# St Croix for the wife



## jaycook (Sep 13, 2007)

St Croix SCII 7'M factory painted pearl black blank. Grips shaped from solid blocks. Hot pink pearl House of Kolor paint squirted at the Fuji ACS seat. A little chunk of New Zealand paua shell. Completely sick French mirror chrome decal from my "brother from another mother", Louarn. Fuji K guides in the "E" finish frames with sic rings from Japan (we aren't worthy of these guides in the US). KR guide train down to size 4 runners. All Gudebrod size A metallic Throop in black electra, silver electra, and magenta. Black nylon guide wraps with magenta and silver electra trim.

This one has been mostly finished for at least a year. Finally done.


----------



## jaycook (Sep 13, 2007)

Couple more pics. Its going to wear a Chronarch.


----------



## mark blabaum (Dec 6, 2007)

Beautiful work Jay, all I can say is clean, clean, clean.


----------



## colbyntx (Jul 18, 2013)

Looks great! Now it's time to paint that reel to match


----------



## Louarn (Jul 26, 2013)

I like "Alisha's pride"!
Some are the nicest to go dancing, and others to go fishing!


----------



## 2400tman (Jul 31, 2011)

That's awesome Jay! Now take her and get it bent!


----------



## VooDoo (Jan 30, 2013)

Beautiful work Jay!!


----------



## katjim00 (Jan 8, 2009)

That looks sweet. My wife really liked it too.


----------



## teamfirstcast (Aug 23, 2006)

stunning work again! Beautiful thread work and finishing. Congrats to both of you!


----------



## SeaY'all (Jul 14, 2011)

That rod is sweet!!!


----------



## Swampland (Mar 25, 2008)

Scored another touchdown on that one.


----------



## Cody Brannan (May 6, 2014)

*Awesome*

My wife would love that!


----------



## LingKiller (Jul 9, 2010)

Great build Jay...


----------



## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Beautiful work, Jay! Louarn's chrome decal IS completely sick, and fits the build perfecto, as it's ALL sick!!


----------



## Skiff (Jun 5, 2004)

Nice and the logo looks great!


----------



## JuanC (Nov 5, 2006)

Sweet build Jay. Nice finish and inlay work. Those decals are nice.


----------



## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

Awesome


----------



## [email protected] (Jun 25, 2005)

Turned out great and I really get a kick out of the name of your rod business lol


----------



## Texan523 (May 29, 2006)

Sweet looking rod and great pics.


----------



## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

Nice work as always. Had to have three shots of scotch before I saw the tiger. And then I had a couple of more.
Cheers, Ellis


----------



## ComeFrom? (May 21, 2004)

Beautiful!


----------



## fishinbenn (Apr 3, 2008)

Nothing better than having a wife that loves to fish. That is a beautiful rod right there. I love the reel seat. How do you like the House of Kolor clears?


----------



## jaycook (Sep 13, 2007)

fishinbenn said:


> Nothing better than having a wife that loves to fish. That is a beautiful rod right there. I love the reel seat. How do you like the House of Kolor clears?


Thanks guys. I didn't think this rod would pop back up.

I'm far from a paint expert. But, I have used a few other clears in the past for some automotive repairs. The House of Kolor seems to be about the same as PPG or Dupont brands. I think HOK is produced by Valspar. I know the other HOK products are high quality materials, so I would think they would use the same standards in the clear that they want on top of them.


----------



## fishinbenn (Apr 3, 2008)

Yes, House of Kolor is Valspar and I have found their clears to be a little tricky when spraying on a car and was curious when using the airbrush system if the challenges were the same. Are you wet sanding and buffing just the base coat and pearl or clearing? I love the deep gloss you are getting and am just starting to paint reel seats. I am not after the rattle can look.


----------



## jaycook (Sep 13, 2007)

The last thing that gets wet sanded is the primer. If there is a problem in the base coat, it might get a quick spot sand, but always another coat of base afterwards. And by base, I mean any solid color, pearl, or color shift. Candy is not the same animal, normally you just have to start over. 

Basically, there is no sanding immediately between components. And, I don't polish the clear. If there is trash in it, I might try to wet sand it down the next day. If that fixes it, I put another coat of clear. By not sanding or buffing the last coat, it keeps a very nice wet look.

To get them to look flawless takes a crazy amount of effort and preparation. I can't seem to get better than about a 50% failure rate. In the end, it's worth it.


----------



## fishinbenn (Apr 3, 2008)

Thanks Jay. So far I haven't had to wet sand or buff the clear. I built a little spray booth with a fan out of an old computer and put the seats on a dowel that is turned by an old 10 rpm dryer motor. It seem to keep runs from becoming an issue.


----------



## d4rdbuilder (Jan 19, 2007)

If she doesn't like that one... She's mighty hard to please!


----------



## Greatwhite (Mar 28, 2011)

awesome. I sure hope my GF doesnt see this one. 
haha


----------

