Airbrush Touchup?

[DGriz]

Hi all - I'm interested to see what you might use in my situation.

I need to repair paint, and think there may be two good methods: Dr ColorChip and an airbrush.

I have used Dr Colorchip before for small rock chips, to good camouflaging results. However, if larger areas of paint are gone I don't think it will work as well.

Has anyone ever applied automotive paint with an airbrush? I read that you reduce it by 50% & apply multiple coats, followed by light sanding/polishing.

This seems reasonable to me, and much more precise than a standard paint gun.

Any suggestions or advice is appreciated. Thanks! Dickson

[962porsche]

as i have been airbrushing from the age of 7 at time a air brush will work great and other time not so good . it depends on many things one is the color your looking to spray . a course met flake will not lay down the way it will with a mini gun or a full size gun .
as for adding more reducer yes to a point but that too depends on the color and just what your spraying . if the product is a 50 /50 mix mixing it to 50 to 100 is not the way to go . for the most part you only want to add about 5 to 10% more reducer than the mix you would do for a full size gun .
i airbrush using glasurit 55 line the mix for that is 2 to 1 most all the colors will spray at that mix with out adding more reducer . but if i'm spraying a color and it's not laying down the way it should i may add two or three drops to the cup .

mini gun AKA tuch up guns are made for touch up that's were they get there name from most touch up you do or should do with a touch up gun and not a airbrush .

[David McLaughlin]

If it's just stone chips, why not just over fill the chip with color and an artist brush or touch up pick. Let the paint dry then wet sand just the high spot before buff and polish.

IMHO, trying to fill a stone chip with over reduced paint and an airbrush would be tedious as hell. Maybe airbrush in some color then fill the rest of the chip with clear...

[962porsche]

very good point !

Originally Posted by David McLaughlin

If it's just stone chips, why not just over fill the chip with color and an artist brush or touch up pick. Let the paint dry then wet sand just the high spot before buff and polish.

IMHO, trying to fill a stone chip with over reduced paint and an airbrush would be tedious as hell. Maybe airbrush in some color then fill the rest of the chip with clear...

[VFR750]

I had good results with an airbrush repairing a good sized area.

Try this Link


Here is the extent of repair

So it is possible. I did not thin (reduce) the spray compared to a spray gun. I did take my time, as the deposition rate is slower with the primers, vs. color and clear coat because they are thicker.

I used a Badger airbrush, with the largest nozzle and needle of the three provided in the package.

After spraying the clear coat, I wet sanded with 1500 grit, then rubbing compound to make the transition disappear. Helps if your color/clear coat system is a good match for the surrounding area.

[962porsche]

Mike that is just the type of repair a body shop would have used a mini gun for .
it's not that you can't use a airbrush but the right tool for the job would have been a mini gun .
i at times have used one of my airbrushes to do little repairs . like some weeks ago i used it for a little burn on the edge of a hood were the owner buffed thru the OE finish . the repair was about 6 inchs long X 1/8 inch wide just over the edge of the hood . i rolled the tape down the edge of the hood to give a nice soft edge so the color would not have a sharp tape line . then sprayed 4 coats of color and melted in the over spray edge with some blending reducer . put the heat lamp on it for 30 minutes and then with some compound on a sort rag by hand buffed the edge up .