Over the years I have had many a paint finish (solid or metallic) and never had problems making a satisfactory job of touching up paint chips.
That is until I bought Mazda cars.
I have had copper red, ceramic metallic & soul red metallic. Try as I may I have never been able to get a decent colour match with genuine mazda touch up “sticks” nor anything that doesn’t look like a carbuncle of a finish.
Do I just have less manual dexterity as I age, is Mazda paint a problem or do others owners have a problem to?
Yes when you do the base coats and two coats of lacquer it covers the spots from a man walking past on the street, say 2 mtrs away, the colour match of the copper red was very good but withe the lacquer on the little brush, I could not get an invisable repair.
In saying that, when I got a trade in price from the Mazda dealer with the car 10 and a half years old, he made no comments at all on my painting handywork and was delighted at that age of car, that it had the Mazda Digital Service record completely up to date. No issue with the valuation and a month before that, there were lots of paint chips on the car.
The biggest problem is the brush in the lid. Painting a small stone chip with it is like trying to put a teaspoon of sugar in your coffee using a garden shovel.
My Soul Red ND had a few minor chips that had been previously touched in presumably done with the supplied brush. The worst one on the bonnet was around 3mm across. The paint applied was around 5mm across and stood around 1mm proud of the surface. Looked bad from anything less than 2m. I saw it every time I walked around the car.
I very carefully chipped the excess off the surface using a watchmaker’s screwdriver and emptied the chip before repainting.
Don’t ever use the brush in the lid. I use these. -
The smaller the better, I use the “A1” version in this listing. They are like a small, dense, pointed cotton bud. Rather than painting in large dollops of paint you can apply a tiny amount at a time. Importantly you can fill the chip rather than piling a mountain on top of it.
I used the genuine Mazda touch up according to the instruction. Just enough base coat to cover whatever metal or primer is showing through. Then a damp polish with the pad on the lid. Then fill the rest of the chip with the tinted lacquer. I stuck with the timings with the paint but when it came to leaving it two days before polishing patience eluded me. I left it around an hour.
The base coat does look very pail when applied and when the lacquer goes on it looks too dark. A couple of days later the colour looks spot on.
While my worst chip was previously obvious walking around the car I now have to lean over the bonnet and search for it before I can see it and I know it is there.
I also had one minor scratch on the wing that was just too deep to hide with polish. Using only the base coat on one of the magic sticks I ran the thin tip along the scratch and now I would challenge anyone to find it.
I’ve always used a cocktail stick instead of the brush when repairing stone chips and have never used the lacquer on top.
Probably not the correct way to do it, but the repairs have always improved the appearance of the chips and have never had any issues after repair. Oh, and also had a cloth and thinners on hand just in case it goes wrong!
I also have a copper red Mk3 and also at first struggled to touch up paint chips. My best results have been achieved by just using the base colour applied with a fine artists paint brush. I normally find that by gradually filling the chip with base coat then gently polishing and finally sealing with Autoglym polymer sealant you have to look hard to see the chip.
I have tried using a cocktail stick but cannot get the paint to leave the stick and apply itself to the chip. The cotton pad seems interesting. The problem I currently have is with the soul red metallic (41V). After applying the tinted clear coat I end up with a dull dark purple spot that is very noticeable. What product or method is used to polish the painted chip?
Mine is Soul Red 41V too. The base coat appears almost like pale pink with silver metallic flakes and like you when the tinted lacquer went on it looked very dark. Not sure about it looking dark purple but certainly darker than the surrounding paint. However a couple of days later the colour match was spot on.
Paints are probably water based rather than solvent now so may take longer to dry completely. If the lacquer is slightly opaque until it dries then the paler base coat won’t show through.
The cotton tipped sticks, brushes or whatever you want to call them are so useful. As solid as a cocktail stick so they don’t move around like a brush and just absorbent enough that they will hold enough paint to be able to transfer a bit to the car without more than you want running down the shaft.
Will try to get a picture of my results tomorrow. Car is currently very mud splattered after a week around Devon including single track roads with farm machinery, grass up the middle and a fair bit of rain. If it finally stops raining tomorrow it will be back to presentable.
To polish the painted chip I use Autoglym Super Resin polish followed by either Autoglym Gloss Protection or I have also used Meguiars Carnauba wax to finish. As I say just using base colour seems to give the best results, the lacquer darkened the colour and also left a raised bump that if anything looked worse than the chip.
Given her a wash and dry today and got some pictures. First one is a comparison between the applicator and the brush in the paint.
This is as close as I can focus with the camera on my phone with an applicator for scale
This is with the lens six inches away from the chip
It does look worse in the pictures than in real life. After washing the car it immediately started raining so I waited until it stopped and then went out and dried the area with a drying towel. I had to lean right over the bonnet to find it and then I had to look at a certain angle to spot it. The only chip I’ve had a bit of difficulty with is on the front bumper. It still looks a little dark because the black plastic is showing through.
