How to mix seafoam green?

[TT100]

Pelham blue lost out to seafoam green for the tele project. I'm going to spray it myself and looking at the pigments on stewmac.com I'd like info on mixing. They have green and white that I think I can mix to get seafoam.

My idea was to sand and prep the body after drilling it for through-the-body stringing. Then shoot it white for a base, then find that mix of green and white or whatever else (?) to shoot over the base. After that I'll shoot clear laquer over the top.

This is the first time I'm doing this so any advice is welcome. I have a compressor but will be buying a small paint gun.

TT

[telecast]

You'll need a touch of yellow as well, and possibly brown.

If you're using the Stewmac water based finish, don't worry about a base coat. Since it's clear anyway it won't gain you anything. They used to make a white that you could tint, I wish they still did.

Some color mixing tips:

DON'T waste your money. Start with a very small amount of finish and ad pigment to it until the desired color is acheived. Write down the recipe as you go. Use something like a syringe to keep track of exactly how much your putting in, like:

Experimental recipe:

1/2 cup of clear finish

5 cc's yellow
10 cc's green
1 cc brown

Not dark enough, not yellow enough.

5 more cc's green
1 cc yellow.

Keep doing this until you get the right color. You may end up tossing out the first attempt or two, but once you have it right, just multiply the amounts for a 1/2 quart, which should be more than enough to put 4 coats of color on the guitar and have some left over. SAVE THE FINAL RECIPE somewhere, you may need it again someday.

Also, use the second half of your clear finish to put 3 or 4 coats of clear over the color.

Mix mix mix. When you add the pigment, mix the hell out of it. Once it's mixed, mix it some more. You must make there's no pigment laying at the bottom or your recipe will be wrong.

[TT100]

Good tips, thanks!

TT

[Alpine86]

Guitar re-ranch has the nitro in a can with the color already mixed. Its good stuff..

[Offshore Angler]

That's a big 10-4 on the Reranch.

[telecast]

Reranch is for sissies! :bwa

[Alpine86]

Hey.. its a great way to save some bucks if your wanting to do a refin but not wanting to invest the money in a full spray set up. They offer some great stuff. Plus, you can spend alot of money just in the experimental phase trying to mix your color. I went through so much freakin pigment when I was trying to mix a yellow that approximated a nice aged Oly White.

[telecast]

My post was a joke, but if you want to get serious:

Yes, mixing colors and shooting with spray equipment requires practice. It's like anything else, you have to work at it to get good at it. If a guy wants to learn how to do that, no amount of premixed spray bombs is going to help. And like anything worth doing, it'll take an investment of time and money.

[Tonefiend]

Why not get the right color right from the auto paint store? No one I know mixes solid colors other than the paint stores and thye have the formulas and the right toners/paints. Now if you want to learn to mix colors work on transparents.

Aged Pelham Blue:


You can get a great hvlp spray gun from Harbor Freight for $50. I have a few and use them over my expensive Sharpe, DeVilbiss and Sata for shooting lacquer and shellac.
They even have a jamb gun I want to try out if I didn't have a killer Sata Mini Jet, I am sure it's great.

[SMOKINDEVILLE]

I do have all of the spray equipment, but does anyone know where to buy sprayable nitro in fender colors?

[telecast]

No one I know mixes solid colors

I do, and successfully. IPLAYLOUD's Surf Green Coronado was mixed and finished by me. It's not that hard and can be quite a lot of fun if you take your time.

As for the 'right formula'? What exactly is that? Fender's colors of the same name have changed over the years. Look at an old Vintage White and compare it to a new, or even guitars from the late 50's and early 60's. You can find a whole slew of different Butterscotch Blonde's too. A place like Reranch sells their interpretation of a color, that's all.