Touch-up paint: how not to do it

[thwart]

From eBay...

[dekindy]

After carefully reviewing detailed instructions and obtaining the proper materials, that is about how mine turned out. I was advised not to try and should have listened.

Is it best to take the frame to the mall and have the nice sales lady match the paint as closely as possible to fingernail polish and then clear coat?

[thwart]

Serotta sells matching touch-up paint pretty cheaply. I agree, though, that even with the right paint the result can be surprisingly obvious.

But this... kinda looks like someone was chewing black licorice and spit on the downtube.

To me anyway.

[davidlee]

Pro!!!

[Ken Robb]

I have pretty good luck buying a bottle of Testor's model paint from a hobby shop and using it for touch-up work. Even if you get a small amount of the paint that was used on your bike during the original painting it's not likely to give you a perfect touch-up because it was intended to be sprayed rather than brushed on. I was amazed at how very many different shades of blue are in Testor's lineup.

[victoryfactory]

I almost snorted my coffee!
Maybe it's some sort of photoshop joke?

Thanks for a great morning laugh.

The original scratch would look much better, no?
Or a sticker? Or one of those track bike TT protectors?

Yikes!

VF

[ultraman6970]

Well, sand... then nail clear over the scratch and put a black vinyl strip and done with it :P

[stephenmarklay]

I have some rash on my cross chainstay. Not to obvious as it is mostly the under side of the non drive side. I was hoping to touch it up a bit but may NOT

[sbparker31]

Serotta sells matching touch-up paint pretty cheaply. I agree, though, that even with the right paint the result can be surprisingly obvious.

But this... kinda looks like someone was chewing black licorice and spit on the downtube.

To me anyway.

FYI, I recently contacted Serrotta for some touch up paint, and they told me they no longer ship it because it is considered a "hazardous material". Not sure if you were nearby you could pick some up. What they did do is send me the paint formula so I could take it to my local auto paint shop and have some mixed up. Unfortunately, the minimum I could get was 1 pint at $60.00. Granted, it is nice paint. I ended up using about an ounce to touch up a some paint chips (sprayed, not brushed). I used another 4 ounces to completely paint another bike I have. I still have 11 ounces. Maybe I'll paint my tool box?

[bigflax925]

I picked up a silver Heron that the previous, previous owner had touched up with a black nail polish. It was horrendous.

I removed it with a swipe of some acetone and we live happily ever after.

[thwart]

FYI, I recently contacted Serrotta for some touch up paint, and they told me they no longer ship it because it is considered a "hazardous material". Not sure if you were nearby you could pick some up. What they did do is send me the paint formula so I could take it to my local auto paint shop and have some mixed up. Unfortunately, the minimum I could get was 1 pint at $60.00. Granted, it is nice paint. I ended up using about an ounce to touch up a some paint chips (sprayed, not brushed). I used another 4 ounces to completely paint another bike I have. I still have 11 ounces. Maybe I'll paint my tool box?So things have changed... I bought some a couple of yrs ago and they shipped it without problem... $8 or $10 I think...

[sbparker31]

So things have changed... I bought some a couple of yrs ago and they shipped it without problem... $8 or $10 I think...

Yes, I suspect the postal service caught on and nixed that operation. . .

[rice rocket]

That's ludicrous. I ship/receive flammables pretty often. Only stipulation is you have to declare it, it has to be well packaged and double bagged or whatever, and it can't go by air.

But back to the original topic, touchup paint is meant to be dabbed on, not brushed. A lot of people get that wrong, because it comes with a brush top on most occasions.

Oh, and you should check if the color matches too. :D

[93legendti]

From eBay...
about 20 more of those blotches and it would look like a Peg... :D

[BumbleBeeDave]

about 20 more of those blotches and it would look like a Peg... :D

POTW!!! :D :p :hello:

BBD

[eddief]

A few days ago I put a nice chip in the beautiful paint of the new filleted Steve Rex. I was just taking it out to the work stand to start building and whacked the seat stay against my concrete staircase.

I went into a combo of first freakout and then figure out how to fix better than just slapping on some touchup.

I found the procedure attached below on a website. It worked remarkably as described and the only flaw is a bit of mismatch of color probably due to not mixing my touchup paint as well as I could. The spot where the chip is located is as smooth and shiny as the rest of the original paint. I am pleasantly surprised by the results and now my f***up is not quite so dramatic.

Never having used these materials, it is amazing that the fine grit wet/dry feels more like you are polishing than sanding. But it definitely takes down the bumps in the touchup and along with the rubbing compound creates a smooth waxable surface. Knowing what I do now, I probably would not use any rougher than 1500 grit on any of these steps.

I found the rubbing compound, the fine grit wet/dry (1000, 15000, 2000), the tube of clear at my local auto parts store.

Here are the things I will watch out for next time:

1. sand chip lightly before applying any paint.
2. clean area with recommended or other solvent before applying paint.
3. mix paint as thoroughly as possible to get best match.
4. don't sand any more area than is necessary.


Use this procedure for long scratches and for large chips.
1. Use 1000 grit paper and wet-sand the scratch and the area around it. Make sure to use lots of water when sanding. This keeps scratching to a minimum.
2. Use DuPont Prepsol to clean wax off before touch-up.
3. Using microbrush and liberal amounts of paint, touch up the full-length of the scratch. As soon as the paint drys (10 minutes) do another coat. Repeat until you have done sufficient coats to have built a small mound of paint over the length of the scratch.
4. Let dry for 24 hours.
5. Now wet-sand the touched up surface with 1500 grit wet sandpaper. Sand in a front to rear motion since that's the direction the car is painted with, hence: you're going with the grain of the paint. Sand until you have eliminated the mound and any touchup paint outside of the scratch.
6. Clean area thoroughly and let dry.
7. Take a clean microbrush and begin to apply the clearcoat to the area. Don't be afraid to be liberal with it and don't try and keep the clearcoat within the scratch area. Apply approximately 3-4 coats, again until there is a small mound. Let it set and completely dry for 4-5 days.
8. Now, wet sand with 2000 grit wet sand paper. You will begin to see the clearcoated scratch blend into the rest of the paint - thus disappearing. (It produces a very gratifying feeling!)

[GuyGadois]

From eBay...

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=84043&stc=1

That's a snot rocket!

[93legendti]

That's a snot rocket!
from a coal miner!
Seriously, when I was 16, I spent the summer sweeping underground parking garages. For months when I blew my nose it was sand colored...yuck.

[Pete Serotta]

I ask him as a friend to touch up nicks. Never seen it done better. If you are in Raleigh area, he has side business of bike repair and that is one of many items he does very very very well. :D Pete