Check out this site, I think this is the big secret to swirls that not many people know I about, I also have a haunting suspicion this is how the "Greats" do it. Peggy Skycraft has been swirling WAY before the Ibanez swirls came out. She also sells Books and DVD's on how to do it as well as sells the products needed on her site. All the chemicals that need to be added to the water, the colors, etc can be found there---------------

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...echniques.html

She calls it "Marbeling" not swirling. Check out some of her pics, I think you'll see that her swirls look very much like some of the well known swirlers.....interesting.

Hope this helps and sheds some "NEW" light on the swirling techique and secrets. I know the model car paint techniques, plastikote, testors, enamels, urthane etc....has been exhausted. Many experience great results with these methods, and many do not. The type of paint you need to be using is Versatex Marbeling Colors, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Spectralite, Jacquard Textile Colors, Setacolor, Lumiere or Neopaque. You will also need Carageenan (blender type) for making the water jelly like so that the paints can be easily floated on, this also emlinates MANY of the runs and water spotting you get with the other methods.

Heres the paint that has to be used to get that "Perfect" looking almost hand painted looking swirl............

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...av=paints.html

Heres the stuff that has to be added to the water........

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...chemicals.html

And if you live in Very Hot climates such as Hawaii it is recommended you use Methocel or Methucelluloseuse

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...chemicals.html

And heres the books and DVD's on how to do it step by step.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/en...nav=books.html

I have just been aware of this company for a few months, the swirls I did and sold on **** WERE NOT done using the Petty Skycraft method. We are however in the process of swirling ALOT of bodys using this method and these products and we WILL be offering them on **** in the NEAR future.

I seal the guitar 1st with a Polyester sealer that is used on pianos, drums, and many of the guitars NEW from the factory. It is very thick, and fills the grain as well as seals the grain off COMPLETELY and is HARDER than a rock when dry and can't be chipped unless its hit very hard. Then after approx 6-8hrs the sealer is cured I sand it with my DA with 220. Don't worry about getting DA marks showing up in the clear, these will all be filled later with the thickness of the base coat, swirl, and clear.....

After the sealer has been sanded smoothed and all the grain filled I base coat the guitar with PPG Bright White Urethane Base coat mixed 1:1 with PPG's DT885 reducer. Put on enough coats to totally cover. Then, before you dip it, lightly wet sand the base coat with 1000-1500 grit sand paper. A sanded base coat will sheet the water off when its pulled from the water better than a base coat that has not been sanded. Base coat will bead water like its been waxed, this causes alot of water spotting, but if you lightly sand, or scuff the white you will eliminate about 75% of the water spotting that normally occurs.

Then prepare your dipping tub, I use a 50 Gal garbage can, I do not use borax. Be sure when you put the paint in and swirl it u don't concentrate ALL the paint in the middle of the bucket, it needs to be as even as possible. Do not swirl the paints much or they will eventully start mixing together, rather make relatively strait or squiggly lines. If you like the zig zag look you can acheive this by moving the guitar from left to right as you are submerging the guitar. I usally wait about 2-3 minutes after the paint is swirled to begin dipping. Do it to soon and it may run on you, wait too long and it will start skimming over. I have found that 2-3 mins seems to be about the "Window" that works best. Places where the paint is concentrated will leave a thick swirl, which will be more likely to run or sag, so try not to concentrate it so much in the center. As you dip the guitar it will pull the paint from the sides of the bucket, so be sure you have paint (swirls) all the way out to the edges otherwise the beginning of the swirl will be great but as it gets further down in the water and the paint coming now more from the edge of the bucket will starting getting thin and not cover as well.

Dip the guitar and transform the swirl on the body, then while it is submerged blow the paint away so that it goes to the sides of the bucket, then pull the guitar out fairly quickly. Instead of hanging the guitar I prop something heavy on the neck and lay the guitar off a table so that it is flat. If you hang the guitar it is also more likely to run or sag. I usually wait 4-6 hrs for the paint to dry.

Then, I seal it again with that thick polyester sealer I used at the beginning of the process to fill and seal the grain. Put it on very thick so that you can smoothen all the swirls out. Give it approx 24 hrs to dry. Then wet sand it down to get the thickness down, and to get it perfectly flat and smooth, this needs to be done with a block or paint paddle to insure your sanding it down flat, if you use ur hand you'll end up with a wavy finish. I usually start with 3M wet or dry 400 grit initially, then once I'm done hit over it lightly with some 600 to smoothen out the 400 sand scratches.

Now your ready to clear. I use PPG deltron 3000 High Velocity Urethane Clear. It is mixed with PPG's 8095 Hardner, this clear does not use a reducer. I put on one slick wet coat, wait approx 10-15 minutes until its tacky then put on another. I paint it at around 70-80 degrees. I turn the heat on and get it up to about 90-95 and by the time I'm done cleaning my gun out its ready to be wet sanded and buffed. This is an EXTREMELY FAST drying clear and is the fastest clear on the market. It was specifically designed for High Production shops who are a low bake facility (Meaning they can't get their booth up hot like many others......140-160 degree range) and need a clear that will air dry extremely fast in relatively low tempatures (70-90 degrees) so they can get items out as quickly as possible. Of course the faster the clear the faster the turnaround time. From 70 to 90 degrees this clear is dry and cured in 1 hr 30 mins, and at 120 degrees you can buff it in 9 minutes (Immediately after the body has cooled down of course) I generally like to keep it around 90 degrees, so I usually wait around 30 mins before I start wet sanding. You can litearally paint a guitar, buff it, and assemble it all in the same day. The only down side is the clear runs $175 a galllon. I think its worth every penny when you consider the slickness of the product, ease of use, quality, and the unbeatable curing times. You can paint ALOT of guitars with a gallon too, so keep that in mind. We have been using this clear for around a year (Which is when it came out) and have had nothing but great results with it.

After the guitar is cleared, and cured, I wet sand the guitar with 2000 grit sandpaper until all, if any, of the orange peel is gone and the finish is totally smooth. I buff it out with a Dewalt high speed buffer that has a variable RPM so you can select the RPM range. I set it at 1000 RPMs (which is a relatively low setting) so this way your less likely to burn the paint. Remember to keep the buffer moving and don't stay in one spot longer than a second or two. I use 3M Perfect-it II rubbing compound with a 3M White Foam Waffle buffing pad with strait square edges. I buff all the 2000 grit sand scratches out and then I switch to a 3M Black Foam Waffle Buffing pad that has strait square edges (Theres a square edge and a round edge) which is used for polishing. I use the 3M Mequiare Machine Glaze Swirl Remover until the guitar body is flawless and looks like its wet. When your done you'll have a deep, mirror slick as glass paint job. You can get an idea of how shiny and slick this clear is on our website www.simscustomshop.com All of our guitars are painted with it.

The guy who posted this thread stated he wanted specifics.........Is this specific enough for you? :-)

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Last edited by SimsCustomShop; 05-04-2006 at 02:07 AM.