Oh no! Buffed through the paint.
 

I did some successful repair on my bumper cover recently and that gave me the (over) confidence to tackle a bunch of stone chips on the front trunk lid. I globbed some touch up paint then sanded flat up to 2000 grit, then buffed & polished. It looked pretty good but I realized that I didn't get the globs flat enough so I went back and sanded them again with a wood block to act as a sanding block. Then I buffed again and went too far.

I have some color matched aerosol base coat and of course clear coat too but it's hard to do a very small repair with them. The droplet size is kind of coarse and the spray pattern is too big. I can mask off so that the paint only goes onto a small space but it leaves a ridge when you pull up the tape and feathering the edge with fine sandpaper seems to leave a little bathtub ring around the repair that is noticeable.

I was thinking of buying an airbrush and thinning out some touch up paint to attempt a small repair where I blended the patch out. I've never heard of an airbrush being used on cars except for custom flame jobs, etc but I've convinced myself it might work. Anybody ever done something like this or have tips for small scale paint repair?

Swamy says: I see a body shop, a repainted hood, and $500 removed from your bank account in your future.

Using an airbrush is very doable. You'll be able to feather the edge way back away from the affected area to where you have thicker paint. Dilute the paint and plan on several coats. Don't prep the area away from the problem (just the problem area) and the 'overspray' won't adhere well, making removal easier.

Then, use only a random orbital with med-to-fine polish and foam pad to smooth it all out - forget the sandpaper. This will take a lot more time, but won't get you into trouble again. Same with the clear. FYI - shoulda used a foam sanding block, lots of soapy water and pre-soaked the Wet or Dry paper for 24 hrs.

If you take your time, it will be invisible when you're done. Suggest getting an old hood from a junkyard, placing it on a couple saw horses and practicing your technique beforehand. And old hood can be had for as little as $10 from a Pick&Pull.

If you don't come by 500 clams easily (especially in this economy), this is worth a try. But, the key is PATIENCE - you'll be rewarded for it in the end.

Cheers!

Agreed with the Bastard.

If done properly airbushing works wonders. I personally have never attempted it however I have a buddy that has done TONS of work on my cars to rid them of stone chips and blemishes with an airbrush.

TAKE YOUR TIME!

Good luck!

I should be shot. I went down to Walmart and bought a selection of colored sharpie marking pens. I "painted" the buff mark with a blue pen. It's really half-assed but at least it doesn't leap to your eye the way it did before. I'm going down to Hobby Lobby and check out the airbrushes.

You might try this; sand with something like 1200. air brush color, airbrush a larger spot with clear then, when the clear is tacky, melt/blend in the edges with straight thinner. When it's good and cured you can sand and polish if you feel bold. Gently please.

Don't yell at me if you mess it up please,

PK

Just got back from Hobby Lobby. Turns out they sell a little airbrush kit for working on models. I'll report again after I've tried it out. Even comes with a can of propellant. Don't know yet if it will work with the metallic paint.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...uppaint002.jpg

Pics or it never happened ;)