Touch-up Paint

[DaveWeinstein]

Eventually, I'll want to do a complete re-paint.

But that will wait for this winter. The plan for this spring and summer is to always be ready to hit the road.

So, this was my plan:

Take a good reasonably dirt-free paint section that is flaking, and get a color match of that in an exterior paint (any suggestions)?

If there is flaking paint, take a brass brush, and brush paint away (should I use something else)? If it is a clean flake (there is one spot I'm pretty sure was a small rock or other debris driving it home), or after brushing, gently wash and dry the aluminum section.

Apply Zinsser B-I-N primer with a brush and let dry.

Apply exterior paint and let dry.

Is this a reasonable touchup plan?

[tony.latham]

I'm assuming you are painting the yellow and white trailer on your avatar. I've got a little experience painting aluminum. I think you'd do much better if you lightly sanded the aluminum with about 220 grit to give it some "tooth", and then used a self etching primer such as this stuff: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-A ... /202097278 There are other self ethcing primers out there. NAPA always has a stock.

As far as a top coat? Dunno. I'd be looking at automotive paints, but maybe the price would scare me.

Tony

[DaveWeinstein]

For reference, here are examples of where the paint needs touching up:

[tony.latham]

It looks to me that the paint is wanting to come off, and begging for a complete re-do. Probably not something you're looking to tackle. I'm also guessing that whomever does the paint rematch, you are going to see where the new and old paint is. I have very limited experience with someone attempting to match paint, and they have never gotten it "spot on." But maybe that's okay.

Tony

[DaveWeinstein]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about a perfect match, since it is going to need a full repaint soon enough anyway.

[RandyG]

When doing a touch up, you want to sand all of the flaking paint off as well as feathering out past the bare spots. Feathering is a nice smooth transition between the bare metal and the good surrounding paint, so when the touch up paint is applied, you cant see where it was done. It also gives the new paint something to grab on to. Since you plan on doing a full paint soon, I would just do a rough sanding and get some sort of coating on it before it corrodes. Good luck,