Repairing Paint Chipping - Tamiya Lacquer and 2k clear

[DiscoRover007]

Hey guys so I've got Mk4 supra build that is quite precious to me that I've gone to great strides in detailing and upgrading and having good paint work. The body is painted with Tamiya white primer, tamiya lacquer racing blue from the can, and then spray max 2k clear from the can. It came out great. Somehow however when I was testing the look with the hood on it I managed to chip a pin sized portion of paint away near the headlamp. Luckily, when I attach the headlight glass it makes even less noticeable. But of course this will bother me to no end. I swear its like the universe will not let you get a perfect paint job. Which was the point of using 2k clear in the first place, not getting chips and little accidents like this.

Anyway I wanted to ask what would be the best way to patch this? I feel like its almost too small to mask and spray, and doing so may risk further paint chipping when removing tape, additionally the masking lines may appear more of a nuisance than the chip itself. What I'm thinking is to maybe spray enough of the Racing  Blue into a small cup, and then using something like the tip of a lead pencil to sort of dab and fill this hole.

The more difficult part of this for me is what to seal it with? Being that this is a 2k clear finish, the new clear won't blend into the existing one. Could I get away with using the lead pencil trick with the 2k clear as well, and then hoping for the best when it hardens so some very delicate polishing? My understanding though is that 2k is meant to be atomized so I would worry about pinholes or bubbles. I suppose I could try this with a 1k clear also.

Spray Max does have a clear coat blender, but I'm trying to think through how practical that would be on such a small area. I would need to essentially dab on the 2k clear and then quickly dab the blending coat right after. But on such a small area there's no way to really control that the blending coat goes on the edges of the chip.  I suppose I could just dab on the color coat and leave it exposed as an option as well.

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2024 by DiscoRover007

[DiscoRover007]

Just thinking out loud here. But I wonder if the best solution would be to spray the Tamiya Racing Blue into a cup, add a few drops of Tamiya lacquer thinner and retarder, and fill that chip with a very fine tipped brush.  Then I'll use a light coat of Spray Max blending coat, through the airbrush and simply use that as the clear coat to blend it into the existing clear. 

[peteski]

Do you have the chipped piece of paint by chance?  Something similar happened to me on one or my models (on the A-pillar) and I simply glued the chipped paint back in place.  A tiny bit of clear lacquer can be used as adhesive.

If not then your idea sounds usable. Make sure the decanted paint thickens enough to stay in the chipped area and fill it.  Don't add any thinner. You can dab the paint on some surface other than the model to get the hang of applying it. To be honest I'm not even really sure where in the photos the chipped paint is.

[DiscoRover007]

2 hours ago, peteski said:

Do you have the chipped piece of paint by chance?  Something similar happened to me on one or my models (on the A-pillar) and I simply glued the chipped paint back in place.  A tiny bit of clear lacquer can be used as adhesive.

If not then your idea sounds usable. Make sure the decanted paint thickens enough to stay in the chipped area and fill it.  Don't add any thinner. You can dab the paint on some surface other than the model to get the hang of applying it. To be honest I'm not even really sure where in the photos the chipped paint is.

Appreciate your thoughts! The chip in question is just above the left most bulb in the headlight. Where the edge of the fender would meet the glass of the light. Probably should have circled it.

[Rick L]

Wow! That chip is huge! I’d sand the whole car down to the bare plastic and start over. ? just kidding. I’m with Pete on this one. I can barely see the chip. A little touch up and no one will notice unless you tell them.