Scope paint chips

[beren]

Hi just seeing if anyone has a good repair method for paint chips on telescope
tubes ? I'm usually pretty careful {painfully so}handling scope's but somehow I have managed one with my FSQ-106 . I have touch up paint but because the chip has exposed bare metal should I use some sort of primer ? Cheers for any tips

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by beren

Hi just seeing if anyone has a good repair method for paint chips on telescope
tubes ? I'm usually pretty careful {painfully so}handling scope's but somehow I have managed one with my FSQ-106 {pic attached}. I have touch up paint but because the chip has exposed bare metal should I use some sort of primer ? Cheers for any tips

Very Sad! A chip on a good scope is equivalent to dropping a motorbike.....

On the other hand I own a ute and it's a workhorse so a few dints shows character! So I squint when I look at my Edge 9.25 coz it has a few working bruises..

Cheers

[Atmos (Colin)]

Lewis Lewis Lewis!
If I chant the name 3 times he will appear

[Kunama]

I use a hole punch to make little circles of wet&dry usually 180 or 240 grit
then I glue one to the eraser end of a pencil and use that in a spinning motion to sand down the chip so that nothing protrudes above the surrounding paint.

then, using thinned etch primer and toothpicks, I build up two coats of primer followed by several coats of thinned paint, allowing each drop time to dry. I keep going like this until the area of the chip is above the surrounding paint.

Once this has had time to completely dry, I use 600 grit and the pencil tip method to sand it back level, then polish and wax.....

Lewis has a nice airbrush and loves this type of 'work' but he is a long way away...

Took me two months to get the paint of my 1989 CSi to look like this:

Edit: Looking at my 635 makes me think Allan might be right about my CDO (OCD spelt with the letters in alphabetical order....)

[PCH (Paul)]

Well your car certainly is a testament to your method Matt, - it looks just amazing from top to bottom!

[LewisM]

Well, you could swap me that FSQ-106N for my ED and then your problem is solved

Matt is right though. Pretty much what I do for small issues. Matching the white is the big challenge, as no two batches of Tak white or even the green are ever precisely the same (as I have found out numerous times).

I always polish my paint down to 1200 grit minimum - usually 2000, but you need to be VERY careful and be VERY well lubricated with soapy water and use minimal finger pressure. I finish with automotive chrome polish, then 7 coats of hard wax (applied over a month)

[beren]

Thanks Matt for the tips, will try, much appreciated. Lewis what brand of polish and wax do you use? I use a moist microfibre cloth on the scopes , was worried using wax/polish of any fumes while in storage.