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In the first stage of our Scooter upgrade transition (more of that in another post!) traded our VS125 in yesterday for a brand new VS150 in the snazzy black with racing stripes (sure they'll make it go faster!!) I

I lashed out & bought the matching black Sym top box (rather than tranferring our matt black Givi - the Sym one is glossy to match the Scoot) and proudly rode away! On the way home, I picked up a birthday cake for my daughter, put the shopping bag on the hook and tootled on my way!..........when I got home I went to store my helmet in the top box and discovered that some b*astard has tried to jimmy open the top and scratched dirty great gouges out of the paint on the top of the box (where it butts up against the bottom part) I'M SO ANNOYED...YES I'M SHOUTING! only owned the damn thing for about 3/4 of an hour....boo hoooo! can't believe it as I'm a bit of a fuss pot in terms of looking after my Scoots (as I'm sure are many of you out there in Scooterland!) I

It's scratched right through to the white plastic underneath the black paint....any suggestions re. touch up paint to use? does it have to be automotive? general gloss black? or good old fashioned paint pen? Should I file out the gougey marks first?

*big sigh of general sadness and frustration*

bugger - that really sucks to hear that..

congrats on the new ride though

oh damn! That just sucks! Big time.

From recent experience you need -

rough grade sandpaper to sand back to the white in the area, automotive filler, automotive primer, slightly finer sandpaper, touchup paint (yes automotive gloss), finer sandpaper again & some wonderful stuff Mr Bunnybash introduced me to some wonderful stuff called Mr Buff.

In that order.

With the Mr Buff, apply in small areas rub it on with a damp cloth until you feel that the paint underneath is smooth then immediately wipe the Mr Buff off with a towel. Kinda "Wax on, wax off" type thing. Have you seen Karate Kid?

Keep the work area small, don't be tempted to go beyond what you have to. tape off or cover any surrounding areas & ground that you don't want paint on.

You MAY be able to get away with using multiple applications of touchup paint before rubbing back with the Mr Buff stuff.  I was going to try that in my floorwell but haven't got around to it yet.

Now go into the bathroom, close the door, stand in the shower recess & SCREAM! Let it all out. Everyone knows no one can hear you when you're in the shower.

Thanks so much for that! where can I buy the Mr Buff stuff?

I never thought when I was reading your endevours fixing up your Vespa that I'd be having to do a similar thing! were your scratches on plastic or metal? (aren't Vespas pretty much all metal or is that just the underneath part of them?)

Certainly the main part of the bodywork is metal, the plastic parts tend to be the panels down near the rearwheel, the glovebox, horn cover etc.

Having thought about it, given that you're working on plastic, it MAY be better that you go with the touchup paint method, rather than using the sandpaper. I'm sure someone else may be answer that. Especially Bunnybasher, he's done a nice job on his Beo & Bev.

I bought the Mr Buff from... AutoOne I think... or was it Supercheap Auto? One of those places. Get some buff n wax stuff onto it after Mr Buff n it rubs up a dream.

 I feel your pain the last new car i got lasted less than a week before a moron in a car park left a nice scratch on it for me to discover 

I know that it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things & you expect that (in time) you'll get a few nicks & whatnot here & there but just *groan* SO soon! It's by no means huge - about 8 vertical scratches from the lip upwards each about 2-3cm, I was hoping it was going to be a simple case of a gloss paint pen (bit like fat texta, only paint) and sort of drawing over them a few times & filling them in a bit! (a tad worried about sandpaper & primer etc coz I'm scared that, in the end I'll make it worse!! - bit like the old chair leg syndrome!)

Try the touchup paint then. Comes in a nailpolish type bottle & is applied like nail polish. Again, I bought some from ... I think it may have been Supercheap or Autoone... You could always see how it looks then use some of the cutting compound (needs to be cutting compound initially, not cut n wax or whatever) if you feel it needs it once the touchup paint dries. This is all stuff that would be handy to keep in your garage for next time.

Unfortunately there's bound to be a next time.

 Yes, sad...but true!! thanks nutters!

Oh Pinwin that's just shocking. ***! We feel your pain. When I dropped my brand new scooter early on and scratched the side of it I was devastated. Like you, it really bothers me. I would be absolutely livid if some mongrel had done that to my scooter. Is there any CCTV footage you could look at?

Hope all goes well with the fix up. Just make sure the paints you use are compatible with the type of plastic the top box is made of. Enamel paints can have a corroding effect on some plastics. Good luck!

(I'm amazed... the word ba***rd was automatically edited out! Who knew? We can say all sorts of much stronger things on the telly but not that at Scooter Community. I like it! We have standards here at SC! Kooky. ).

Lizziecro:

Oh Pinwin that's just shocking. ***! We feel your pain. When I dropped my brand new scooter early on and scratched the side of it I was devastated. Like you, it really bothers me. I would be absolutely livid if some mongrel had done that to my scooter. Is there any CCTV footage you could look at?

Hope all goes well with the fix up. Just make sure the paints you use are compatible with the type of plastic the top box is made of. Enamel paints can have a corroding effect on some plastics. Good luck!

(I'm amazed... the word ba***rd was automatically edited out! Who knew? We can say all sorts of much stronger things on the telly but not that at Scooter Community. I like it! We have standards here at SC! Kooky. ).

 Just got to be a bit innovative     

 I agree TOTALLY!! everytime I look at the damage it just niggles away at me - bit like having toothache, you just can't help but prod at it with your tongue even tho' it hurts every time you do it!!