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05-21-08, 10:15 AM
The frame says chromoly is the metal. It had a sticker saying acyrlic urathane system which I can only assume refers to the paint used. The colour is a shiny black, but there are a few scratches here and there, and wear marks where the cables have rubbed the frame. There's a teensy bit of rust which would come off quite easily with some fine steel wool - it's not deep yet. Doing so will scuff the surrounding paint.
Interestingly enough (to me at least) the edges of the scratches appear white, like as if it's a coat of white (primer?) underneath the black. My first thought was to take some plain acrylic crafter's paint and touch it up, but I was disappointed to find that it appears to dry flat black. Naturally this hides the white edges and the scratch better than leaving it, but if possible I'd like for it to have a gloss again.
I'd rather not strip the whole frame an repaint - it's a Miele bicycle, so better than a department store POS, but nothing near the quality of an expensive bike like a Surly - so I don't think it's worth the effort and money to redo the whole thing, especially for what amounts to cosmetic scratches here and there rather than a totally destroyed paint job.
I'd like to clean the slight rust off, before it gets in deep, and cover those few spots with a gloss black blended to the current paint. What's the best way?
I'm thinking that perhaps putting the acrylic flat black down in the scratch, then giving it a spray of automotive clear coat might work - but I'm leary to try without consulting the experts here as the more paint I put on this, the worse of a mess I'm going to have to strip off and re-correct if it doesn't work.
The other idea I had was some shiny black enamel (such as Testors model paint) as a touch up, but my experience in the past of mixing enamel and acrylic on a surface is that the enamel appears to attack the acrylic and leaves a cracked surface.
Or, should I be out looking for an acrylic paint that dries with a gloss? If so, who makes this?
Interestingly enough (to me at least) the edges of the scratches appear white, like as if it's a coat of white (primer?) underneath the black. My first thought was to take some plain acrylic crafter's paint and touch it up, but I was disappointed to find that it appears to dry flat black. Naturally this hides the white edges and the scratch better than leaving it, but if possible I'd like for it to have a gloss again.
I'd rather not strip the whole frame an repaint - it's a Miele bicycle, so better than a department store POS, but nothing near the quality of an expensive bike like a Surly - so I don't think it's worth the effort and money to redo the whole thing, especially for what amounts to cosmetic scratches here and there rather than a totally destroyed paint job.
I'd like to clean the slight rust off, before it gets in deep, and cover those few spots with a gloss black blended to the current paint. What's the best way?
I'm thinking that perhaps putting the acrylic flat black down in the scratch, then giving it a spray of automotive clear coat might work - but I'm leary to try without consulting the experts here as the more paint I put on this, the worse of a mess I'm going to have to strip off and re-correct if it doesn't work.
The other idea I had was some shiny black enamel (such as Testors model paint) as a touch up, but my experience in the past of mixing enamel and acrylic on a surface is that the enamel appears to attack the acrylic and leaves a cracked surface.
Or, should I be out looking for an acrylic paint that dries with a gloss? If so, who makes this?