Using Testor's model paint to mask rust
 

My LeJeune is a light blue color that is suppose to be akin to Testor's model paint called "Ford Blue." I have looked at the choices on-line and there are a few that look close. I plan on buying a couple different ones and attempt to mask some of the surface scratches. Does anyone have any skill in this area to suggest type/size of bushes and any application techniques that might help blend the model paint on the surface. I to reward the painted surfaces again after trying to mask the few scratches on the frame surfaces. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Th Rsterman

You might also consider "One Shot" Robin's egg blue: 1 4 Pint 1 Shot Robin Egg Blue Paint Lettering Enamel Pinstriping Graphic Art | eBay

Also, i would treat the areas with an oxalic acid bath before painting. Oxalic acid is also available on eBay!

I use Testors for touch up but won't boast any real skill at it. I wouldn't paint over rust, remove it all first. You might also want to get a bottle of white, maybe a darker blue. A drop of these either way can help you fine tune the color match.

Thanks for the response. Most of the blemisheses are just paint scratches not pitted rust . Bike has no rust to speak of even though it is a 1973 model. Mostly all efforts will be cosmetic. What does the oxyalic acid actually do, and how is it applied/removed? Can you relax the surface after this process is complete?

I find you need to first put on a thick "drop" type layer to fill the scratch/pit then use a slightly thinned layer for a "topcoat".

Takes a few tries to get the hang of it, so keep some paper towels and thinner to give yourself more tries at it.

I use Testors. Tricky to work with. It works great for complete repaints.

More and more I use artist acrylic tube paints. Quick dry and it is thick. Can fill cracks and chips easily. Then I finish with an acrylic gloss varnish.

Oxalic acid is to remove and stabilize rust so paint on top won't peel off. Many threads on that and you can GOOGLE it, but sounds like you don't need it. BUT, before you start painting, you might try some automotive polishing compound, available at automotive stores, Walmart, etc. You might be surprised at how many of those scratches just fade away!

You might also look into various sparkly nail polishes. Nail color is also enamel and can be blended/ mixed into Testors hobby paints without any problems. Beyond that, its pearlescence has a wide degree of granularity, from very coarse (like glitter) to extremely fine & metallic, which makes it a good add-in for matching the pearl of an original paint.

Speaking as a pro illustrator with over 30 years of experience, I'd never use a tube-based acrylic for something like this. Even though it's still grossly unsuitable, a 'jar' acrylic will give you better results.
See, acrylic paint in its 'raw' form is liquid, just like latex house paint; in order for it to work out of tube (like toothpaste or traditional oil paint), minute polymer strands are added to the paint, making it viscous. All fine & dandy; however, the downside is that once this is done, you'll never be able to thin it out evenly again; you'll always have streaking because that extra polymer will tend to bind to itself on your surface just as it does inside the tube.

This isn't to suggest that I'm opposed to acrylics on a bike. I often use 3-part automotive paints when I fully repaint a frame, and I'll usually have it mixed & matched at a custom car shop (the accuracy of the color is worth the cost). This starts out as a pretty normal liquid acrylic latex, but you then add a solvent & a hardener in a precise mixture. You have to be careful with this for a variety of reasons- and the clean-up has to be quick & thorough (lest it dry inside- and thereby ruin- your airbrush)- but the final surface is quite hard and can be sanded & polished.

Head to Dollar General (or similar) and get a bottle of "The Works" for removing calcium/lime/rust bathroom cleaner. You could also grab CLR if unavailable. For small areas, take a strip of tshirt cloth and twistie-tie it to the area to be treated. Take the liquid and soak the cloth. Keep it moist over a period of 8-10hrs. Remove the cloth and rinse well. Amazing stuff.

What wonderful & helpful responses! Thanks to all.......I think I'll give the auto rubbing compound a try before any of the more radical and labor intensive approaches. I feel incredibly lucky that my 1973 was garage kept and really has no major blemish/rust issues @ all.....at times I feel that I should just let the original patina show and leave it @ that.....

If you have a Walmart nearby, look in the art section. They have Folk Art acrylic enamel paints that cost less than $2 for a 2oz bottle. I needed a metallic brown and I lucked out because I found one that is almost an exact match. Really good quality, it went on thick.

FolkArt Enamels Paint, 2 oz - Walmart.com

Only thing I'll add is be aware of the dry down effect. Most paint colors will be slightly darker than when dry.
This effect is more pronounced with some colors than with others.

I use all the wrong products incorrectly with great results. Your experience may vary.

I custom mixed paint to match my Centurion Elite RS, The match was almost perfect. Fast forward 6 months and it is now no where near the color I mixed up turning very dark. I now need to undo my touch up as it looks way worse then before I started.


Glenn

Testor's paint works fine. The tricky part is matching colors. I am a painter as a hobby/avocation, and mixing paints to match a color is a trial-and-error process. Sometimes you get lucky and get a great match right out of the bottle, but it usually isn't so simple. I have a Ritchey cross bike that is a sort of Molteni orange, and matching that color is very difficult. I have not succeeded yet in mixing an orange that matches the color of that bike, although my touchups look fine from a few feet away.

I love it!!!!! generally my experiences exactly .......how much fun can this experimentation be !!

Glad to know trial and error is par for the course. I would be ashamed to admit how many bottles of red and yellow it took me to get a reasonable match for Schwinn Cool Orange.

Absolutely. :) Even when you take a frame into a pro shop, they'll take fully a week to do just that: trial & error with different paint blends until they get the formula exactly right.