Mountain Biking - Touchup Paint

Hey, I need some touchup paint for some scratches on my bike. Does anyone know how I can match the color of the paint to the bike, is there like a color code on the bike or someting?

Thanx

Nail polish works good. There are several colors available so it shoould be easy to get the right color.

I second the fingernail polish idea. There are tons of colors, so it should be easy to get a pretty close match. If you don't feel like you can get a close enough color, throw some clear nail polish over the scratches. This will seal them over. Remember - Everyone likes a nice-looking bike, but it is a mountain bike, and you will only add to the scratches in the future.

You can also get touch up-paint or at least have it ordered from your LBS in most cases.

Diamondback - Are these scratches the same ones you were talking about earlier, near the top of the headtube? If so, have you tried turning the bars in both directions to see if perhaps the marks are coming from the housings rubbing on the headtube? If this is what it is, look at the link that someone posted in your earlier thread about small "patches" that you could place over this area to prevent the housings from rubbing paint off of the frame. They can be used anywhere on the bike. Hope this helps!

-Moab

I "third" the nail polish idea. I found a chip on my fork when I was cleaning my bike a while back so I decided to try and find some blue paint to match it. I just went to the local Wal Mart and looked in the auto parts and found a blue that looked close but not quite the same. So I also hit the cosmetics and looked thru all the fingernail polish. There were about 50 different shades of blue. Since they were only like 89 cents each I bought a few that I thought looked close. I took them all home and dabbed a bit of each one on a piece of cardboard then held it up to the bike and one of the nail polish colors was just about an exact match. Got enough in the 89 cent bottle to last me a LONNNNNGGGGG time. :D

Don't forget about Tester's Model Paint. There are lots of colors and it works well on bicycle frames.

Any special tips for the application? As my damage is more than a scratch (chain got jammed between frame and chainring) should I sand it first? If so, how? Thanks for the help?

Being a semi-pro plastic modeler as well i could give you some advice as well.

Sanding with modelling sand papers should do the trick since they sand only the paint and not the metal. Afterwards apply an undercoat and then paint and a final clear coat of gloss varnish.

Model paints from humbrol/testors wont do the trick!
Your best bet is to get some strong paints that are meant to cover Lexan chassis on RC model cars. These are strong resilient paints that wont flake but they wont affect the rest of the paintjob on your bike. Car paints seem to be hard on a bike since the propellant and the nitrid components they include ,eat through existing paint.
Also if possibly use an airbrush.

What would be so bad about using some Tamiya Spray Paint, or Tamiya Enamel or Acrylic? Can some one tell me the pros and cons of using these Tamiya products compared to eachother and nail polish? And what are the pros and cons of acrylic and enamel? Which is better for a 6061 T6 Aluminum frame?

Get your hands on colors made for Lexan covers of RC car models. Radio controled cars that is.
Enamels dry slower.
Both dont affect frame.
Modelling paints are much thinner that nail polish so they can be applied more smoothly.
However. model paints that are intended for static scale model kits (the ones that you built and put behind protective glass) are not durable at all!.

If you were in Greece i could make graphics with my airbrush on any bike/component as i am skilled into this.

good luck

I went to Kragen, found a can of automotive spray paint that came close to the color or my bike.

This is quite the "Pink Panty" thread. Touch up paint to fix scratches on your mountain bike? Heck just ride it on the road so those mean old trees don't skwatch yo frame. Nail polish is a good recommendation for you ladies. ;)

Zombies are rising, RUN AWAY!!!!

Only YOU have the power to defeat the ressurected.