That cardboard is what ruined his sunburst in the video. You don't need to use cardboard, spraying sunburst it's easy enough just lay the body flat and follow the curvature of the body.
How close you are to the object is also important. If you want two colors to fade into each other you should step away a few steps and spray lightly to create a mist. That way they blend together nicely.
I don't know about the process of the relic refinished one that you're aiming at. My best best guess would be that the steps would be as following
Porefiller
Primer/Basecoat
Sanding
Flashcoat of clear
Apply the first color coat/ in the case of Paisley that would mean applying the paisley wallpaper. But in your case I assume you want a finish, let's say fiesta red for the sake of it.
Wetsand
Clearcoat
Here comes the tricky part. You want the cover some areas with masking tape, then cut the masking tape in shapes that later will reveal themselves when you remove as relic'd areas/worn down so to speak.
Apply the last finish on top, let's go with black.
Remove the masking tape
Wetsand if needed
And then apply the clear coat
Wet sand
Polish /You can choose to go at it at this stage with steel wool to take away the sheen and give it a more scuffed worn look.
Here's a video of a guy doing an SRV style relic, to show you what I mean with the use of masking tape.
Final note, you want to have a well ventilated spot for this. If you're going to choose any of the following colors white, black or any type of metallic finish you gonna want to have the area dust free!
On those three types of finish any tiny amount of dust will sit and get stuck to the finish, like any other finish, but it will pop out and show itself once the job is done. It's going to be annoying, believe me.
If you're going to choose metallic finish then the steps are a little different. Here's what I do
Don't step over the porefiller, it is crucial since metallic paint is contained more of aluminum particles and very little color, you don't want these particles to sink in the pores of the wood. Also if you're using Ash, always use porefiller because Ash is like a sponge it will otherwise suck up all your paint and you'll have to go through a lot in that case if you skip it.
Primer, make sure to wetsand it and have a flat surface. Any imperfections will show otherwise once you're done. No way of repairing it other than refinishing when it comes to metallic.
Lay the body flat. Apply mist clouds of metallic finish, don't spray too much because you might cause the paint to run, once it runs the aluminum particles will lay flat and you want them to stand up so that reflection of light from different angles cause the metallic effect.
No wetsanding at this point. Start spraying clouds of clear coat. Once you've built up a nice coat on top then you can spray a wet coat of clear and let it sit for drying.
Wetsand and then polish.
Last edited: Oct 10, 2020