Best method of paint touch-up?
04-05-11 | 09:44 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 21
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Best method of paint touch-up?
Hey folks. My beautiful De Rosa Corum (steel) has a few nasty gashes and paint chips from a very unfortunate crash in the breakaway I was in last Saturday.
What is the best way to touch up the paint and protect chipped areas short of having the whole thing re-powder coated? Some of my teammates are saying nail polish. What would you all recommend?
The scratched areas are mostly in a pearl white. I'm more concerned with sealing the scratches and chips and preventing more chipping than I am about disguising the marks or making it look perfect.
Thanks in advance.
What is the best way to touch up the paint and protect chipped areas short of having the whole thing re-powder coated? Some of my teammates are saying nail polish. What would you all recommend?
The scratched areas are mostly in a pearl white. I'm more concerned with sealing the scratches and chips and preventing more chipping than I am about disguising the marks or making it look perfect.
Thanks in advance.
04-05-11 | 10:17 AM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5,559
Likes: 53
From: The 'Wack, BC, Canada
Bikes: Norco (2), Miyata, Canondale, Soma, Redline
For merely sealing the gouges and preventing rust getting in and under the edges some tung oil gunstock finish oil will do the job as would a clear nail polish.
For a better looking fix you could get some paint that matches the finish and over time carefully fill in the gouges with a few coats until it's built up higher than the surrounding area. Once this raised paint "patching" is fully dry mask off the good paint around the gouges and carefully wet sand the raised patches down flush to the surrounding paint using 1000 grit wetordry sandpaper. When you've feathered them in remove the masking tape and blend and further smooth the sanded areas with some 2000 grit paper. Then hit the areas with some polishing compound and finally automotive wax.
This second is a bit more work but with a decent paint match the gouges will be all but gone to a casual glance even with the difficulty in matching a pealescent finish.
For a better looking fix you could get some paint that matches the finish and over time carefully fill in the gouges with a few coats until it's built up higher than the surrounding area. Once this raised paint "patching" is fully dry mask off the good paint around the gouges and carefully wet sand the raised patches down flush to the surrounding paint using 1000 grit wetordry sandpaper. When you've feathered them in remove the masking tape and blend and further smooth the sanded areas with some 2000 grit paper. Then hit the areas with some polishing compound and finally automotive wax.
This second is a bit more work but with a decent paint match the gouges will be all but gone to a casual glance even with the difficulty in matching a pealescent finish.
04-05-11 | 12:14 PM
#3
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 30,225
Likes: 649
From: St Peters, Missouri
Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.
For touch up there's "perfect color match" and there's "not exactly". "Not exactly" draws your eye to the blemish and, to me at least, looks worse than an untreated scratch.
I've had some bikes that had either fade or shadeshifter paint jobs that were impossible to color match. I used clear nail polish to touch up the little nicks and was happy with the results.
I've had some bikes that had either fade or shadeshifter paint jobs that were impossible to color match. I used clear nail polish to touch up the little nicks and was happy with the results.
