Hi everyone

This is a question for advanced users: Below you see some pictures of carbon fibre resonator guitars built by the late luthier Alan Timmins:







Can anyone tell how these very nice inlays are done? A close up view would be very interesting but unfortunately I don't own any of these instruments - guesses are that only around 12 were made in total.

I think the silhouettes are cut from some kind of highly polished foil or very thin sheet metal but how are they built into the laminate? First I thought he might have applied a clear gelcoat to the mould and then put the pieces in before the fabric but I doubt this would work, I guess the surface of the gelcoat would have to have almost a mirror-like polish for that to work...

However if they were glued on after demoulding, how would it be possible to apply a top coat so thick that it completely fills between the inlays for polishing?

Regards
Martin