Clearcoat & humidity do NOT get along.

Well, it's been a quiet week, mainly because I messed up and went too heavy on the clearcoat Monday morning. Instantly got white cloudy blotches, known as "blush", caused by moisture getting trapped under the lacquer. Sometimes it disappears on its own, or you can wet sand it out, but since I had to place an order with Reranch for another can of clearcoat and polishing compound anyhow, I grabbed a can of Blush remover too. Works great! Just a light mist and the blush disappears. The blush remover basically melts the top coat a little, allowing the moisture to escape. I'll let it dry overnight and resume clearcoating tomorrow or Sunday. (Wish I had taken some before & after shots, but you get the idea)

Here are some pictures of the body from last Sunday, with natural sunlight, before I started the clearcoating...

In related news, I decided i'm going to shellac the neck for an amber tint, then seal it with Tru Oil gun stock finish. After looking at tons of pictures from dozens of internet forums, it seems that shellac & Tru Oil will give me the results I want. I've ordered a bottle of Tru Oil and a bag of fresh amber shellac flakes, hopefully next week i'll do a test run on some scrap maple. 

Stay tuned, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!