Airbrush Paint Touch-up---long read

[Crazy Amos]

Nice write up of your process. Cutting out a hole in a piece of paper and putting it against the surface, like a rock chip template may have simplified the "surrounding area clean up". I plan to do some similar work after the winter, hopefully learning from and contributing to, the methods of the process and this thread. For now it's time to push away from the keyboard, long day tomorrow. :xyxthumbs:

Thats a pretty good idea, maybe use a tracing paper of some sort? Or maybe a clear plastic wrap like ceran wrap or a clear bra type of plastic. You could lay it over the entire area, trace the edges of the holes with an exacto knife and remove the center piece. The paint would be masked off completely up to the edge, you could see the entire area you are working becasue of the clear plastic and the thickness would be relatively low allowing you to better gage the number of coats needed to be flush with the paint. I like it....

 

[93fox]

Thats a pretty good idea, maybe use a tracing paper of some sort? Or maybe a clear plastic wrap like ceran wrap or a clear bra type of plastic. You could lay it over the entire area, trace the edges of the holes with an exacto knife and remove the center piece. The paint would be masked off completely up to the edge, you could see the entire area you are working becasue of the clear plastic and the thickness would be relatively low allowing you to better gage the number of coats needed to be flush with the paint. I like it....

you might not want to do that buddy. because you will leave a hard edge where the paint lays down. its better to just sand the chipped areas down a little, fill them in with putty coat and sand down the putty. and then just prime it a little and re sand and then touch up the areas. it looks easy but doing that with metallics or pearls or colors that need blend wont work. blending the clear also has its trick to it! once you spray your clear you might want to spray just medium reducer around the area where you blended the clear so when you buff it you get one good even coat of clear! ive done all of this with an airbrush and it has saved me from using my spray gun on panels like the one you painted! its looks good!

 

[richy]

Like MP said, I applaud you for taking the time and effort to do this thread. I saw your original but had never tried it so I didn't comment. I do a lot of touch ups for customers b/c I hate the look of polished paint with those chips just screaming for attention. I use a toothpick or very small brush and either Langka, Dr Chip or wet sand the area flat. You are right though, on flat paint it looks great..not so on metallics. Having seen the amount of time this process takes however, will probably stop me from trying it. I do appreciate you shedding light on the process.

 

[93fox]

Like MP said, I applaud you for taking the time and effort to do this thread. I saw your original but had never tried it so I didn't comment. I do a lot of touch ups for customers b/c I hate the look of polished paint with those chips just screaming for attention. I use a toothpick or very small brush and either Langka, Dr Chip or wet sand the area flat. You are right though, on flat paint it looks great..not so on metallics. Having seen the amount of time this process takes however, will probably stop me from trying it. I do appreciate you shedding light on the process.

i mean you can just spray some paint and make it look similar! but if you want it to look llike the rest of the car, those steps most be taken! its a little long process but you waste less than using a spray gun!