots of articles on
> how to do a cracked finish for furniture and other things. I would
> suspect that the technique is somewhat similar though.
>
> http://www.bing.com/search?q=how+to+do+a+cracked+looking+paint+finish&go=&qs=ds&form=QBRE

Yeah, I see a lot of variants of the glue trick--which I've gotten to
work w/ variable success. Another interesting take is what I've been
calling "paint gravy," where you use a mixture of flour, cornstarch,
water, & paint. Haven't seen an exact recipe, & not particularly eager
to experiment w/ that one.

And still haven't come up w/ a way to recreate the particular finish I
posted; 3 people have replied in some fashion that they thought it was
an artistic rendering & not a true crackle.

It's still gonna bug me though....

Lamar

nousndthem

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Feb 15, 2013, 2:21:11 AM2/15/13

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The place to ask is at www.unofficialwarmoth.com

You'll most likely be able to get step by step instructions as there are
quite a few pro level finishing people hanging out there every day.

--
Feed the Hungry for Free:
Click the link and then click the Gold Button.
http://www.thehungersite.com/

hogarth...@gmail.com

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May 26, 2013, 12:34:49 AM5/26/13

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Have you tried a thick base coat of nitrocellulose lacquer and a thick top coat of acrylic lacquer? - according to rustoleum thats how they do their crackle finish and it looks pretty close to the old charvel/jackson crackle finish in my opinion. I have also heard enamel over lacquer works as well, and I am assuming they were talking about nitro lacquer. As far as the enamel, idk what kind. I'd get a few different types such as alkyd enamel and acrylic. Im trying to do this finish on a motorcycle tank soon so lemme know if you figured it out haha.

R. Lamar Duffy

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May 26, 2013, 2:32:24 AM5/26/13

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On 05/25/13 11:34 PM, hogarth...@gmail.com wrote:
> Have you tried a thick base coat of nitrocellulose lacquer and a
thick top coat of acrylic lacquer? - according to

rustoleum thats how they do their crackle finish ...
>

I must've tried a hundred combinations of things. While I suspect there
are professional products out there for this, the undercoat of white
glue method worked as well as anything.

But the finish in the picture I was referencing isn't done this way.
Several people felt like it was artistically painted to this appearance,
I've come to agree with them. Though I'm developing a way for the
artistically challenged to achieve something resembling this...

Lamar

ALBOVO

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Jun 17, 2013, 10:50:18 PM6/17/13

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ONSun, 26 May 2013 01:32:24 -0500, R. Lamar Duffy CONNECTED AND MIND
LINKED WITH ALBOVO:

There is a custom finish known as Cracked Vreeble that achieves this.

http://www.forums.ilambretta.com/viewtopic.php?p=52866 shows samples on
motorcycles, but not sure where to get it other than specialty auto body
supply places.

--
THAT IS ALL - ALBOVO

paolo12...@googlemail.com

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Oct 6, 2013, 3:30:22 PM10/6/13

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If you got a nitro finish just put your guitar somewhere it's cold like in the freezer for one night. That should crack the finish.