Quick n' Dirty paint fix for rash on a Candy Thunder Blue '09

The Blue Rider · January 24th, 2011, 06:30 PM

Background: Last year, on my third or fourth time out on my shiny new-to-me Ninjette, I had an unpleasant encounter with a curb and rashed up the right side of my bike. With a bit of help from an experienced friend, I identified the rider failures that caused the crash pretty quickly, but I've had almost a whole year to look at this scratched-up fairing and I finally decided to do something about it. I was on the verge of buying a used fairing, but I had some unfortunately large bills come up before this weekend, and I settled for a quick fix that I thought up almost out of the blue.

Here's the bike at my old apartments last fall - the scratches don't stand out in the photo but they are ugly in person. This is AFTER I had cleaned up the damage, and buffed away some of the grungier spots with Micro-Mesh and polishing compound.

My idea was to just paint over the torn-up bits so they didn't stand out. I really didn't care what I used and I wasn't out for a perfect finish; the fairing is jacked anyway, and it really is just a piece of plastic... I only wanted to hide the worst of the scratches from casual observation. I thought of all the plastic models I built when I was younger, and I decided that a bottle of Model Master or Testors with a close-enough color match would do the trick.

It turns out there's a very small hobby shop about three blocks from my apartment. They have a focus on R/C cars and when I walked back to their paint rack, almost the first thing I set eyes on was this paint:

It's Pactra "Racing Finish Acryl" ...(-ic)... paint. The color is RC5202 "Acrylic Pearl Blue". When I picked up the bottle I thought, "Huh, that is so close to Candy Thunder Blue, I bet Pactra and Kawasaki have the same supplier..." I had brought my rear cowling along for matching purposes, and when I compared it to the bottom of the bottle it was about 95% of the way there. Good enough for a patch job. Total cost for the bottle, $4 and change.

I'm an artist, so I already had a throwaway synthetic brush to paint with. I put the (washed and clean) fairing up on my easel and sort of gently buttered this stuff on over and into the scratches until it built up a little bit. It looked a little too green going on, but as water-miscible paints often do, it dried darker than it looked while going down. Here's the cat-approved final result:

I didn't try to be smooth or fancy. I can't speak for the longevity of the final result, but if it wears off, well, I only used a tiny fraction of the bottle... I went out for a short ride with a friend on Sunday (about 40 mi.) and after air-drying at 80mph it seems to stay in place pretty well:

It took a light coat of Rain-X too (I didn't have any wax handy). The scratches are now reasonably hidden, and instead of torn white plastic rash, it just looks like I have dull spots. I'll take it!

I'm willing to bet Pactra has other paints, both enamel and acrylic, that match Kawasaki's colors. It's hard to tell from the Testors/Pactra website, but if you ever have some small scratches you want to cover up, and you don't care too much about polish, you might want to check the local hobby shop for this stuff.

bob706 · January 24th, 2011, 06:33 PM

That's a really good job.

CZroe · January 24th, 2011, 06:49 PM

Had you tried a regular polish with rubbing compound first? I've been AMAZED at what it can do.

The Blue Rider · January 25th, 2011, 09:48 PM

Yeah, I tried Micro-Mesh, and some hand buffing with Scratch-X. It helped some, but only up to a point. I wasn't very persistent with that stuff, though.

00NissanNinja · January 26th, 2011, 12:01 AM

Nice fix its nearly un-noticeable

I'm gonna be doing the same once the weather warms up here again. I have to paint and then re-decal mine.

Powerlogix · January 26th, 2011, 06:31 PM

Can't barely tell where the damage was originally.

January 24th, 2011, 06:30 PM	#1
The Blue Rider ninjette.org member Name: Terry Location: Euless, TX Join Date: Dec 2010 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250R Posts: 43	Quick n' Dirty paint fix for rash on a Candy Thunder Blue '09 Background: Last year, on my third or fourth time out on my shiny new-to-me Ninjette, I had an unpleasant encounter with a curb and rashed up the right side of my bike. With a bit of help from an experienced friend, I identified the rider failures that caused the crash pretty quickly, but I've had almost a whole year to look at this scratched-up fairing and I finally decided to do something about it. I was on the verge of buying a used fairing, but I had some unfortunately large bills come up before this weekend, and I settled for a quick fix that I thought up almost out of the blue. Here's the bike at my old apartments last fall - the scratches don't stand out in the photo but they are ugly in person. This is AFTER I had cleaned up the damage, and buffed away some of the grungier spots with Micro-Mesh and polishing compound. My idea was to just paint over the torn-up bits so they didn't stand out. I really didn't care what I used and I wasn't out for a perfect finish; the fairing is jacked anyway, and it really is just a piece of plastic... I only wanted to hide the worst of the scratches from casual observation. I thought of all the plastic models I built when I was younger, and I decided that a bottle of Model Master or Testors with a close-enough color match would do the trick. It turns out there's a very small hobby shop about three blocks from my apartment. They have a focus on R/C cars and when I walked back to their paint rack, almost the first thing I set eyes on was this paint: It's Pactra "Racing Finish Acryl" ...(-ic)... paint. The color is RC5202 "Acrylic Pearl Blue". When I picked up the bottle I thought, "Huh, that is so close to Candy Thunder Blue, I bet Pactra and Kawasaki have the same supplier..." I had brought my rear cowling along for matching purposes, and when I compared it to the bottom of the bottle it was about 95% of the way there. Good enough for a patch job. Total cost for the bottle, $4 and change. I'm an artist, so I already had a throwaway synthetic brush to paint with. I put the (washed and clean) fairing up on my easel and sort of gently buttered this stuff on over and into the scratches until it built up a little bit. It looked a little too green going on, but as water-miscible paints often do, it dried darker than it looked while going down. Here's the cat-approved final result: I didn't try to be smooth or fancy. I can't speak for the longevity of the final result, but if it wears off, well, I only used a tiny fraction of the bottle... I went out for a short ride with a friend on Sunday (about 40 mi.) and after air-drying at 80mph it seems to stay in place pretty well: It took a light coat of Rain-X too (I didn't have any wax handy). The scratches are now reasonably hidden, and instead of torn white plastic rash, it just looks like I have dull spots. I'll take it! I'm willing to bet Pactra has other paints, both enamel and acrylic, that match Kawasaki's colors. It's hard to tell from the Testors/Pactra website, but if you ever have some small scratches you want to cover up, and you don't care too much about polish, you might want to check the local hobby shop for this stuff.

January 26th, 2011, 12:01 AM	#5
00NissanNinja I hate driving... Name: S Location: SW Ohio Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): 13 Triumph Street Triple R, 09 Ninja 250r (Sold 4/20/12) Posts: A lot.	Nice fix its nearly un-noticeable I'm gonna be doing the same once the weather warms up here again. I have to paint and then re-decal mine. __________________________________________________ 09 ninja 2fiddy SE Driving slow things fast

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January 24th, 2011, 06:33 PM	#2
bob706 ninjette.org certified postwhore Name: Sean Location: Mary Esther, FL Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250 1998 HD Road King Posts: A lot.	That's a really good job.

January 24th, 2011, 06:49 PM	#3
CZroe CPT Falcon Name: J.Emmett Turner Location: Newnan, GA Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.	Had you tried a regular polish with rubbing compound first? I've been AMAZED at what it can do.

January 25th, 2011, 09:48 PM	#4
The Blue Rider ninjette.org member Name: Terry Location: Euless, TX Join Date: Dec 2010 Motorcycle(s): '09 Ninja 250R Posts: 43	Yeah, I tried Micro-Mesh, and some hand buffing with Scratch-X. It helped some, but only up to a point. I wasn't very persistent with that stuff, though.

January 26th, 2011, 06:31 PM	#6
Powerlogix ninjette.org member Name: Binh Location: N. Cali Join Date: Oct 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2010 ninja 250 Posts: 85	Can't barely tell where the damage was originally.