Paint Chip Peril
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Paint Chip Peril
After only one month, that "new car exhilieration" just ended with the first "ding" in the form of a paint chip to my beautiful new 2010 laser blue clubman. I know that there are more dings and dents to come over the years, and I wouldn't have minded so much if the chip was on the bumper or down around the wheel wells, but it's smack in the middle of the hood. and ...did I mention it's only a month old!!!!!! The chiip is miniscule, slightly larger than the tip of a pen, and it's barely noticeable to anyone else. But to me, given the fact that the car is still brand new, it seems to be the size of a dime! Which brings me to my predicament. Do I....
(A) Just live with it, even though it bothers me to no end, out of fear of making it worse by trying to use touch up paint.
OR
(B) Try to touch it up in an attempt to make it look as close as possible to the original paint job, at the risk of making it stand out even more.
I am asking for input from anyone who has used the touch up paint stick sold at Mini dealers (brush on), or paint pens such as the ones made by Auto Visuals. When you were finished applying touch up paint by either method were you happy that you did it or do you wish that you hadn't done it?
(A) Just live with it, even though it bothers me to no end, out of fear of making it worse by trying to use touch up paint.
OR
(B) Try to touch it up in an attempt to make it look as close as possible to the original paint job, at the risk of making it stand out even more.
I am asking for input from anyone who has used the touch up paint stick sold at Mini dealers (brush on), or paint pens such as the ones made by Auto Visuals. When you were finished applying touch up paint by either method were you happy that you did it or do you wish that you hadn't done it?
Vendor & Moderator :: MINI Camera and Video & c3 club forum
iTrader: (6)
Touching up a metallic paint usually ends up with one thing...a darker filled in chip that doesn't match the surrounding paint. The reasons behind this are simple. Your paint is sprayed on and the flakes land in particular way. When you use touchup, the metallic flakes are concentrated in a small tube, and brushing or "drawing" it on with a pen puts out and equal amount of concentrated metallic particles that won't "match up" with the existing flakes.
One thing you can do, but is painstaking, is shake the pen/touchup thoroughly and immediately before it begins to settle, put a small glob of touchup on the chip. Then, the most important part, using an appropriate tool...like these Protouch swabs , carefully push and move the top of that blob out away from it's center. What you are doing is manipulating the direction of the flakes in an attempt to make it look more even. You will actually see the darkness change when you do it right, and the results will be much better than just globbing it on.
One thing you can do, but is painstaking, is shake the pen/touchup thoroughly and immediately before it begins to settle, put a small glob of touchup on the chip. Then, the most important part, using an appropriate tool...like these Protouch swabs , carefully push and move the top of that blob out away from it's center. What you are doing is manipulating the direction of the flakes in an attempt to make it look more even. You will actually see the darkness change when you do it right, and the results will be much better than just globbing it on.
After only one month, that "new car exhilieration" just ended with the first "ding" in the form of a paint chip to my beautiful new 2010 laser blue clubman. I know that there are more dings and dents to come over the years, and I wouldn't have minded so much if the chip was on the bumper or down around the wheel wells, but it's smack in the middle of the hood. and ...did I mention it's only a month old!!!!!! The chiip is miniscule, slightly larger than the tip of a pen, and it's barely noticeable to anyone else. But to me, given the fact that the car is still brand new, it seems to be the size of a dime! Which brings me to my predicament. Do I....
(A) Just live with it, even though it bothers me to no end, out of fear of making it worse by trying to use touch up paint.
OR
(B) Try to touch it up in an attempt to make it look as close as possible to the original paint job, at the risk of making it stand out even more.
I am asking for input from anyone who has used the touch up paint stick sold at Mini dealers (brush on), or paint pens such as the ones made by Auto Visuals. When you were finished applying touch up paint by either method were you happy that you did it or do you wish that you hadn't done it?
(A) Just live with it, even though it bothers me to no end, out of fear of making it worse by trying to use touch up paint.
OR
(B) Try to touch it up in an attempt to make it look as close as possible to the original paint job, at the risk of making it stand out even more.
I am asking for input from anyone who has used the touch up paint stick sold at Mini dealers (brush on), or paint pens such as the ones made by Auto Visuals. When you were finished applying touch up paint by either method were you happy that you did it or do you wish that you hadn't done it?
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