LNG Project - like Ibanez JEM777 LNG
I make a lot of Ibanez JEM style guitar replacement bodies. I don't do a lot of solid colors, but sometime do a project. The recent LNG factory guitar (discussed here) inspired me to do a few of those. The idea is to match a factory Ibanez JEM777 LNG. I thought I'd document the process.
I had two people ask for a LNG. I thought I'd prep 3, then work on the paint. I got a tip from Raj. The initial test was decent, but the process to thin the paint for spraying left the paint a bit uneven. I'm excited how close the match is! I've been working on a good match for years.
While I'm working on the headstocks and the paint, I'm prepping the bodies. I discuss that in detail here. This page is more specific to the LNG prep. Here are the three bodies in different levels of completeness.
The prep is moving along nicely.
Here is a shot of the headstock after wet sanding out the splatter. The dots turned into little dark spots. Hopefully another coat will cover it. If not, I'll need to find another way to spray.
Here are some shots after the new mix of paint. It still doesn't spray well, but I think it will work with some wet sanding and a second coat.
This is after the first clear on the headstocks. The match is nearly perfect. The one on the left had an issue with the spray pattern. That didn't blend in, so I need to do that one again. This paint is very unforgiving.
I expected some setbacks on this project. That is why I did two for customers and one for my "collection". Of the headstocks, one is acceptable to go to the second coat of clear. The others will go back to a re-do on the green. This one looks great with the logo. The pictures have reflections so it is hard ot tell that the match is pretty spot on compared to the factory. The one goes to Raj.
This is an update in March 2018. This project really is taking a lot out of me. I'm making some progress though. So the headstocks worked with te first process. That just wasn't working well for the bodies. There was just an inconsistent spray pattern. This type of paint relies on the undercoat, and how thick the spray is. The factory LNG on my anniversary model was probably many coats, or sprayed very thick. Here are the headstocks and the wall of bodies in various stages.
This is a late April 2018 update. The new process for the green is working. I need to sprsy multiple coats to build up the color. It is partially see through. I think one more coat on this body. Then two more on the next in line. This is very labor intensive.
This is an early May update. The green process worked. The match is very close to the factory LNG. Now I need to do the trem claw.
Here is the start of the trem claw. The lighting isn;t th best, but this shows the idea.
