Tyler Smeared Finishes

[MiKeGTR]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone has experimented with creating a DIY James Tyler Smear finish with successful results? Preferably a Burning Water type. My friend had a pretty close match by mixing acrylic paint and food color dye haha. Its great and looks the biz but fades real easy. Any more 'pro' methods out there? Please share


Many Thanks

MiKe

 

[CaseyCor]

Did he coat the paint afterwards? That should slow down the fading process.

 

[Ancient Alien]

The Tyler "burning water' finish is very easy to do.
Prime the body nice...
Paint 2 coats of each color that you want.
Tyler uses prime gray first, then a dark dull gray(almost grey green), Silver, then White. then red, then the dark dull gray.
He sometimes adds in blues Yellows, and purples to enhance the look.
You can use any colors you want...
After all layers are painted and cured...
Start using very fine grit sandpaper and sand in circular patterns(or use a random orbital sander) and start removing the top later of paint.
After that, then start experimenting on sanding pressure in small patterns to expose all the other layers of color underneath.
It's actually one of the easiest to do, yet one of the coolest looks.

 

[CaseyCor]

The Tyler "burning water' finish is very easy to do.
Prime the body nice...
Paint 2 coats of each color that you want.
Tyler uses prime gray first, then a dark dull gray(almost grey green), then White. then red, then the dark dull gray.
He sometimes adds in blues and purples to enhance the look.
After all layers are painted and cured...
Start using very fine grit sandpaper and sand in circular patterns(or use a random orbital sander) and start removing the top later of paint.
After that, then start experimenting on sanding pressure in small patterns to expose all the other layers of color underneath.
It's actually one of the easiest to do, yet one of the coolest looks.

I just came in here to type that out, and you beat me to it.

 

[MiKeGTR]

Guys thanks so much for the help. Sounds fairly straight forward. I have another question about the sanding process, excuse my ignorance, I'm a complete Noob lol. Just wondering because all those paint layers will get thicker as each is put on, How would you get the body to feel even after sanding? Ive Played a Burning Water and its obviously a real thin skin finish, but it felt really smooth and flat (hope all this makes sense, lol)

Also, is there any protective coat I should put on after sanding, and would Birchwood Casey TRU-oil be OK for the bare forearm contour?

Thanks again guys

Really appreciate it :-D

MiKe

 

[MiKeGTR]

Also forgot to ask, whats the best type of paint to use for these? lol :-D

 

[Ancient Alien]

You can use any high quality laquer or poly to paint with.
As far as the finish being level after doing a schmear, it should be pretty smooth to begin with after that sanding is done.
The paint should be applied in nice, thin uniform coats, not blasted on thick.
2 nice thin coats of each color will not build up too thick.
Even if you use 5 colors, two coats of each, the total paint job should be no more than 2 to 3 sheets of printer paper.
I always sand between every coat to ensure no lumping.
Just a very light, ultra fine sanding to de burr each coat.
Once you get the look that you want, do a final overall sanding over the whole guitar to get it ready for clear.
I use 600 between coats and 800 for the last.
Then you can spray a nice couple coats of clear laquer or poly and buff it to shine or lust leave a nice thin matte finish.
Stew Mac should have everything you need from prep to completion.
Just be sure that if you are using poly, use poly from start to finish, same goes for laquer.
Do not use Nitro unless you really know what you are doing.

 

[jcj]

The Tyler "burning water' finish is very easy to do.
Prime the body nice...
Paint 2 coats of each color that you want.
Tyler uses prime gray first, then a dark dull gray(almost grey green), Silver, then White. then red, then the dark dull gray.
He sometimes adds in blues Yellows, and purples to enhance the look.
You can use any colors you want...
After all layers are painted and cured...
Start using very fine grit sandpaper and sand in circular patterns(or use a random orbital sander) and start removing the top later of paint.
After that, then start experimenting on sanding pressure in small patterns to expose all the other layers of color underneath.
It's actually one of the easiest to do, yet one of the coolest looks.

Very cool.
I wondered how they did that.
I always dug the BW finish.

 

[CaseyCor]

Not a hard thing to do if you've got some experience. The results are fantastic, I love the Burning Water finish.

Keep us updated if you end up going for it!