| Here's the back all finished. I'm much happier with the burst now. It's not seamless, but that's impossible to do without spray equipment. Also, in this picture, I'm tracing the shape of the body onto cardboard which I will cut out and use to protect most of the body from the black spray paint I'm using for the edges. | |
| This picture just shows you the what I did to the sides. They don't need to be perfect, but I wanted to give the paint something to stick to other than the wood. | |
| I covered the front of the body with newspaper to protect it from paint dust. Do Not Do This! Paint dust settles, and there was a definite line the first time I sprayed. Luckily, it came off, but given enough time, it would have been permanent. Remember, spray paint is much more permanent than stain. You can't sand it off and do it over. | |
| Here are the cardboard covers I used. I'll be holding them above the body with rolls of quarters (see next picture) so that the paint can fade in as I spray around it. Make the cardboard as evenly spaced with the edge of the body as you can. You only need about a quarter inch of space to get a good three-quarter inch burst around the outside. | |
| I wrapped a bunch of quarters in duct tape to hold up the cardboard off the body. This will allow paint to move inward under the cardboard and create a fade effect while preventing the paint from hitting most of the body. | |
| This is approximately what the cardboard should look like when it's sitting on the rolls of quarters. However, I did some more fine tuning after this. There's a sharp angle on the bottom left side, and the whole bottom is kind of off. You want it to be as even as possible so that the paint comes out evenly. | |
| After the first coat of paint, everything is looking good. It's kind of difficult to see in this photo, but the edges are starting to turn black. Do short, quick strokes (thin layers) instead of trying to spray all of it in one coat. The paint will not only adhere better, but you will find it easier to adjust the cardboard to make up for unevenness. | |
| Unfortunately, I couldn't get any photos while I was spraying, but this is the finished product. Make sure to put the quarters toward the center and move them each time you spray so that you don't get a noticeable circle where they are. | |
| And here's the back finished as well. All that's left to do now is a protective clear coat. |