So I tried the Dr. ColorChip paint chip repair product.
04-24-2007, 07:32 PM
#1
AudiWorld Uber User
Thread Starter
So I tried the Dr. ColorChip paint chip repair product.
As STG II+ S4 noted when I first asked about this product, the paint is extremely thin/watery compared to regular touch-up paint. This thinness creates obvious limitations. It is also the reason why one particular use for it is very quick and easy. As explained below, I don't consider this a useful product for dealing with real paint chips. OTOH it <i>might</i> be good for dealing with the much finer kinds of tiny pits that are commonly called "road rash".
WHAT YOU GET
The least expensive version of the product comes in a nice little wood box (see web site) and contains the paint; a solvent that's used as step #2; 3 different application tools that would be very handy for use with ordinary touch-up paint; a microfiber cloth; a one-page set of instructions.
THE PROCESS
To begin with, the process of applying this paint is different from ordinary touch-up paint. The instructions tell you to apply the paint to the chip; immediately smear it to remove any blobs or excess (they give you a single latex glove -- you're supposed to smear the paint with your finger); let it dry (it dries FAST); use the solvent on a clean rag to wipe away all the excess (what you smeared) except what's been deposited in the chip; and then use a microfiber cloth (supplied) to immediately buff after the solvent step.
Chemically, the process works just as described. The paint really does dry quickly, and the solvent really does remove it easily from the surrounding paint surface. But....
REPAIRING REAL CHIPS
It quickly became apparent that this paint, and the method they suggest for applying it, just isn't suited for what I'll call real paint chips. "Real" paint chips are those things that stand out individually all on their own. They're deep, they're ugly, and they require a fair amount of paint to fill them. Using regular touch-up paint on them can require several applications in order to avoid a blob. I can't calculate how many applications it would take using this more watery paint, to completely fill a real chip. And the "smear" step actually removes some paint from a large chip. Honestly, once I saw how it would work, I didn't even bother trying to fill a real chip with this stuff. I'm not that patient. I'd rather use OEM touch-up and some Langka if I'm going to repair a "real" paint chip. If you have the patience, have at it.
ROAD RASH
For road rash, the instructions suggest putting the paint directly onto a clean rag (e.g., t-shirt material) and then wiping down the entire surface where the road rash is. My aging 99.5 A4 has seen over 100K miles, many of them highway, so I had a fair amount of "rash" on the leading edge of the hood and on the front bumper. I applied the paint in the manner instructed to the entire front of the hood (finger wrapped in cloth covering the opening of the paint bottle; invert bottle to deposit paint on cloth; wipe paint onto surface). I used a circular motion so that the paint would be worked into the rash. You can only do a small area at a time, but it goes quickly. By the time I was done it was dry where I'd started and ready to be removed (I must say that once you've applied the paint this way, your first thought is, "holy crap, this solvent damn well better work the way it should because it looks like hell right now". Naturally I did a small test spot from start to finish to learn the technique before covering a larger area).
I used the solvent to work a small area (say, 4" x 4") at a time. The solvent dries quickly too. I kept the microfiber right by me as I worked; wipe it down with the solvent and immediately buff off what's left. Naturally some of the solvent/paint mixture gets on the microfiber. This microfiber cloth isn't going to used for anything else.
I'll have to say that this process most definitely reduced the appearance of the rash very significantly. Pretty good result, considering I did the whole front portion of the hood and some sections of the bumper in about an hour. An impatient guy like me appreciates that kind of speed. And y'know, you couldn't do anything like this with ordinary touch-up paint. At least, I don't think I'd want to try.
HOWEVER: those little pits are still there. They haven't been filled, only colored. The car looks a lot better, but this is a cosmetic remedy, not a real fix. I'm going to wait a week to wax to let the paint cure, so right now the portion I treated is unprotected. But I suspect that once I wax, I'm going to see rash reappearing as wax gets deposited into the little pits again. I also suspect that the paint, having been applied so thinly to begin with, will not last long in any event.
SO WHAT'S THIS PRODUCT REALLY GOOD FOR?
So far, I've concluded that this product would be excellent for when you're selling your car and you need to do a quickie job of reducing the appearance of road rash. Use it, show the car and sell it. Preferably all in one day. In this respect it's not a lot different from pigmented car waxes. But maybe it'll last longer. And it comes in OEM colors (you send them your paint code), so the match is right and not just approximate. But it costs a lot more than pigmented car wax.
Will that rash reappear when I wax? Will the cosmetic fix last? I don't know yet.
<end of review>
WHAT YOU GET
The least expensive version of the product comes in a nice little wood box (see web site) and contains the paint; a solvent that's used as step #2; 3 different application tools that would be very handy for use with ordinary touch-up paint; a microfiber cloth; a one-page set of instructions.
THE PROCESS
To begin with, the process of applying this paint is different from ordinary touch-up paint. The instructions tell you to apply the paint to the chip; immediately smear it to remove any blobs or excess (they give you a single latex glove -- you're supposed to smear the paint with your finger); let it dry (it dries FAST); use the solvent on a clean rag to wipe away all the excess (what you smeared) except what's been deposited in the chip; and then use a microfiber cloth (supplied) to immediately buff after the solvent step.
Chemically, the process works just as described. The paint really does dry quickly, and the solvent really does remove it easily from the surrounding paint surface. But....
REPAIRING REAL CHIPS
It quickly became apparent that this paint, and the method they suggest for applying it, just isn't suited for what I'll call real paint chips. "Real" paint chips are those things that stand out individually all on their own. They're deep, they're ugly, and they require a fair amount of paint to fill them. Using regular touch-up paint on them can require several applications in order to avoid a blob. I can't calculate how many applications it would take using this more watery paint, to completely fill a real chip. And the "smear" step actually removes some paint from a large chip. Honestly, once I saw how it would work, I didn't even bother trying to fill a real chip with this stuff. I'm not that patient. I'd rather use OEM touch-up and some Langka if I'm going to repair a "real" paint chip. If you have the patience, have at it.
ROAD RASH
For road rash, the instructions suggest putting the paint directly onto a clean rag (e.g., t-shirt material) and then wiping down the entire surface where the road rash is. My aging 99.5 A4 has seen over 100K miles, many of them highway, so I had a fair amount of "rash" on the leading edge of the hood and on the front bumper. I applied the paint in the manner instructed to the entire front of the hood (finger wrapped in cloth covering the opening of the paint bottle; invert bottle to deposit paint on cloth; wipe paint onto surface). I used a circular motion so that the paint would be worked into the rash. You can only do a small area at a time, but it goes quickly. By the time I was done it was dry where I'd started and ready to be removed (I must say that once you've applied the paint this way, your first thought is, "holy crap, this solvent damn well better work the way it should because it looks like hell right now". Naturally I did a small test spot from start to finish to learn the technique before covering a larger area).
I used the solvent to work a small area (say, 4" x 4") at a time. The solvent dries quickly too. I kept the microfiber right by me as I worked; wipe it down with the solvent and immediately buff off what's left. Naturally some of the solvent/paint mixture gets on the microfiber. This microfiber cloth isn't going to used for anything else.
I'll have to say that this process most definitely reduced the appearance of the rash very significantly. Pretty good result, considering I did the whole front portion of the hood and some sections of the bumper in about an hour. An impatient guy like me appreciates that kind of speed. And y'know, you couldn't do anything like this with ordinary touch-up paint. At least, I don't think I'd want to try.
HOWEVER: those little pits are still there. They haven't been filled, only colored. The car looks a lot better, but this is a cosmetic remedy, not a real fix. I'm going to wait a week to wax to let the paint cure, so right now the portion I treated is unprotected. But I suspect that once I wax, I'm going to see rash reappearing as wax gets deposited into the little pits again. I also suspect that the paint, having been applied so thinly to begin with, will not last long in any event.
SO WHAT'S THIS PRODUCT REALLY GOOD FOR?
So far, I've concluded that this product would be excellent for when you're selling your car and you need to do a quickie job of reducing the appearance of road rash. Use it, show the car and sell it. Preferably all in one day. In this respect it's not a lot different from pigmented car waxes. But maybe it'll last longer. And it comes in OEM colors (you send them your paint code), so the match is right and not just approximate. But it costs a lot more than pigmented car wax.
Will that rash reappear when I wax? Will the cosmetic fix last? I don't know yet.
<end of review>
04-25-2007, 07:25 AM
#3
AudiWorld Uber User
Thread Starter
This was really motivated mostly by curiosity.
I've used regular touch-up paint and paint pens (not paintscratch brand, but same idea). This was something new to me so I figured why not. Paintscratch makes a bunch of different products...are you referring to one in particular? Spray paint maybe? I'd be worried about controlling coverage, feathering into existing paint, and making a fatal mistake using that.
04-25-2007, 08:33 AM
#5
AudiWorld Uber User
Thread Starter
Pretty good for small chips.
I posted about it when I first tried it.<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/detail/msgs/6897.phtml">Whoa....was it really almost 5 years ago?</a></li></ul>
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04-26-2007, 04:33 PM
#8
AudiWorld Uber User
Thread Starter
2-3 coats over what size surface, is the question.
Doing what I've described in my other post, I used about 2/3 to 3/4 of the paint. It's a small bottle. Like 1 oz. I could've used a little bit less than I did by being a little more conscious about conserving it, but I applied it thinly to begin with so there wasn't room for a huge improvement (I'm talking about using the t-shirt material/road rash spread-it-around method). I used very little of it experimenting on actual chips, since it didn't take me long to conclude that I didn't have the patience for doing a thorough job on those.
04-26-2007, 05:51 PM
#9
I'm looking to do mirrors, a couple spots on the a-pillars, whole bumper, part of fenders and hood
I think I'll pick up their "road rash" size and maybe get extras for more coats
