Steve,
AFAIK, there is no new firestripe celluloid available. It is possible to hand paint this pattern, using clear 0.020" rigid vinyl which is painted with tinted lacquer on the back side. The finished thickness is about 0.024".
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Found this in the SM archives.
I just read through Dan's writeup, and I am surprised that it is so different from what I did:
1) I never used mylar (too thin, and the lacquer would not lay on it right).
2) I never painted on the front side.
3) I always used tinted lacquer, not alcohol stain. In my experience, stain never gave enough color density, and the edges were too sharp.
My method was to sand the rigid vinyl with 220 grit to prepare it for the lacquer. The next step was to paint the dark spots with a brush. Then I would spray clear lacquer on it to 'fuzz' the edges of the spots. This was the critical step, because spraying too much or too fast would cause the color to run. After that was allowed to dry thoroughly, I would spray yellow tinted lacquer to give some tint to the clear areas. Finally, I would seal with clear lacquer.
I stopped painting pickguards because I became very allergic to lacquer fumes, and the process would tie up my shop area.
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given all the cracked tops on Martins,
In my experience, if you don't attach a celluloid pickguard by the solvent method, the shrinkage will be minimal. All my under-finish celluloid guards have been glued on with epoxy, and none have had a shrinkage problem. The first time I used this method was in 1981.
If you install the guard over the finish with pressure sensitive adhesive, it will not crack the top, even if it does shrink. This is the method that has been used successfully by Taylor, Collings, Santa Cruz, etc.