Crackle finish - my first attempt

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Towards the end of last year I got an order featuring a custom shape (not for everyone but my customer loved it and that's the point right?) to be finished in black crackle over red/yellow burst. This was to be my first one in this finish, and not being one to shy away from a challenge I naturally jumped at the chance.

So here's the shape, Maple and Walnut through neck, Mahogany wings

Oh yeah, it also has a bottle opener on the back haha

Once everything was nicely sanded to 240 and grain filled, it was time to tackle the beast that was the spraying.
For those not familiar with crackle, it's a 2 part paint system that consists of a base coat available in almost any colour you can imagine, and a top coat that is designed to react with the base to create the cracks. I'm not sure if top colours are more limited but the usual tends to be black or white. I know the system I use is available in clear too.

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

I did a test first just to get a feel for the paint and an idea of how to create what my customer wanted.
The thicker the apply the top, the bigger the cracks. So the trick is getting a nice heavy coat on a full guitar body without causing runs. Easy, ha. And you have to do it all in one as you cant go back and ad to it, and the thinner the coat the quicker it dries so you have to be quick so as not to end up with hazey micro cracks (which I did in areas)

Banana base coat on

Then the red burst. At this point, though, I didn't realise that the top coat would also pull some of this out and I'd end up with a much smaller red part. Noted for next time.

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Then the black top. You can see where I got it a little too thin around the pickup and the back, but my customer was happy with the gradients so it was all good

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Now you have to clear coat it or it will all just come off. That was fun and took many coats to get the valleys of the cracks level with the top. It's all cellulose based too so the clear is nitro, and I forget how many coats it took but it was a lot ha. Luckily I had a base coat which i used first which made a big difference in the early leveling part. You'll notice too that the larger black areas continued to micro crack in the meantime. Not sure if that is something I can address next time or whether it's the nature of the particular system I used. I know a lot of the American brands have huge black patches but I have an account with a manufacturer over here and this is the system they produce.

Matching headstock

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

After a good 3-4 weeks I got it all wet sanded and polished up and assembled. He even ordered a custom case in red and black crackle, now that was a job to get the cracks even, which I failed haha, but again he was thrilled so that's all that matters.

Image: https://www.hilditchguitars.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127450217/hilditch-guitars-skylark-crackle_orig.jpg

Image: https://www.hilditchguitars.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127450217/hilditch-guitars-skylark-crackle-2_orig.jpg

Image: https://www.hilditchguitars.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127450217/hilditch-guitars-skylark-crackle-3_orig.jpg

Image: https://www.hilditchguitars.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127450217/hilditch-guitars-skylark-crackle-4_orig.jpg

I got the box covered in velour before he collected, I just don't have pic after this strangely.

So there we have it, my first crackle finish guitar. Was a great project, I always like trying new things, whether they work out or not.
I've got loads left so I really want to do a few more in this finish and experiment with top coat thickness and colours.

vasselmeyer · June 2023

That looks amazing...I do love a crackle finish.

Neilybob · June 2023

Wowsers that sexy af! Superb work

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Thanks both. I have to say, I do actually really like the shape and the crackle is the finishing touch to complete the whole package

hollywoodrox · June 2023

That’s so awesome ,well done

Kittyfrisk · June 2023

Looks excellent

I reckon @Nightswan & @imalrightjack just might have a view too

imalrightjack · June 2023

Good call, @Kittyfrisk - somebody beat me to wowsers, so I've italicised it for emphasis!

roberty · June 2023

That looks so professional. Nice skills mate, very cool

Winny_Pooh · June 2023

Extremely good job! Well done

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

imalrightjack said:

Good call, @Kittyfrisk - somebody beat me to wowsers, so I've italicised it for emphasis!

Thanks so much. Are you planning something similar yourself then?

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Thanks for all the kind words, glad you like it

Nightswan · June 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

Looks excellent
I reckon @Nightswan & @imalrightjack just might have a view too

I missed this so thanks for the heads up! Great looking crackle!

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Thanks @Nightswan glad you think so

Gizmo · June 2023

Very nice work, Which system did you use for this one?

I used the Montana cans White base+Crackle a few years ago and it was a PITA to get right even after a number of tests, these were full body spray attemps 3 & 4

Image: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1QIMAJoXOAdRSL5EAHOHBqgjq9bDl74sh

Only the blue/black made it to a full build, both were clear coated with Solrez UV Epoxy (brushed on) which saves a heap of time on building up the clear to fill the crack valleys and withthe help of a UV lamp can be ready for lvl'ing and buffing in under 5 mins

I clear coated the Red/Black one much to soon (it gas'ed off for about 7 days) and about 3 days later it formed large blisters in the clear so i stripped it all off (what a mess that was!)

I have a 90's Vester that need refreting & refinishing so i think im going to give crackling another go soon'ish

If anyone else is thinking of trying the montana stuff make sure you get a tighter spray cap and go slow/heavy with the crackle coat, if you get a light misting of it over the base it will micro crackle in an instant and if you try and go back over it the 2nd coat just goes to powered and does not crack (this dispite montana claiming you can do a 2nd pass 5 mins after the first on the can)

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

@Gizmo Thanks. I used Morrells as that's who I have my account with, and it's cellulose based which I'm pretty sure means you can only cover it with more cellulose based lacquer.
That blue one is great, I love how you have the horizontal rows of cracks, great effect.

Nightswan · June 2023

HilditchGuitars said:

Thanks @Nightswan glad you think so

Most welcome! For your first attempt I think you nailed it as good as you could have. I've seen refinishers online trying to do crackles and their first, second and even third attempts are nowhere near as good as your one. I'd be very happy with it if you did that for me.

HilditchGuitars · June 2023

Nightswan said:

HilditchGuitars said:

Thanks @Nightswan glad you think so

Most welcome! For your first attempt I think you nailed it as good as you could have. I've seen refinishers online trying to do crackles and their first, second and even third attempts are nowhere near as good as your one. I'd be very happy with it if you did that for me.

wow, that means a lot. I've really concentrated on my finishing over the last 2 years, it's opened up a lot of options for me with orders etc. I'm planning another crackle - pink under black on something like an iceman style

HilditchGuitars · July 2023

Fixed the missing photos, for anyone interested

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Crackle finish - my first attempt

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