Touch up with an airbrush?

[BlueZero]

Anyone have any experience doing touch up paint with an airbrush?

I'm looking at a different vehicle to buy. Talking with the dealer he said there was some scuffs on the rear bumper that where touched up with an airbrush and buffed. The truck was parked so the rear bumper was in the shade but I couldn't see any defects. I'm going to try to get back tomorrow and see it in the light and maybe even buy it.

I never thought of doing touch up paint with an airbrush. Just wondering if it's a better way than a small paint brush for scuffs.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

What he likely is referring to is the "budget special" bumper repair. Basically, there are companies that will take severely scuffed or scratched bumpers and they re-spray the missing paint, and then partially onto the surrounding area to "blend" the paint.

The problem is that over time this is almost guaranteed to peel away from the outer areas where they sprayed. It is considered a temporary repair (2~ years usually) and common at dealerships and when people are looking to sell their vehicle.

I would be very cautious about it.

[BlueZero]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

That's not good. Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to give it a closer look for sure. I would hope that I would be able to tell if that's what they did.

I noticed when I drove by today the truck is parked so the rear bumper is catching the sun. I'll stop in after they close and take a closer look.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

It likely has over spray on the car now too....

[Eddie6th]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

I always wondered about doing small touch-ups with an airbrush.I don't see why it shouldn't work? Touch-ups are good on side panels(more discreet).Top surfaces are more easily visible.
I also find that the brush inside the paint stick is a bit too hard.I use a softer one.Too soft is no good either as it will bend and stick.

[Eddie6th]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

An airbrush works well. Have been trying it out on an old panel,then to fix a repair. The hardest part is getting the correct control on the pen for blending.
I used a hobby kit with air can(20-30$'s?).....a full artists kit with compressor would be very expensive.I would only be interested in that if I was doing graphics etc.

I would still use the paint stick for a rock chip repair though,as it is very small.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

I thought I would add a little by mentioning that although there are many companies that specialize in quick, cheap, "temporary" air brush work, there are also professionals that can produce quality, fairly durable results.

Just keep the old adage in mind, "You get what you pay for."

[the_invisible]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

I had a spot touched up by air brush at a very reputable bodyshop.
What they would do is completely sand down the affected area down to the bare metal or plastic. They would then air brush primer the sanded down area and then air brush the base coat over the primed area while covering a larger area. Finally after some flash baking, clear coat would be sprayed over the affected area, while covering a larger area. It can look very good, but under certain lighting and if you are very picky, you can tell the spot being repaired. This effect is minimized on a non-metallic paint. You could probably never tell an air-brush repair work if your car is solid black with no flakes.

Air Brushing is almost always good for very inconspicious area, such as the lower part of the bumper or door. Most shops would probably deny air brushing a hood unless you demand it. Even if you use the very same paint and primer to air brush an area, a mismatch would still occur. Sometimes, a touch up and wetsand procedure would yield better result than air brushing. A budgeted air brushing job takes only half an hour. A proper one like the repair I had took four hours.

[Eddie6th]

Re: Touch up with an airbrush?

Hi invisible. An airbrush is handy when a larger area than a rock chip is required. It's not perfect,but is very good. I infact,am doing a repair on my hood.I am documenting it as I go along,so will post soon. It is located directly under the badge. The good thing here is that the badge comes into play and makes this repair less noticable. I'm leaving it for a week now,before I finish it,so it's hard to judge,but it's way better than what it was.
As I mentioned earlier,the hardest part was blending.I'm a bit annoyed here,because it is a small inexpensive kit and the airflow is difficult to regulate from the can,the spray didn't come out on one side as I wanted it to. I was keeping costs to a minimum so I was using paint that I had for a while,but it was still good and just needed thinned. It will darken down a bit given a month or two. Fresh paint always has that 'Bling'.
Now i'm onto the exhaust cutaway.......Will i ever get this car finished?