touch-up paint advice please!

[tam]

Is this the right topic area to help I wonder. I posted recently (general puma area) that I started using a touch-up kit, and now have a patch of primer on my boot which I don't know how to sand/smooth it satisfactorily. The kit (Halfords) says to use the tool/pad supplied, which is pathetic. The primer is raised above the surrounding paint and I want to smooth it so it is all the same, but then the paint and lacquer layer will be raised!? what do I do, and how do I blend it all in?
I thought I read some tips on this but can't find it now - something to do with using a pair of tights to blend in the edges, and then clean with clay to get off excess. But I don't know what I am doing. The patch I am doing is the least prominent one, I really want to get the technique because there are loads of scratches on the bonnet that I want to get rid of.
Can anyone help please?

 

[quest63]

It might help if you put some pics up for people to see, and perhaps a bit of an idea of what kit your using.

Personally I wouldnt put much faith in anything that wasnt a panel being resprayed professionally.And even then even if a sprayer has exactly the right shade hes painting a 10 year old potentialy faded car with new paint which probably isnt even the same paint as originally used.

With a DIY job on metallic paint with some kind of kit in my opinion its unlikely you will get a result your happy with,possibly even creating a larger problem area than you started with.

I do hope you get some helpful advice and you find some improvement though

 

[tam]

Thanks for your input. My car looks like yours, it is pacific green, and I made those carbon-vinyl sill protectors like you made. I took pictures (as I said I would post them) but I haven't worked out how to upload them yet! I should probably do that. Every time I wash my car I notice more little scratches, and I know the touch up kits are not perfect but though it would be an improvement - I am not so sure now. I suppose my rust patch that is now a grey patch will look better as a green patch even if it is not smooth or blended in very well. Maybe I should leave the bonnet as it is! I want to try though - and I have bought the kit now! It is the halfords little set (primer, paint, lacquer, scratchy tool and buffer pad), supposedly ford pacific green.

 

[quest63]

Heres a hand with uploading piccies

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5496" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh and dont forget to vote in the great Pacific green v Jewel green debate :grin:

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=17093&p=215577&hilit=pacific+green+jewel+green#p215577" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What comes in this kit is it brushes or sprays? I have been using a coloured polish on mine which temporarily fills scratches but I will be doing some touch ups with rattle cans at some point in the future. The best I would expect would be getting a flat rust free shiny green stain.

 

[Anonymous]

I tried to 'blend' in a little a nice key mark I've got down one side and, to be honest, I wish I hadn't even tried.

The paint is now raised... running it down just ends up with rubbing the surrounding paint down too.
I got a can of the original Ford green so used that with masking tape down each side. Once I pulled the masking tape off, it left two 'lines' one each side of the scratch. Trying to 'polish' them out resulted in fluff from the cloth getting stuck on the paint.

I gave up!! A touch up in my opinion will never be any good!