Hey guys,

I'm hoping to get some advice on fixing a small paint chip/scratch on my Botcon Dreadwind I recently picked up. It is a small area right on the side of the canopy. It is pretty well hidden most of the time in robot mode but is noticable slightly in jet mode.

I have attached a picture (hopefully!) so you can see better than I can describe.


I have not done any touchups/fixes before so I was hoping to get some adivce on how to maybe fix this. Thanks in advance!

 

I got a reply or two out in the main forums so I thought I would try to throw out one more request here since you guys are the experienced ones doing this stuff. If there is anyone here that has this figure and could possibly assist me in finding and/or mixing up the right color/style/type of paint to fix this chip you don't know how much that would mean. Its kind of a bummer to pay the price for a figure like this and have such a small thing ruin some part of the enjoyment. Thanks for any help in advance!

 

I don't own that one, but I recently sprayed up my own Jetfire. The canopy is sprayed white on transparent blue. The best way for a spotless result would be to very gently sand the area, removing the tiny rough edges around the spot. Then mask off everything that isn't white (the window and the green) and spray a touch of white centered on the spot, just covering it. That would, as long as Dreadwind is actually bright white and not some off-white variant, give you a perfect result, possibly with some coating afterwards. If you mask off too close to the spot, you end up with sharp edges to the paint (I learned that fixing a spot on my Movie Smokescreen).

I wouldn't recommend doing brushes on this one. You need multiple layers to cover an actual dent with white and it's bound to pile up creating an even bigger mess.

Oh, and of course, the canopy snaps off so you wouldn't have to mask the entire figure. Just remember to mask the insides of it just as well as the outside, or you might get a light mist on the inside of the window.

 

Thanks for the reply Smokescreen! I really really appreciate it. In looking at him side by side I don't think he is the pure white that Jetfire is. He seems to be a bit of an off-white which is why I thought (based on the response to my other thread in the main forums) I would have to mix paint and/or find the right off-white. Not sure how to proceed with this ....

As far as the sanding/painting go - do you just use a fine sandpaper to remove the edges? I didnt realize i'd have to spray him for the paint .. I don't currently own a paint sprayer or anything. I'm thinking this may be well above the ease I though a little chip would be and may well be beyond my capabilities  

 

I use spray cans, but they only come in set colors so that might be a problem. Some people here do wonders with brushes too, so if you sand it slightly and then use many really thin covers, it might work.

However, before you even try I'd file down a gash on some other figure that's painted white and practice on that. Especially if you haven't done any repaints before.

 

Thanks for all the advice Smokescreen - I'm not sure what I'm going to do based on all your input - I don't want to ruin the figure and it definitely doesn't seem as trivial as I thought it would be to cover up the chip, especially when I don't know the exact color of paint I should be using. I could really end up messing this guy up and I don't want to do that :-/

 

Well unless you're willing to respray EVERY off-white area, it's best to just leave it. or put a decal on it or something in that direction.