superpats

First off let me say I did this all in a cool shaded area. I decided to get going on touching up some rock chips on my hood the first couple went ok then the brush that came with the touch up paint started to harden. I was shaking the hell out of the bottle before every application also. The stuff just turns to a tar like substance almost as soon as it hits the air. I decided I would use toothpicks as I read in a link provided by Guitarman. The thing is the bottle is too big (deep) to just dip a toothpick in. So I was going to pour a little out into like a small ketchup container you can get at any fastfood joint, but nothing comes out when you tip the bottle upside down. I think the ball in the bottle doesn't allow you to pour it out. Is there an easier way to do this or did I get a crappy bottle of paint. I ordered the paint from Sewell-Lexus. And also ordered the Lanka paint chip repair kit which works well with the blob elimination. Anybody with any experience in touch-up jobs please help me out with any info you can give. It would be much appreciated. Thanks Dom

Guitarman

Yes, the average touch-up paint/applicator leaves much to be desired, no doubt. Those brushes in the cap are pretty much useless, as they are too big and messy to exact a delicate pinpoint of paint, as is often needed. One thing I've always done is thin the touch up a bit (lacquer thinner for lacquer based touch up, enamel for any enamel based touch up) into a bottle cap or such, then I use an artists' 000 paint brush to apply it. The toothpick will work well for most, but I just perfer the 000 brush, it has a very fine point and is very thin as well.

I've used some of the DupliColor touch-up pens, but they either clog up and won't deliver paint flow, or they won't work at certain angles due to gravity. When they work I like them, I just wish it was more consistently.

I always wind up going back to my 000 artists' brush and thinned paint, and I'm happy again.

HarrierAWD

I use a pair of scissors and cut the touch-up paint brush at an angle. It helps with really small paint chips.

Anyone tried touch-up pens?

rgarjr

iTrader: (1)

Is it good to wet sand down the touch up paint with 2000 grit sand paper to level off the paint and then use polish compound to remove the fine scratches?

Guitarman

For the fussy among us, yes, it helps make the touch up more uniform and blend better.. The problem is, I don't generally like to advise it for the novice that hasn't done it because mistakes can be made, and sometimes inexperience can cause more problems than it solves. I think anyone can learn to do it, but some educational info is needed before you begin.

For those willing to try, you just have to make sure you use a soft foam block behind the paper, and don't oversand it. The clear is very thin on oem clear ( the thickness of a baby's hair) and you can get yourself into trouble if you don't stop in time.

One rule of thumb; when wetsanding a periphery of the touch up, stop when the orange peel is flattened. after that you're on shaky ground. You will see orange peel in the dull paint after sanding as tiny darker spots, so when they're gone it will be obvious.

It's also bad to sand constantly in just a small spot because you WILL see the sanded area as a little ripple or crater in the paint (especially on black and dark colors). You can start by just attacking just the level of the touch-up very carefully, but once you have gotten the touch up near level with the surrounding paint, you must spread the sanded area out slightly to better blend the level, as well as the touch up, in order to avoid that subtle "dip" in the paint.


Anyone that wants a complete run down on wetsanding can look here, to an article I wrote on the topic few years back;

http://www.fordvschevy.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46645


Cheers.