Touchup painting

[Bradley Walker]

Hello all,

Recently I just purchased a 2n1 pen/brush bottle of touchup paint for my `01
OBW for the 'champaign' colored plastic front bumper. There are sone
scratches it in that actually have scratched down into the black plastic
molding which is underneath the paint. Yesterday I purchased a small set of
3M sheets of sandpaper and tried to work on one 1/4" long scratch. I sanded
it down so that it was smooth, but when I looked at it up close, there was
still a bit of a 'divit' down into the plastic molding so that if I paint
it, the paint will cover it up however it will not fill that tiny recessed
gap. Will I need some sort of spot filler for this?

What is the finest grained sandpaper I can get? I'm assuming using a small
dab of spot filler then scraping the remaining of it off. Then just sanding
till it's smooth and even. From there I'm guessing I'll paint over it,
however what is the smallest grained sandpaper I can get so that when
sanding over top the paint that it doesn't scuff the paint?

Thanks!

 

[BD]

however what is the smallest grained sandpaper I can get so that when
sanding over top the paint that it doesn't scuff the paint?

You can get several thousand grain wet/dry paper.

As well, for 'final' polishing, look into a product called Novus
plastic polish.

I have filled some paint chips in my car with the following procedure:

-clean and dry the area
-put a SMALL dab of paint over the area, enough to leave a small bump
-take a thin strip of 2000 wet/dry, and put it over the end of a small
square wooden rod
-wet the paper
-gendly sand the immediate paint bump in tiny circles
-wipe off the excess water
-check for flushness with eye and finger
-once it's flush, polish with Novus #2.

Aside from the fact that my paint is metallic, which is tougher to
match, it works very well.

Just takes time.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

You can get several thousand grain wet/dry paper.

As well, for 'final' polishing, look into a product called Novus
plastic polish.

I have filled some paint chips in my car with the following procedure:

-clean and dry the area
-put a SMALL dab of paint over the area, enough to leave a small bump
-take a thin strip of 2000 wet/dry, and put it over the end of a small
square wooden rod
-wet the paper
-gendly sand the immediate paint bump in tiny circles
-wipe off the excess water
-check for flushness with eye and finger
-once it's flush, polish with Novus #2.

Aside from the fact that my paint is metallic, which is tougher to
match, it works very well.

Just takes time.

I think that procedure is similar to this product;
http://www.langka.com/

Carl

 

[BD]

I think that procedure is similar to this product;
http://www.langka.com/

Yep...

In fact, I think I bought some Langka stuff once, but found that the
'physical' approach (ie slowly sanding down the bump of paint) worked
more predictably and consistently than the 'chemical' approach.
Sanding and polishing took far longer, and was more work, but I found
the results were just more consistent.

That Novus stuff is amazing. Used it to polish my guitar, and my car
touchups. ;-)

 

[Frank]

Hello all,

Recently I just purchased a 2n1 pen/brush bottle of touchup paint for my `01
OBW for the 'champaign' colored plastic front bumper. There are sone
scratches it in that actually have scratched down into the black plastic
molding which is underneath the paint. Yesterday I purchased a small set of
3M sheets of sandpaper and tried to work on one 1/4" long scratch. I sanded
it down so that it was smooth, but when I looked at it up close, there was
still a bit of a 'divit' down into the plastic molding so that if I paint
it, the paint will cover it up however it will not fill that tiny recessed
gap. Will I need some sort of spot filler for this?

What is the finest grained sandpaper I can get? I'm assuming using a small
dab of spot filler then scraping the remaining of it off. Then just sanding
till it's smooth and even. From there I'm guessing I'll paint over it,
however what is the smallest grained sandpaper I can get so that when
sanding over top the paint that it doesn't scuff the paint?

Thanks!

Probably crocus (sic) cloth. You could also try fine steel wool. I
used to use toothpaste for polishing down an acrylic watch crystal.
You may not need to get that fine as paint should fill it in.
Frank

 

[Bradley Walker]

I have a bottle of factory touchup paint as well as clearcoat. I'm curious,
when you sanded with the fine grain sandpaper, did you create scuff marks in
the surrounding paint? I'm using 1500 grit right now and when sanding a
small area on the plastic bumper, I'm getting scuff marks in the surrounding
area of the immediate dab of paint. When I dabbed on a few drops of
clearcoat, that stuff leaves a raised surface level from the regular
clearcoated bumper. But when I sand that down very very light to the touch,
it scuffs the new clearcoat I put on and then a tiny bit surrounding it.
When I wet the area (I'm wetsanding, wiping off, and wetting again) to
remove the dust particles, it looks great, but as it dries it shows the
scuff marks once again. Do I need to goto finer grit?? solution??

 

[BD]

remove the dust particles, it looks great, but as it dries it shows the
scuff marks once again. Do I need to goto finer grit?? solution??

Novus polish #2. Seriously. Try it.

Go to ebay and look for Novus Polish. Obviously, don't go nuts on it
without proving it yourself, but It _will_ get rid of the scuff marks
made with super-fine wet-sand paper.

 

[Bradley Walker]

What are your recommended instructions for using it?

What I've done so far is use between 800-1500 grit sandpaper getting the
scratches smoothed out, in some cases sanding a bit of the black plastic
underpart. Then dabbing the paint in the scratches and trying to sand them
smooth and even with the rest of the painted area. That is where I"m
getting my scuff marks at. Then I've applied the clearcoat over top and
that seems to leave a raised area until I wetsand it down and thus leaving
more scuff marks.

What is the difference between #1, #2, and #3?

 

[BD]

#3 is the coarsest, #2 is a fine polish, and #1 is really just a spray
liquid for cleaning.

How to use it - put it on a soft cloth and rub. Dead easy. _But_ if the
scuffs are any coarser than a 'haze', it might be too much for the
polish to abrade down. You'll be able to see easily enough - if the
polish doesn't remove it in about 10 seconds of rubbing, the surface
isn't ready for the polish yet, and you'll have to back down for a
little more wet sanding.

If you're getting fairly even coverage, and your only issue is the
superfine scratches from the 1500 grit, just give it a whirl and see
what effect it has.

My experience in sanding fine scratches is that you need to work
through the grits in sequence until each grit has removed all scratches
made by the previous grit. The 'tough' bit, in my view, is getting the
paint even with the surface. I think the only real key is to go very
slowly. I haven't done particularly large areas - mostly tiny chips -
and in my case the amount of paper touching the paint was about the
width of a match head. And still it left a hazy area about 1/2" across.
The polish cleans these up like they weren't even there. Couple of
wraps of soft cloth over a fingertip, 20 seconds of rubbing in small
circles, and that's it. The polish itself couldn't be simpler to use.
Just keep in mind it is still an abrasive, so trying to use it to even
out a paint blob may actually result in you removing some clearcoat
before you know it.

BD

 

[Bradley Walker]

Thanks for that info. Do you know if chain stores will carry that?
Walmart, AutoZone, etc?

 

[BD]

Thanks for that info. Do you know if chain stores will carry that?
Walmart, AutoZone, etc?

No, sorry. Never seen it anywhere.

 

[Caz Marciniak]

I learned something from a pro shop that not many paint pros share with
people and the scuff marks and scratchs on their cars:

lipstick.

Yeah, it sounds odd, but it does work. Just buff it in and wipe away,
but keep in mind that the larger the scratch/scuff, the less likely it
will work.

 

[BD]

lipstick.

Yeah, it sounds odd, but it does work. Just buff it in and wipe away,
but keep in mind that the larger the scratch/scuff, the less likely it
will work.

Weird. I imagine that the stuff has _some_ wax content, but what about
color matching? Y'd think that would be an issue...

 

[Caz Marciniak]

You would think, but I saw the guy use a deep red on white paint, and
it didn't seem to matter.