Touching up lacquer

[Roadrunner]

As expected, I've sanded through to the primer in a few areas on a car that I'm working on, and those areas now need to be touched up. Is there any special trick to airbrushing the paint on those areas? I'm using Testors spray bomb lacquer paint, but don't want to spray everything, just those small areas that need it.

Thanks, fellas,

[bobthehobbyguy]

Depends on the paint type you are using if it is a solid then you are ok. But if the paint is tranparent then spraying over a small area is going to show.

[Roadrunner]

That's a real good point, Bob, as it's a metallic, and therefore translucent. My airbrush can spray a very fine line, and that will allow (theoretically) pinpoint accuracy of application,. but I'm more concerned with the spraying itself; low pressure, high pressure, use the paint as it comes out of the can, thin it, or what?

[fseva]

That's a real good point, Bob, as it's a metallic, and therefore translucent. My airbrush can spray a very fine line, and that will allow (theoretically) pinpoint accuracy of application,. but I'm more concerned with the spraying itself; low pressure, high pressure, use the paint as it comes out of the can, thin it, or what?

I would airbrush it on, with very low pressure and very thin. That will also help contain some of the overspray. Also, if the area can be masked using body lines as a guide, you could just mask the panel that needs the work, and that also would keep overspray more manageable.

[Snake45]

I would mask off and respray the entire panel (fender, door, whatever) rather than try to airbrush just the damaged area.

[StevenGuthmiller]

If it's just a body crease or panel edge & it's very small, you can touch it up with a small brush, that is if you're planning on clear coating.

I've done this many times & they're all but impossible to see after clear coating & polishing.

I'm sure a lot will depend on the type of paint you're using.

I use automotive lacquers & this works quite well for me most of the time.

Steve

[Roadrunner]

Thanks for the input, fellas, I appreciate it. I may give the spot treatment (with a brush) a try, but on an already messed up body that I need to strip completely anyway. I'm trying to be as cautious as I can on this one, since I've botched two in a row already.

[Roadrunner]

Regarding the decals for same, am I better off to apply decals on the smooth wet sanded paint before additional clear, or polish the clear first before applying decals?

[Roadrunner]

I tried airbrushing this stuff today (on a junk body), and it turned out OK; not great, but at least OK. I'll airbrush some clear on the test area tomorrow, then see how it goes from there. If all works well, I'll then use this method on my project.

 

Thanks for the input, fellas.

[DiscoRover007]

What color is the paint? Did you apply a clear coat on the first paint job? 

I would mask off the panel that needs to be retouched. But be careful how many layers of paint you add to touch it up. You'll need to do light coats to build a base and gradually return the spot to the same depth of color as the rest of the paint. If you put on too many coats you may have a piece of the car that looks uneven. And in that case you would need to respray a whole section of the body to blend the whole thing back together.

If you sanded through clear coat on a metallic paint job just make sure you do light coats because spraying metallic paint over a clear coat on itself will tend to give it much more depth which can appear uneven. The section that you respray may end up looking like fresher paint than the rest of the car.

 

[Roadrunner]

I'll probably do as several have suggested, and just mask the entire hood and repaint. Thanks for the input, fellas, I'll keep you posted on my success, (or lack thereof).