Repairing chipped paint

[jmwallac]

Hello all,

I had this body drying with the hood in place for about a week. When I removed the hood, two pieces chipped off. I also noticed that the tape for the stripe pulled up some paint as well. The coats of clear have already been applied.

My question is: what can be done to repair this? Do I have to strip it? Can the paint be filled? There is definitely some depth to the paint/clear. The body turned out pretty good, so it's only natural this would happen. I could really use some expert help!

[MPWR]

Details man, details!!

What did you paint with? What did you prime with? What did you clearcoat with? How did you apply them?

Does the chip go down to the primer or the bare plastic?

[rsxse240]

it appears you are using a metallic paint, so the short answer is to strip it and start over. if you really don't want to strip it, I suggest at least sanding the top of that fender down to the primer, and respray just the fender. the paint may not match perfectly to the hood, but since it is such a small area of the body (just the top of the fender) it will likely not even be noticeable. You could just display your model with the hood open, and never even worry about the paint match.

another suggestion would be to have the hood open and make a small diorama display with a mechanic figure leaning over the fender with one of those fender "aprons" with a nice snap-on, or craftsman decal on it. Then you wouldn't have to worry about the chip at all.

[jmwallac]

Originally Posted by MPWR

Details man, details!!

What did you paint with? What did you prime with? What did you clearcoat with? How did you apply them?

Does the chip go down to the primer or the bare plastic?

Automotive paint across the board. Duplicolor's generic primer, followed by duplicolor silver. Stripe was masked off (after it dried for a few days), then metallic black (also duplicolor) was shot over it. Dried a few days and several coats of T125 duplicolor clear. Chip goes down to the primer.

This was painted during high humidity weather. I'm guessing this affected the adhesion of the paint? I also wetsanded the primer with 2000 grit (which I do with ALL my bodies). Maybe this had a part in the problems?

Unfortunately, the knicks are showing whether the hood is open or closed and I don't make dioramas (and can't stand errors like this). I'm guessing stripping is the easiest? I'd like to try and fix it first. If I goof, I can always strip. If it works, I've learned a new skill.

Looking forward to help!!!

[prortiz80]

yes .........yes what they said to strip it is the right way orto cover it up.....but to do so is a crime all that work into the body to cover it up i question that and to strip it well i dont know about u but that would hurt me ....i would just do what we do in th 1:1 world box the damaged are off tape the are around it off so u dont damage it make a nice size are to work with and cover the rest...... light sand with some fine the finest sand paper u can get hand paint it if u got steady hands or sray it ,sand it clear it just the same way u would from the start its alittle bit more trouble to do the whole front fender when u could just touch it up and make it look uniform just take your time with it dont rush it and use low tack 3m tape the blue one for painters that u could but at any hardware store

[jano11]

Originally Posted by prortiz80

yes .........yes what they said to strip it is the right way orto cover it up.....but to do so is a crime all that work into the body to cover it up i question that and to strip it well i dont know about u but that would hurt me ....i would just do what we do in th 1:1 world box the damaged are off tape the are around it off so u dont damage it make a nice size are to work with and cover the rest...... light sand with some fine the finest sand paper u can get hand paint it if u got steady hands or sray it ,sand it clear it just the same way u would from the start its alittle bit more trouble to do the whole front fender when u could just touch it up and make it look uniform just take your time with it dont rush it and use low tack 3m tape the blue one for painters that u could but at any hardware store

No ofense but I had a hard time reading your post and even harder time to understand something. Using some commas would help a lot.

[proosen]

Before stripping I would try to put in some fresh paint with a brush and then build up the area with the clear again. Then a rub down and polish on top of that.
Maybe it'll get good enough as it's only a couple of small dents.

Otherwise stripping is the way to go but try to fill in the dents first and if it works you've saved a lot of work.


Niclas

[MPWR]

It is possible to repair chips like this, particullarly if you're using laquers and an airbrush. It does take effort and patience. I'm assuming you mean spray cans, and if so this will make repairs a good bit more challenging.

The steps are pretty straightforward:

-Sand the chipped areas with fine sandpaper, say maybe 1500 automotive finishing paper. The idea isn't necessarily to make the chiped edges disapear, just to take the 'step' down a bit.

-Then apply primer to the chipped areas. Prime, sand, inspect, and repeat until the chip edges are gone and you have an even surface to apply the paint to.

-Apply paint to the newly primed area until opaque, then lightly mist the general area for blending.

-Clearcoat as normal.

I've certainly done this before, and done properly there is no trace whatsoever of a repair job (but it does take some practice to pull it off!). This does mean you are applying primer, paint, and clearcoat over clearcoated paint. There's no guarantee the repair won't be visible, but I've had good experinces with it.

The reason the airbrush is useful is that you can work a quarter square inch area and leave the surounding areas alone, and you can control the volume of paint and primer you're applying. That's a pretty good trick with a spraycan. You could possibly make a masking shield by cutting a small hole in an index card and spraying through it- but I can easily imagine running out of hands doing this. The primer and paint need to be applied in very small, light, patient applications. And definately don't try to do it all in one afternoon.

If the cans you're using are enamel, all bets may be off. Enamels behave differently than do laquers, and their something I just can't advise on as I don't use them.

As you mentioned above, you have nothing to loose in trying other than time, and you certainly can gain some very valualbe skill in painting (and maybe even save your paint job!). Take it slow, good luck, and tell us how it goes.

[DasWiesel]

I´m working with automotive paints for several years now and sometimes had the same problem with chipping paint. You can take a simple brush and touch it up, even though it´s a metallic paint. Fill the gap in 3 or 4 steps and let every coat dry for 24h. Do not sand anything before it is completely filled. Worked fine for me more than once.

Btw: Since i use Tamiya Primer instead of automotive one, this problem never appeared again. If you are painting a Die-cast, Tamiya primer won´t work, but as far as i know, it´s the best you can take for plastic.

[prortiz80]

Originally Posted by jano11

No ofense but I had a hard time reading your post and even harder time to understand something. Using some commas would help a lot.

no ofense taken. i knew i wrote that to fast, with out checking my work.
thank u .... the only time i got to reply is at work and i cant let the boss get on here ..if u understand

[prortiz80]

Originally Posted by MPWR

It is possible to repair chips like this, particullarly if you're using laquers and an airbrush. It does take effort and patience. I'm assuming you mean spray cans, and if so this will make repairs a good bit more challenging.

The steps are pretty straightforward:

-Sand the chipped areas with fine sandpaper, say maybe 1500 automotive finishing paper. The idea isn't necessarily to make the chiped edges disapear, just to take the 'step' down a bit.

-Then apply primer to the chipped areas. Prime, sand, inspect, and repeat until the chip edges are gone and you have an even surface to apply the paint to.

-Apply paint to the newly primed area until opaque, then lightly mist the general area for blending.

-Clearcoat as normal.

I've certainly done this before, and done properly there is no trace whatsoever of a repair job (but it does take some practice to pull it off!). This does mean you are applying primer, paint, and clearcoat over clearcoated paint. There's no guarantee the repair won't be visible, but I've had good experinces with it.

The reason the airbrush is useful is that you can work a quarter square inch area and leave the surounding areas alone, and you can control the volume of paint and primer you're applying. That's a pretty good trick with a spraycan. You could possibly make a masking shield by cutting a small hole in an index card and spraying through it- but I can easily imagine running out of hands doing this. The primer and paint need to be applied in very small, light, patient applications. And definately don't try to do it all in one afternoon.

If the cans you're using are enamel, all bets may be off. Enamels behave differently than do laquers, and their something I just can't advise on as I don't use them.

As you mentioned above, you have nothing to loose in trying other than time, and you certainly can gain some very valualbe skill in painting (and maybe even save your paint job!). Take it slow, good luck, and tell us how it goes.

I'm glad u understood what i was trying to say.....