I'm going to be pastidipping the hood on my Ram soon. I just got done repainting the front clip on my Z. I plastidipped the front air dam part and after clearcoating it, you can't tell I used pastidip. Its as smooth as the rest of it and the exact same color!

 

Your lucky they only did the hood. A former employee keyed across my hood, all down the passenger side of the truck, across the tail gate, and kicked/hit the truck with something on his way back down the driver side. That'll learn me for firing him after he crapped in someone's home and didn't flush the toilet then made a mess of all their carpets and various other items in the house. Guy didn't even do the install properly so I had to go back and fix all his screw ups while being chewed out by the home owner driving to and from the house in my freshly vandalized truck.

My insurance company is going to be repainting the whole truck bumper to bumper once I can afford to be without it for 2 weeks.

 

well I plasti-dipped some sort of design into the hood yesterday...I made a few mistakes though...so I'm gonna redo it and learn from them...all I have right now is a pic of the basic tape idea:


any thoughts or ideas that might lead to inspiration are welcome!

 

so this is what I did:


and here are my mistakes:



For anyone that is wanting straight even lines or corners...take the tape off before the plasti-dip dries...it will save you from the mistakes above^

 

At first I didn't like it. But, after looking at it a while it started growing on me. Maybe the whole top of the hood should be done. Leave the vertical sides red and buy a pinstripe kit in black and run a pinstripe along the red the length of the truck. Then maybe some black headlights.

 

Is that plasi-dip glossier than what's on the grill and bumper? If so, maybe some clearcoat on the grill and bumper might match them up. Hmmm, maybe black antenna, black rims, black step bars, black tonneau cover, black taillight trims, black license plate frames... I like spending your money for you. lol

 

yea I'm redoing it with a different pattern...it's only temporary until I get money to fix the key marks...I'm thinking of deleting the triangles on the bottom that connect to the grille...

The grille was done very quickly without much experience...I'll be redoing that and the bumper cover soon enough...I have step bars but they are chrome...I suppose I could paint them and put them back on...haha

 

I feel ya! I've been there it hurts a lot

 

Your insurance is probably $500 deductible? When I used to do my PDR route at dealerships I got asked to touch up stuff like that. Yours is pretty severe, but if you have the time and patience you can make it ALMOST invisible.

Wash it with 99% alcohol and dry it with a clean cotton cloth. Get a bottle of factory touch up, the kind with the brush in it. Shake, then shake again, and then shake some more. Throughout the process, add a few drops of lacquer thinner now and then to keep the paint flowing, and shake often. They usually mix it too thick. I find the best brushes for this job is a book of paper matches. Hold the head, use the torn off end as your brush head.

Start at one end and brush the paint in so it flows freely. Stay between the lines as much as you can, rest your palm to keep a steady hand. If you go out, wipe the excess off right away with clean cotton cloth. Get paint into the scratch from one end to the other.

The hard part. DON'T TOUCH IT now for at least an hour. Adding another coat too soon will soften the first coat and suck it up out of the bottom of the scratch. Continue adding coats, even if it takes a few days. When you're sure the paint is dry and cured get a McGuire's sanding block... 2000 grit. http://www.meguiars.com/en/professio...cks-2000-grit/ These must be kept submerged in water once you use them. I've had mine for 12 years. Hold it perfectly flat and gently sand the scratched area. If you press too hard you'll leave scratches you don't want. When the new paint has been sanded flush with the original, hand rub it with compound, plenty of elbow grease. It may require starting from step one in a few areas if they are still low. When you've achieved what you're happy with, give it about five or six coats of wax. YOU might detect it now and then, but most people will never notice it. Hope that helps.