I got this old balalaika from my grandma and after a closer look I decided it needs a new finish. I mean it was in a horrible condition. There's a sticker inside that says 1982 and something else in russia. Im pretty sure it says "No sandpaper was harmed in the making of this instrument". If you think chinese guitars are bad quality you should see these. Anyways here's a few pictures before the re-finish.

Notice the awful orange figure.

The frets were in pretty bad shape. Totally unplayable. 

The finish was also quite poor.

Since this was in such a bad condition, I was quite optimistic about the job ahead. I mean, I can't possibly make it any worse.. The first thing that had to go was the orange tribal figure. I thought I'd sand it off and maybe use some water slide decals to make better looking black ones. But much to my surprise, this happened.

The wood hasn't darkened under the figures. I could have sanded more and gotten rid of that but i thought it looked great. Much more subtle.

I sanded the frets with some wet sanding paper and polished them with 0000 steel wool.

I decided to remove the black paint also and put some stain in the fretboard.

Headstock after couple coats of tru-oil. The whole thing is now drying and waiting to be stringed. I will post a picture when it's ready.

 Tuners are back.

I used some steel wool on the back of the body and put one thin layer of tru-oil on it. Neck has also tru-oil finish. Brushed with steel wool for a satin feel.

All done.