Step 8: The Big Reveal!

Are you ready!?!?!? This is the point you've been waiting to see! Let's peel that tape!

First things first though. Like discussed in Step 7: Applying Red Coat, be sure to score the tape edges with a razor in order to prevent the red coat of paint from coming up.

     When that is complete you will have something that looks like this!

See how I painted over the black stripe on the horn like I was talking about? Oops...

See the white stripe on the side I was talking about too?

Congratulations!! Take a breather! You deserve it!     ... Who am I kidding? You are probably just as anxious as I was to move on and finish this thing up, huh?   Okay, okay. STEP 8: Clear Coat.

Step 7: Applying Red Coat

   
     Awesome! So know you have something that looks like this!

     Now the fun part! Pull that tape off!! BUT WAIT!! ***CAREFUL*** I know you are excited! I was too! But let's do this right before we peel off the entire white coat along with the tape.

     The trick to pulling off the tape is to use your razor and lightly score the edges of the tape. Even if you have taped things before and pulled the tape off no problem, JUST DO THIS! It's not that hard and doesn't take much time. So, score the edge of the tape ensuring the paint is not attached to the tape and pull up the tape lightly and slowly. If at any point, the paint starts coming up, reach for your razor and score it again. If the paint does come up beyond repair, .....give it another coat of white.... I know it sucks, but you've made it this far!

     Once you have the tape up, your guitar should look like this!

     MAGIC! ... Well not quite but it looks so amazing right?! ...Okay moving on...


     Next, reach for your tape again and let's lay out the next masking pattern. Check mine out and copy if you'd like. Keep in mind, wherever you want a BLACK line on the end result, be SURE to mask THAT BLACK LINE ON THIS STEP. A brains lip here means no black line on the reveal. I made the mistake of masking just ABOVE the third black stripe on the horn and therefore, I painted right over it. See the end result and you will know what I mean. Also notice on the bottom and side, I created a little wavy design. IT was easy to do and you can be creative. And lastly, don't forget to put a stripe around the perimeter of the guitar as shown slightly on the second picture. You can see the end result in the next step to see what I mean.

     Once you are satisfied with the striping, PAINT THAT SUCKA RED! Again let dry for 48 hours!! Your guitar should look like this with one coat...

1st Coat of Red

AND THIS WITH AT LEAST 4!

4 Coats later

Up next: Step 9: The Big Reveal!
   

Step Links: 
-Overview
-Step 1: Materials
-Step 2: Stripping the Paint
-Step 3: Filling Holes and Dings
-Step 4: Primer Base Coat
-Step 5: Applying First Color Coat

-Step 6: Applying The White

Step 6: Applying The White

       
 If you have made it this far, congratulations! You have a guitar with something other than primer!

          The next step will be a pretty simple one. The hardest part of this step will be deciding how you want your taping to look. More on that in a minute...

          Now that you have a solid black guitar, we are going to use tape in order to mask off the parts of the guitar that will STAY BLACK. Keep in mind that there will be white coloring AND a red overcoat when the painting is done. I say this because you want to tape off everywhere you want a black stripe to SHOW. It sounds pretty obvious but when you go to tape off the white coat, you will see how a simple brain slip could leae you without any black coloring at the end of the project. Without further ado, take a look at my model. If you want to replicate this, go for it. If you want to try your own spin, feel free to do that as well. There are many references online that show EVH's guitar that you can try to replicate. I felt like I did a pretty good job at the striping.

          Note that I use different widths of tape. I found that an easy way to get these widths were to place the tape on a piece of glass or tile and use a straightedge and razor to cut down the middle of the length of tape. When you cut the tape you know will have two different widths that you can use.

BE CREATIVE!!!

          Once you like the placement of the tape, we're ready for the next coat!! Using the same technique for painting as in described in Step 4: Primer Base Coat, give your guitar a new coat of white and let dry for 48 hours! Your guitar should look like this!

     Alright! On to Step 7: Applying Red Coat!

Step Links: 
-Overview
-Step 1: Materials
-Step 2: Stripping the Paint
-Step 3: Filling Holes and Dings
-Step 4: Primer Base Coat
-Step 5: Applying First Color Coat
-Step 6: Applying The White