Flawwood Kit - Color Shift Flake Finish

What's Hot
Hello Everyone,
this guitar is a work in progress. But here's what happened so far:

I got the kit from flaxwood.com directly (from Finland), which means that it comes without frets, inlays and headstock decals.
Actually, it would even come without a trussrod and you need to glue on the fretboard and saw the fret slots. But the Flaxwood staff took care of that for some extra charge.
Also, my body is for a wraparound bridge, and modded for HSH pickups (usually the wraparound bridge version would be HH).

In the USA there is byoguitar.com selling these, usually. Right now the Flaxwood kits disappeared from the webshop, but maybe that's due to supply issues at the moment.

I've made a video of the progress so far:



Here are some pictures:

The kit and the HW I want to use:


Backside of the kit (the body is hollow, otherwise it'd be quite heavy):


special neck joint:


putting on the pickups etc. on to see what it looks like:


These parts were poured into a mold and have seams which you need to sand out:


After gluing in the neck, I put some glue into the crease between the neck and the body:


I've used a glue that dries very hard, so I could sand it flush:

It's to make it feel as if it's one piece.

The color shifting flakes I want to use require a black base:


I was searching for very long to find a "green to orange" flip paint. But I found nothing. In the end I stumbled upon flakes that are intended for fingernails.
I'm using gold size to apply them to the guitar


Right now it's only missing some flakes on the back.
This is what it looks like for now:



Next steps:
Apply the flakes on the back
find a clear coat that doesn't make the flakes look dull
Pour in inlays with epoxy and black mica
Install frets, HW etc.
Record a song with it

0reaction image LOL 9reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • guitargeek62guitargeek62 Frets: 4067
    Neat build! How much was the kit, I can’t see it on the flaxwood site?
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Holy cow, that looks incredible! 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • 670EUR (including shipping within EU, and including the "mods": installing truss rod, gluing on fretboard, sawing the fretslots, routing a hole for the middle pickup)

    but in case you're living outside the EU, they might sell it without VAT, and then you pay the VAT of your country during the import (I might be wrong). Then it'd be 500EUR + shipping + import duties.

    It's rather pricey. And I think they don't usually sell those kits, that's just because I asked them by email.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • JazzthatJazzthat Frets: 163
    Now , that's a looker !
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • KalimnaKalimna Frets: 1534
    I realise you are rather advanced in the build (which is looking great!) but on the offchance you are interested in finishing another with colourshift paint, have you heard of these chaps?

    https://perfectpearlsandpigments.co.uk/product-category/mixed-paints-and-aerosols/ultrashift-chameleon-paint/

    Acrylic-based lacquer that seems (so far) to be compatibile with nitrocellulose lacquer. I say this because I am on the clear-coat stage of a build using one of their ultrashift chameleon rattle-cans. The effect is perhaps more subtle than you nail-varnish method, but it looks pretty good.

    Adam
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    tFB Trader
    I just had a chameleon paint finish done on a guitar I was rebuilding and customising - will post more about it in the week




    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Looking good!

    I just had a chameleon paint finish done on a guitar I was rebuilding and customising - will post more about it in the week
    After many years disassembled in the loft, I am resurrecting my chameleon paint Ibanez JS100 at the moment. The body has always been VERY popular with people who see it.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Georg_FigelGeorg_Figel Frets: 41
    edited June 2021
    thanks everyone

    @FelineGuitars:
    Cool, looking forward to it

    Kalimna said:
    I realise you are rather advanced in the build (which is looking great!) but on the offchance you are interested in finishing another with colourshift paint, have you heard of these chaps?

    https://perfectpearlsandpigments.co.uk/product-category/mixed-paints-and-aerosols/ultrashift-chameleon-paint/

    Acrylic-based lacquer that seems (so far) to be compatibile with nitrocellulose lacquer. I say this because I am on the clear-coat stage of a build using one of their ultrashift chameleon rattle-cans. The effect is perhaps more subtle than you nail-varnish method, but it looks pretty good.

    Adam

    Didn't know about that shop, but the Ultrashift Exodus looks awesome.

    I've used a Chromacoat Red from Specialist Paints (also from the UK) once, I which seems to be a similar product range:

    I've painted my Axis64 keyboard with it.
    I found that it looks great in the sunlight, but at room lighting it looks rather dark.
    (In the video it also looks cool, but everything was filmed with strong video lights)


    The flakes I put on the flaxwood guitar were much shinier, they are even amazing looking under regular room lighting.
    And I like the texture of applying the flakes over gilding glue. It's less uniform/perfect, compared to spraying a colorshift paint.
    Well, at least when comparing it with the Chromacoat Red.


    This picture was taken in a dim light room:


    Unfortunatlely, I don't have a picture of my keyboard in similar lighting




    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    tFB Trader
    that was fun

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.