touch up paint

[boxkiller]

has anyone used dealer or any other kind of touch up paint for factory colors? what seems to work best? i don't know if i should just touch up the key marks on my hood and doors for now or just wait to have it all fixed professionally. im only hesitating on the touch up because the scratches are deep and i have seen some pretty crappy paint that looked a lot worse than the scratches it was 'covering'. any (helpful) imput would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[kirbycope]

I used a filler/primer pen for a key scratch on my sisters Camaro. Then I used a paint pen/brush and clear coated it with the sealer that came with the kit. It turned out okay, but its really noticeable if you don't take the time to really work it. It can look like nail polish if you really rush it.
You could sand and repaint then use a dulling agent to make it match you paint.

[g0ast]

The thing about paint is...

There are different levels of paint damage, and depending on how deep the damage is, you can only do so much to fix it.

The least damage are like swirl marks,
The most damage are into the metal.

Swirl marks are easy to fix, it's only in the clear coat, and there are so many products to fix clear coats, and depending on how deep the clear coat scratch is, if its on the really fine side, waxes and clay bars are good, deeper ones require a sealant or reapplication of the clear coat.

Damage in the paint is more difficult because it obviously requires repainting, and this is where it gets tricky. Paint can be reapplied by paint markers, or filling it with liquid paint then putting on the clear coat. From experience, I know from fact that those are just temporary fixes, to allow it to look natural from a distance, a "first look" fixer, but closer inspection will show it's actually quite noticable, and therefore, not complete.

Deeper scratches, like to the metal, are very hard to camoflauge into the real paint around it from up close because you'll come upon bumps, or uneveness in the fix, so it stands out like a nail. The other thing you might do is to sand down the paint to the metal around the scratch, so it's like a bald spot where the scratch was, then you would repaint and clearcoat that whole area.

While such a fix does work well in most situations, it still looks different, because the original paint around the new paint has been exposed to light and the elements, so it may look a little more faded, or lighter. The new paint will look too new in the background of the older paint.

The true and unquestionable fix is to just repaint the entire body part, which gets costly and time consuming, but it's a guaranteed fix. If it's a big scratch, like from someone keying your car, perhaps you might consider it. A hood for instance might cost about $200-500 to repaint, it's a matter of how important it is for you to get rid of the scratch.

[gonzokidd]

I used some touch up paint on my GS500, but it looked nasty. Without the touch up paint, it looked like someone keyed my bike! it was my Gerber.... everytime I moved my bike it would scratch the tank...it sucked!

[boxkiller]

thanks for the imput folks! i'm just not sure what to do. it's not like i can just paint one part, it's the hood, driver door, and rear passenger door. down to metal. im stumped. damn whoever keyed my car.