I had a old style booth at the shop and painted over a 100 cars over the years with everything from lacquer paint, Imron , urethane , enamel ,solvent based base coat clear coat ,water based base coat clear coat .And while i was no world class painter i was pretty damn good. I prefered Devilbiss guns over Binks . The last car i painted was in 2019 ,and i got sick as a dog . And yes i alway used a repperator mask. Doc made me quit smoking cigars and weed and painting or doing body work and my recovery was pretty good considering my age. Painted many Corvettes back in the day with great results . Fiberglass cars are the toughest to body work and paint and always took the longest and most work . Always used 3 coats of gel coat with every coat sanded super smooth between coats . I admit i have had less experience with water based paints ,and vastly prefered solvent based paints . So perhaps water based paints have gotten better now ,but my personal experience has been better with solvent based paints . The first car i painted was in 1968 ,it was my highly modified 1965 Falcon sprint with fiberglass front fenders ,bumper and hood . I painted it in my Dad's garage in Randolph NJ with a couple fans ,and a borrowed type MBC Devilbiss gun and 6 coats of lacquer paint and it looked almost as good as a new factory based 1965 Ford Falcon finish. Yes new base coat clear coat paint finishes are much better looking that old school single stage paint jobs in 1965 ,and i have no doubt modern water base base coat clear coat 2 or 3 stage paint finishes look better than old single stage paint finishes . My only complaint with new water based paint is the price chip resistance and durability . In the end we have no choice ,as with the good old freon big brother makes the laws and we have to pay for it.

 

I had my share of painting back in the day with respirators, water-fall style over spray booth and Vaseline covered face.
The old solvent based could be readily redone with minimal work if you screwed up and they were relatively easy to apply, and clean-up was a breeze.
But then the cleanup involved you breathing even more solvents.
The big difference with today's water-based paints while much better for you and the environment, they aren't as forgiving.
You screw up you basically have to start over, and they are not as easy to apply, and cleanup is more labor intensive unless you use ultra sonic cleaners.

Remember the old large metal flake when actually had to apply the flakes

 

This is good info from you! And added information about your talents and experience! A couple or few pictures would have been nice but not required. I saw you took some time writing this response.

 

I actually was way into pearls, prism tape and small rainbow metal flake. Some thought I had a little "ethnic" in my blood. I also really like the
WAR.. Low Rider even though I was a raked out or straight axled front end Hot Rodder.

 

Well - I am very saddened to hear this - particularly if it is the result of another human who is either " sleepwalking or sleepdriving " through life ..unaware of whats going on around them - hopefully it was from a piece of debris while driving - regardless - im over a month in on mine - and have been dancing between the raindrops of my first scratch - What color is it ? #1 - White is the easiest to deal with , Where is it #2 , How bad is it #3 --------obviously black showing every nick from every twig - - I have always kept a OE mazda
glass container of touch up paint handy - which comes with a brush in the handle like a chix nail polish -/-Sold at your local dealer - which
for my older Mazdas keeps the bigger stuff from rusting until the day I do a full dent removal and repaint - But the. new stuff is a bit more daunting - yet since color fade has yet to be a color match issue- its plausable - so depending on the severity and size of your wallet - it can have some level of renewing - obviously body shop $$$ - then , the attempted but no guarantee rub out - , and my favorite - use the touch up ultra sparingly with a damp cloth handy to fill the crevace - then smooth over with superfine - but remember - the clear coat is gone - and thats another can o worms - but it is avaliable - depending on where it is - I say option #3 - if its an eye sore and irritates the sheite out of ya - possibly wait for scrtach #2 and#3 them go body shop - unless its - down to metal - Nothing stays perfect forever - but having a garage is key / then in ANY parking lot - park in east jesus - as far away from the front door as possible - and yes you will still get the ovcasional jerk that decides to park out in east jesus also and right next to your car , leaving you 3 inches to open your door - Never fails - Keep us posted and try uploading a photo of the damage ! possibly you may get better advice -

 

The best way to touch up small chips is a 3 part paint repair kit. It has the primer, paint color and clear. All in a pen that dispensers the pant by pushing the tip down. This allows for chip filling with primer to get close to filling the chip level with the other painted surface. Then you can apply the clear coat. You can even carefully wet sane with 3000 and then polish you repair, and it would almost match completely unseen in both color and fill in.

Sorry mine are empty but you get the idea.

 

[QUOTE=Callisto;219197]The best way to touch up small chips is a 3 part paint repair kit. It has the primer, paint color and clear. All in a pen that dispensers the pant by pushing the tip down. This allows for chip filling with primer to get close to filling the chip level with the other painted surface. Then you can apply the clear coat. You can even carefully wet sane with 3000 and then polish you repair, and it would almost match completely unseen in both color and fill in.

Sorry mine are empty but you get the idea.





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That looks like a very nice kit ,it should do the trick for the cost effective non perfectionist among us .

 

[QUOTE=THE CHIEF;219249]But I am am a practicing perfectionist and even with my MICA Black when I use that kit you would be hard pressed to see where the chip was. The downside is at this point in my mileage I don't fix the chips anymore like ants at a picnic first came a couple now I have to many to deal with. I will most likely repainting my complete Mazda next summer. I will stay with the MICA Black but maybe add a little more Peral in the mix?