Painting a Grizzly

My mother has painted for decades (canvases, mostly of wildlife). I've been recently bitten by the uke bug, and when I saw those Grizzly kits, I thought it would be really neat to have my mom paint one, and then laquer and assemble it myself.

So, I thought I'd ask about paint on the wood. Should it be prepped in some additional way? I'm wondering if the paint would seep along the grain if it wasn't. Any info on this (or general ideas) for me to pass on to her would be appreciated!

-Chap

The best time to paint a Grizzly is in the winter while they are hibernating... That said..

It will be much easier for her to paint it if you put a couple of coats of sander sealer on it first (after it is assembled) and then sand it with 400 grit and remove all the dust. This will give her a smooth non-porous surface to paint on. Plus if she uses paint that has a different solvent from the sealer and makes a mistake, she can clean it off and have at it again.

When she gets done, seal the paint with another coat of sealer and put the lacquer finish coats on.

The trick with all of this is that the solvent for the paint should be different than the one for the sealer. Ie lacquer based sealer with oil or water based paints. Take some scrap, seal it like you plan to do on the uke. Have her put some paint on the scrap and seal again and see if it bleeds at all. If it is ok on the scrap it will be ok on the uke.

Thanks Goat, that's a particularly good point about the different solvents. Any suggestions for a particular sealer? I suspect I'll need water-based, as mom uses oil paints. Testing the the paint will have to be all on me, as she's 1500 miles away.

Chap said:

Thanks Goat, that's a particularly good point about the different solvents. Any suggestions for a particular sealer? I suspect I'll need water-based, as mom uses oil paints. Testing the the paint will have to be all on me, as she's 1500 miles away.

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Deft makes a lacquer based sanding sealer that is great. Solvent is lacquer thinner so that would not react to oil based (mineral spirit solvent). There are some alchol sealers as well. BullsEye makes one, but I think it sucks for sanding. One other tried and true one is shellac which is alchol based. Doesn't sand as well as the deft and dries super fast so it can be tough to work with.

If you don't have a spray setup Steward Macdonald carries sealer in spray cans.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/ColorTone_Aerosol_Guitar_Lacquers/ColorTone_Aerosol_Guitar_Lacquer.html

They sell a water based on but you would need a gun to shoot it.

The deft can be brush applied.

Spray cans of clear shellac are sold at Menards or maybe Home Depot (Bullseye). They have clear and amber. Amber would likely not be the way to go.

Oil based paints will probably give you a raised finish because it is so thick but it will look hand painted FWIW

......paint it when it's hibernating..............

That was so good.

Pukulele Pete said:

......paint it when it's hibernating..............

That was so good.

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Hey!!! read the whole thread. You stole my line!! ;-)

I read it. I was remarking on what a great line that was.