Hello I have looked around the forum and I realize that there is not much about scratches on the paint, the resolution of scratches on acrylic seems better provided. My question is therefore to know if anyone has already tried something and the result. I read a story of marker pen, nail varnish but I am not convinced, initially I thought more about car paint solutions. In my opinion there is a way to do something. Has anyone tried something?
I tried using gold metalic paint mixed with IPA to build thin layers and fix scratches on a golden painted walkman I have (Koss A2 Music box) I also tried Permanant marker to fix chiped black paint on another one, and even nail polish but it's not the best (because it is too thick). To fix light scratches, what helped for me was to sand it gently starting from 1500 and going up to 5000 only to finish by rubbing toothpaste (which really helped polish the surface for me) I've done this on the acrylic glass of my sony D6C doors, and sometimes even on the paint if the scratch was very tiny (only on painted walkmans, never on metal ones without a paint finish), but be careful because once I sanded through a small area of the paint trying to fix a scrach that I would have prefered to stay if only I knew I would mess it up. Also be careful when using toothpaste as a polishing compound, it leaves residues that if stuck between thin gaps, can be tricky to remove. Better to buy real products for this but I am broke. I would love to learn about your experiences !! I though I was the only one to try and restore the cosmetic aspects, to a point I started to feel like I was psychotic. I would love to learn more about fixing scratches. Have you got any experiences on that so far ?
I've had some success using clear coat spray paint. The advantage of adding clear paint is that you can get a smooth shiny surface without removing lettering. You can also get satin finish clear coat if needed. First I found that clear coat laquer dries too thin to allow any sanding between coats, it could be peeled off merely by using office clear tape, and it started eating some lettering. So don't use lacquer paint. I turned to acrylic enamel, sold at hobby or auto parts stores. The latter had about a dozen different brands, so I bought the cheapest. Because I didn't know if it would work ok. It may be the more expensive ones are worth the few extra dollars because they MAY leave a flatter finish. I found #400 and #600 sandpaper to be too coarse, and even #1000 if used dry. I tried the #1000 wetted today and was pleased with the result. Best to apply several coats before any sanding, because the paint adheres differently to bare plastic vs a layer of clear coat, and you don't want to sand through the paint to the plastic and any lettering. At least 3 coats gives you a nice thickness to work with. Fine steel wool leaves a good finish but is messy. The plastic back panels of Aiwa HS-J9/09/600 etc. often have tiny pits in the plastic. Like some kind of disease. I don't know what causes them, perhaps impurities in the plastic as it ages. Before spraying them, I use a fine toothpick to dab a tiny bit of clear coat in the pits. Eventually with the upper coats and sanding, the pits disappear. Paint applied with the end of a sharp toothpick can touch up very tiny scratches. I haven't yet found a solution to scratched bright metal. Clear coat helps a bit. For masking areas to be painted, I use that same clear "celo" desktop tape. Masking tape is far too crude. I can restore lines down to about .5mm wide, if I remove the tape at just the right time as the paint dries. Not too soon or the paint runs. Not too late or the paint will peel off or leave raised edges. I've tried fixing worn or damaged chrome. Metallic grey paint is better than nothing. Recently I found a German product that dries almost as perfect as chrome. BUT, it cannot be touched. For display only. If you touch it, it goes flat grey like grey paint. If goes flat if you put clear coat or nail polish over it. (Did I mention clear nail polish is useful for some finish repairs?) Chrome requires an incredibly smooth surface and a hobby store owner told me that no one has developed a way to simulate chrome that is also durable. I also tried PPF, which is the clear protective film put on cars to protect the paint. This is a hassle to do, and it resisted conforming to small surface details. It is applied wet. I hoped it would fill the plastic pits, but it is air permeable and eventually the pits dried out and became visible again. Shops that wrap cars are happy to give you scraps of PPF. I have considered using chrome PPF to restore chrome finishes, but haven't gotten around to getting scraps. I see some people have fancy polishing tools, but I don't have any of that stuff and don't know their methods.
I haven't tried anything yet. But I have a few ideas. What I already know is that there won't be a single solution. What I can say about the DDs, for example, is that the paint on a DD9 isn't the same as a DD33 or other version. The DD9's paint seems grainy and thick on the upper surface, but less so on the lower surface. What I'd already thought about was softening the paint. I've already tried this several months apart with spray paint. Spraying a new coat softens the previous one, which would allow (under certain conditions) our small scratches to be quickly polished without searching or color issues with a transparent or colorless product. My second idea would be to sandblast the entire surface, then polish it with a mirror polish, laser mark it, and finally varnish it. All of this wouldn't obviously please purists, but it would probably result in a magnificent result. These are all projects for the moment, nothing too serious. I'm a little short on time. The purpose of this post was mainly to talk a little about aesthetic renovations, as the mechanical side of things has already been very well covered on the forum.
Since posting I've done some experimenting. First, "blocking'. Backing the sandpaper with a little flat piece of wood and wet sanding, resulted in quickly getting a truly flat surface. I had a few coats of clear paint on a scratched clear plastic "window" on the cassette door of the Aiwa HS-J36. I waited for a day, sanded it one last time and sprayed what I expected to be the last coat of clear. It looked perfect for a few minutes, then the last coat began eating the paint layer under it. It dried with an awful bumpy and crinkly surface. Ffs. Luckily the panel is raised and the lettering is on tha back side. So I'm going to sand all the clear coat off it, and then use rubbing compound and Brasso to see if I can get a satisfactory finish without using the clear paint.
