I bought 2oz bottles of color and clear from PaintScratch.com. Has worked fine so far for a few tiny chips around the headlights, edge of bonnet, etc. where the clear bra doesn't cover. Just got some micro-brushes from OctaneGuy but haven't tried them yet. Also have Langka but haven't needed it yet for the spots that I've done. I do have a couple of very small door scratches now that I need to work on sometime... will likely use the Langka process for those.

 

I just touched up the fuel door cover on my old Indi Blue Cooper--I just traded it for an MCS cap in the marketplace...the cover had a small gouge in it. I filled it with Duplicolor putty, sanded it with 2500 grit followed by 3000. Left a little divot to hold the factory touchup. Shook the bottle like crazy, pulled the brush out, and dipped the micro brush inside before the flakes could settle (for even distribution as much as possible), then touched the edge of the door. Did about 3 coats with 30 minutes of drying in between. Sanded with 3000 grit, touched up a little more on some holes that were revealed, sanded again, then polished with Swirl and the PC with a white pad.

The door looks perfect. Can't even tell a repair was done. I love the micro brushes--so much more precise than the brush.

Richard

 

when can we get a detailed write up of this process /\ /\ /\???

 

thanx for that info. cool o know! BTW i have one mark on the hood that looks real crappy. touched it up but of course the paint isnt the same texture. sand first you say? what grade? obviously a wet sand i imagine..thanx in advance for the help

 

Look for it on SCD, lol. I don't recommend NAMers to wetsand their MINIs.

Richard

 

I've already searched and know that the touch-up pens from both Langka and AutoVisuals come very highly recommended. I also know I can get OEM touch-up paint from the dealer which uses a small brush for about $27-$30, but find it very hard to work with for small chips/blemishes (very messy and difficult to be precise). I usually use the end of a match stick cut at an angle, or a toothpick, then polish as best I can once dry. My question is, which form of touch-up paint is best/easiest for small repairs (rock chips and minor scratches)? Is there anything better? I know that metallics (Laser Blue, in my case) are tougher to match/repair than enamels, but I'd prefer to buy this stuff only once this time.

I'd sure appreciate the collective wisdom typically found here. TIA!

 

I don't have metallic paint but I use the MINI touch up paint with Langka. Langka isn't paint. You put it on after you apply touchup paint & it makes the little blob flat & practically unnoticeable. Langka is amazing (get the whole kit). I would however have a polishing compound on hand (like Prima Swirl) to use after the Langka because you will notice a dull spot around your repair until you polish it out. What I do is hold off on repainting paint chips until I am about to to my bi-annual major detailing job where I plan to do a full body polish before waxing anyway.

I langka'd about 30 rock chips on my MINI & my arm got tired near the end so I left 2 repairs unlangka'd. In the morning when I came out I could spot those 2 blobs immediately while the rest of the repairs were very hard to spot. Sorry so long but I highly recommend the Langka

 

I'm not quite sure what you are asking here but I use MINI touch-up paint and then use Langka for leveling. I do use a toothpick for the first layer to make sure I get it to completely fill the edges of the chip, and then the MINI supplied brush to create the blob. Langka then brings the blob down to the same level as the rest of the finish.
I've been meaning to try one of those touch-up pens, but I still have my MINI paint to finish first.

 

If by 'best' you mean color matching, I would suggest the OEM touch up paint. Then use your toothpick or whatever and Lanka it as suggested above.

 

Try drcolorchip.com. They use a 2 step process that seems easier than Langka. I bought the big set for my mini but havent used it yet. I will in the next week or so and will post the results.....

 

Ooops, sounds like I misunderstood what "Langka" actually is. I thought it was a paint pen and/or kit which included something to level the added paint in the touch-up area prior to polishing/sanding. I'm understanding more now. Guess I was hoping there was something that was really easy to do that I wasn't aware of.

 

If you want it to look good it won't be easy

 

I didn't like the pen that comes with the OEM touch-up paint because it doesn't take much for the paint not to flow through the pen. So I went back to the tooth pick and brush method.

 

I got my touchup paint and clearcoat in 2oz bottles from paintscratch.com
Seems to be a good match... Showcardetailing.com has some great little micro brushes for touching up the chips... and Langka rocks...

 

yep must have and better then Langka IMHO

 

Yes, please report back with your opinions; especially re: color-match and ease of use. I've not heard of them.

 

Anyone have any experience using the paint pens from AutoVisuals?

 

ok, too lazy to read the entire thread.

for MINI's touchup, get a small plastic cup (any cup), put a dab of
clear on it. then put a dab of the base paint with color adjacent to it.

now get a tooth pick and mix the clear and base paint together.
now tap that toothpick on something hard so that the tip is slighly flat.

use that to apply the paint mixture you just made onto the chip.

 

I have looked online at the drcolorchip before & after pics. In the after pics I can see exactly where the chips were because you can see the indentation. The repair is not even with the paint at all. I have never used this product but after seeing the after pics I would not want to if they represent the final result. With the Langka you essentially sand the blob down so it is even with the rest of the paint & the repair is very hard to see (if you can see it at all).

 

well I used the dr.colorchip paint system this past weekend on my CR MCS. Results came out suprisingly well. I did not take any pics (I completely forgot) but the system allows you to be messy and not precise.

First you apply the paint then actually smear it with a finger!!

And it initially looks horrible. But then you use the prefast solution and apply it to a microfiber and buff the area. this takes away ALL the excess paint and leaves the chips or scratches filled with paint. While this doesnt completely diminish scratches or chips, it does do a significant job of diminishing them 90% of the way. I would highyl reccomend this especially if you have a large area to do because after a few your likely to get tired and less precise with your application. Feel free to ask questions. I can alawys post a pic of the finished product. I just dont have any good before pics.

 

Does the area surrounding the original chipped spot still look normal?

 

Would like to see pics of the dr because the ones on their website aren't too flattering. Truth be told the application sounds very similar to the langka. The langka really isn't that hard to do either (takes a lil elbow grease). As you can imagine with my MINI my whole front end is peppered with chips. I used my MINI touch up paint bottle & went dot dot dot dot etc all over the front. I let it sit the recommended time then I used the blob eliminator. I was able to go over the whole area with many paint chips at once using the blob eliminator since their were all right there together. Langka is a 2-step process also unless you count prepping the paint & applying clearcoat afterwards as additional steps.

Here is a youtube showing langka application (although I personally rub a lot harder when I am sanding the blob down than they do in this video plus I bought the kit for $40 not just the blob eliminator )

 

Yes the area around the paint chip looks very normal. The Pre-fast solution just wipes away the excess paint as if it was dirt or something.

I'll take a pic tonight to show you what it looks like. Again the chips are not entirely gone but greatly dimished. My rear bumper was in bad condition (previous owner did not have very good spatial skills) it had chips and numerous scratches and now if you look closely you can see it all. But from 5 feet away its not that noticable...which was my goal

 

I just watched the Langka video and it pretty much does exactly what the Dr. Colorchip kit does. Ver similar. My kit was 60 bucks btw. Came with a large bottle of paint and prefast solution and the paint applicators that Octane Guy sells. I basically repainted my rear bumper with all the scratches it had and I used about 25% of the paint and pre fast solutions. So it comes with plenty

 

Just an FYI & I swear I don't work for langka You cannot see my langka repairs even up close. As I said earlier somewhere I got a little tired near then end & left a few blobs untreated. When I came outside the next morning I could immediately spot the repairs I didn't Langka but the ones that I did I could spot very few of (maybe 1 or 2 & that was because I didn't buff them down enough so it was my fault actually), even close up, & even when I was searching for them. The Langka may take a bit more elbow grease but it's worth it if I can't see the repairs even close up. I would take pics to show you but there's nothing for you to see since you can't see the repairs with the naked eye

On the dr repair site in the "after" images I saw it was like you could still see the edges of where the chip occurred & the new repair paint was recessed inside those edges so you could still see the repairs at close range. With the langka you have a blob that you file down essentially so the edges of the repair meld & mesh with the old paint edges & makes them indistinguishable (if that makes any sense).

HEY if you are ever in AL stop by & I'll show you