Paint Touch-Up Help

[The Critic]

I have a 2011 Prius with the Winter Grey Metallic. I have only had the car for a week and just returned from a 700 mile trip. I have an appointment scheduled for a clear bra next Saturday, but it appears that I got a rock chip from my road trip.



Rock chip:

I bought a tube of the touch-up paint brush/pen from the dealer and tried to improve the chip using a toothpick and the pen's ballpoint tip. So far, this is what I am able to do:

As you can tell, the fill by the touch-up paint is not completely flush with the original finish. I would guess that it is about 90% there--so the touch up paint is just slightly below the original finish.



I have no intentions of wetsanding the finish (because I don't trust my own skill) and I also understand that the appearance will not be perfect since it is a touch-up. Also, this is the first coat, and the bottle says I need to apply two.



What do you guys think I should do? Should I go back and apply a second coat, which will most likely cause the touch-up paint to be slightly higher than the original finish? Should I leave it alone? My main concern about leaving it this way is that if one were to run their finger across the surface, the sharp edges of the original paint can still be felt, and I am afraid that one can cause further damage to the existing finish around the chip.



Thanks.

 

[Dan]

Get some of the langka blob eliminator stuff (just the refill, don't waste your money on the kit). It will let you "level" the paint blob. Its going to take lots of tries till you get the hang of it, but the beauty of langka is its like an undo button for touchup paint. Another decent option if you really get the nerve to wetsand is the Turtle Wax scratch repair kit. It has some very nice sanding pads and a process that makes it almost brainless.