Hi,

I recently bought some touch up paint from the dealer to fix a scratch at the bottom of my front bumper due to driving over debris from Hurricane Ivan. The scratch is about an inch and a half long and not too deep. I tried applying the touch up paint which has a brush, equivalent to a nail polish brush, but it does not seem to be covering up the scratch that much. I cleaned the area and applied several coats already. It's noticable that the paint is not smooth, but luckily it's towards the bottom of the car. Any tips for making this look better? I'll try and post some pics tomorrow if I get a chance. Thanks in advance.

 

Some lady backed up into my 04 TL ABYSS and put a small dent and a few scratches on front bumper. Needles to say I had a police report filed so her insurance can pay for the damage. First quote to repalce bumper was only $675.00 installed painted etc...

 

Personally, on a scratch like that, I'd take it to a paint/body guy. I did the same thing the second day I had the car - it was on the lower front bumper from rolling over something in the garage. It was only visible if I looked at it at the right angle, but, being a new car, it really bothered me. My paint guy had a close match and fixed it in less than 5 minutes for no charge (imagine that). I'm sure a professional will do a good job and the price would be very reasonable. Be it known that brushing on paint will never be the same as a spray due to the droplet size - also, a pearlized paint is done in three fairly complex steps if it's a larger area.

 

I am very happy with the paint pen that I got on Ebay. It has a unique applicator that lets you easily fill in a scratch or chip with no ugly overlap. I was not happy with the "clear coat" (other) end of the paint pen and will only use the paint end next time.

 

you really have to shake the shit out of that applicator. i tried a few times and it was like wtf, i'm putting on 3 applications and it's still this transparent liquid and nothing was getting covered up. make sure that there is a really deep color on the tip of the brush. i've got silver and when wet the paint was a darker grey than the silver until it dried.

 

You need a better brush - go to an art supply house and get a fine camel brush. Apply in one direction only - not back and forth. For small spots, a paper match cut into a "V" tip is an old detailer's trick - the shape gives much better control than the older old detailer's trick, the toothpick.

Mother's makes a kit that greatly reduces the touched up look - look for it on their website. You need to make sure the paint is completely dry (several days at least).