I had this Dean Vendetta for about five years after giving away one of my nicer guitars to my son for a Christmas present. I bought it as a temporary player until I could fill the hole with something better.

After buying my Custom several years ago I didn't play it much at all and it sat in the corner with my acoustics.

I got the idea to paint it from some cronies at another board who had several projects in the works and got my wheels turning. I didn't know what I wanted, but no airbrushed Elvis's, or animal scenes, but some sort of a pattern that I hadn't seen on a guitar before.

I picked the Bavarian State Flag of Germany for my pattern and colors. I have roots in Deutschland so this seemed appropriate. I like Oktoberfest as well as the next German.

This was finished with Dupli-Color automotive acrylic lacquer. It sprays nicely from the can and lays fairly well, though not completely flat. It does need some sanding help to level it out, but it does shoot nicely.

Not finished yet as I'm still sanding the clear coat with 600, but I'm almost finished with that step. Then four to six more coats of clear before wet sanding. I did the neck this morning with the twin stripes. All the hardware with be gold and I'm re-using the pickups from my Custom.

This will certainly be a one of a kind Dean Vendetta.

Initial four coats of Bright White (GM Color) while curing:



After four hours of layout and masking:



45 minutes after the last coat of blue metallic:



Four clear coats later:



And the neck:




What it looked like before: