Relic finish, how do they do the chipped flaked effect?

paulnb57

A bit Marmite I agree, fake relic......can look a bit odd when paint is sanded through, but when it looks like the paint is chipped or flakes of paint have come off, it's more convincing, but how is that chipping and flaking achieved?
Are there any tutorials out there?

scalino65

Hi. Having just done a first nitro finish,  the finish seems incredibly soft. I guess it takes quite a long time for the nitro to really set/dry. So, any light bump seems to make quite a sizeable chip. You could then quite easily pick away at the paint around the edges of the chip. I havent tried it on mine so more a guess as to how you could do it.

WezV

I wouldn't rule out the worn through look as unauthentic just because it's sometimes associated with the belt sander look.

however, you can chip the edge wear by scraping with something hard and relatively blunt, like the edge of a chisel. You will want to wear it down a bit after though 

impmann

When I was at Line6, @rossyamaha dragged a Variax 600 body around the gravel/chippings car park to create a relic. That chipped it nicely, but its probably not recommended.

rossyamaha

I did indeed. Not too much but it did the job. Just think about how it would be damaged naturally and you'll be laughing. The neck was the hardest bit. I scraped bit's of lacquer off at strategic points then buried it in the garden for a couple of days. 

Ossyrocks

I had a relic Tele built years ago and a guy called Adam Jackson in York. He finished it in Nitro, then mounted all the hardware on the body and put it on a sunbed, which faded the exposed finish but left the covered areas darker.

Then he put it in a freezer for a few hours and then brought it out into a warm room, this checked the nitro finish. You can repeat this process to get varying degrees of checking.

Then he roughed it up a bit and rubbed stain into parts of the bare wood. It looked incredible when it was done.

I think the trick is to let the nitro completely harden before you start doing any of the above, which might take a few weeks.

Rob.

wackojacko

I did it like this;

let the nitro cure for 6 months.

Take a hair dryer and heat the shit out of section you wish to check. (if nitro isn't cured sufficiently enough, the nitro will bubble - not good)

Then immediately spray with freezer spray to make it cold. If you hold the can up side down so the valve only lets cold air out is better. 

The sudden temperature change makes the nitro check, which you can flake off at will. 

It looked ok, I completely overdid it though
The other issue is, an authentic cracked nitro finish will crack with the grain of the wood, whereas the sudden hot/cold treatment I did made it check in all directions, so to me, didn't look good.

Extreme hot and cold is the basic answer.

WezV

its one way to craze, whether you do freezer or freeze spray.  The knife also works pretty well


this one has never been near a freezer or freeze spray



I showed all the warts and all stages on that one
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/55672/build-thread-pancake-body-les-paul-deluxe/p8

WezV

the most important bit is to think about the colour and find some vintage examples of how it actually wears, because some will wear rather than chip

Lake placid blue strat forearm wear  is almost always worn rather than chipped, but a les paul gold top more often chips in the same area  (actually wears and chips)   fairly sure its down to the squarer edge and different types of paint etc..

wackojacko

WezV said:

its one way to craze, whether you do freezer or freeze spray.  The knife also works pretty well


this one has never been near a freezer or freeze spray



I showed all the warts and all stages on that one
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/55672/build-thread-pancake-body-les-paul-deluxe/p8

that black top is literally my dream guitar. Looks awesome.

tone1

Belt Sander all the way

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag391/tonysmyth1/Mobile Uploads/75217226-142E-4B70-88F2-C851FDC200E2_zpspbbqsyit.jpg

Jack_

Xacto knife/craft knife.

Bork

The way to do it is using wax before putting on the finish.  Get a candle and run it along the places where you want wear to prevent the finish from adhering  Then complete the finishing, let it cure and gently knock the areas where the wax has been finished over to chip the finish loose.  You could conceivably use it on  successive layers of undercoat if you want  different coloured layers to show through. - ala Fender custom colour oversprays.

WezV

Bork said:

The way to do it is using wax before putting on the finish.  Get a candle and run it along the places where you want wear to prevent the finish from adhering  Then complete the finishing, let it cure and gently knock the areas where the wax has been finished over to chip the finish loose.  You could conceivably use it on  successive layers of undercoat if you want  different coloured layers to show through. - ala Fender custom colour oversprays.

Have you got some pics of the results of that method? I would be worried about it looking too artificial.  Must be hard to get a jagged chipped edge with candle wax 

Bork

It's a common furniture trick but I don't have any pics unfortunately.  

I've only got one reliced guitar and I discovered the technique after it had been painted so missed the opportunity. The chip edges flake naturally if the finish is thick enough so no issues with their character.  Apparently vaseline can also be used.

I've found the following pinterest that shows examples on furniture: 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/35677022023605463/

I'm sure there must be more out there

WezV

Just be careful of assuming furniture finishing techniques will work on guitar.   The finishes themselves can be a bit different, but the way they wear is totally different.

GoldenEraGuitars

Don't use wax on the body. There are other ways of doing it. 

paulnb57

lonestar said:

Don't use wax on the body. There are other ways of doing it. 

What other ways?