My first burst.

And it's not exactly pretty, but I'm going to run with it. This week I grain filled the Explorer, applied sand & sealer then got it painted with the three tone burst and started the clear coating. I used Behlins spray cans I got at Rockler. After I had a smooth base of sand & sealer I shot it with their Natural Toner, which is sort of like ReRanch neck amber mixed with clear lacquer. It gave the mahogany a nice golden tint and helped even out the color overall of the different pieces of wood.

I tried the paper mask method to get the edges black and was pretty unhappy with the result. I used brown paper grocery sack and it wasn't stiff enough to give me a uniform edge. I think the method is usable, but think poster board(or foam core board) and very careful sizing is necessary to get a more predictable edge.

I pushed ahead though and applied some of their Walnut Toner to blend the natural and black. In theory and practice the colors look great, but the execution leave something to be desired on my part. I sanded some of the walnut off and tried to redo it for a cleaner appearance, but it still didn't turn out quite like I wanted.

The uneven black bugged me a lot though, so I broke out one of my old airbrushes and a can of compressed air I had sitting around and shot more black on the edges to give it a better look. That part turned out real nice. I think next time I'll either use the airbrush for the black and walnut, or try the cone spray tip on the walnut, because the directional tip it comes with was too concentrated to get a good fade.

I could sand it all down and start over, but I'm not inclined to. It looks passable and, frankly, I want to be done with it and move on to the next paint job before the cold weather gets too close. I learned a lot, found readily available colors that work real well on mahogany and am sure the next burst I do will come out just like I want. I'm thinking of the same color combo for my `64 Corvette, perhaps adding a fourth color they have called Dark Walnut to allow an even more subtle bursting effect.

I'll be putting on the final top coats of clear, weather permitting, next week and will get some shots of the Explorer to upload. I wanted to shoot some this morning for this update, but out net was down again at home, so I didn't take the time.