Making a scale model guitar from wood - painting advice?

Question

Hi,
I make a lot of small models from balsa wood but I tend to leave them unpainted, however I am making a scale model Fender Stratocaster guitar for a friend and want to paint it...

what sort of paint can I use on balsa wood and do I need to undercoat it or anything?

any help would be appreciated

Answer 1

You can paint balsa wood easily with acrylics. I do a lot of wood painting and have used acrylics to good results. You can base coat it with white or you can use several coats of color with no base coat and it still works. Acrylics are cheap, available in many colors and are great for painting. You can use those Delta Ceramcoat litle ones and they are great, and they will mix well with other brands. Here's several tips for utilixzing the strengths and weaknesses of acrylics: They are great for milti-layering; if they dry, they can be coated over without disturbing the color of the coat underneath. It may take several coats of color to hide a dark color, however. If you want to blend colors, do this while the paint is wet. You can buy extenders which allow the color to stay wet longer so that you can blend more. There are also texturizers and pearlizers which can change the sheen or the texture of the paint which makes the paint very versatile. However, metallics and pearly paints are thinner and require more coats to cover a given area. If you want a very smooth finish, thin the paint a bit and do more coats, being careful to not leave brush strokes behind. You can spray them with matte, semi-gloss or glossy finishes afterwards to give any level of shine. The most negative aspect of the paints are that they are truly plastics, so they can dry out and polymerize on your brushes and palettes and ruin them. Always keep water nearby and keep brushes wet and wash them out well with soap and water afterwards. Buy decent brushes. The artificial Golden Taklon brushes are really good for acrylics. Store your brushes with the points up so they don't get bent out of shape. They need to stay springy, so they hold paint well. Good luck with your painting and I hope you have a fun time with it.

Answer 2

The first one might be a softwood such as pine, fir, spruce, etc. Balsa is tough but it's a lot tighter grained or closer grained, and, as mentioned, it's easy to break if you put enough weight on it (been there, done that), The second, being stained, is harder to identify. From one angle it looks like red oak; from another, maple or another hardwood. I could be wrong--as mentioned, it's hard to see below the surface or covering. Most hobby shops stock various forms of wood, or could point you to someone who could. Northeastern Scale Models (they may have a new name now) has sold various shapes and sizes of wood for over 40 years.

Answer 3

You'll probably want to do a wood grain pattern like real guitars.
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/la_walls_floors/article/0,2041,DIY_13992_2269131,00.html

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