Touching up marred finish; aka I am an idiot

[puddleglum]

I tried installing new sights on my CZ75 compact. I didn't use enough tape on the vise while I was hammering the crud out of the rear, and now have some spots on the slide that are silver where the finish scratched off.

I was thinking I could cold blue them for a little extra rust resistance and then brush on some heavy duty black paint and blend it into the finish as best I can. Is the slide on a compact stainless, will the cold blue work? Any paint that people might recommend for this kind of touch up.

I may get it refinished eventually. In the meantime, I'll just try to tell myself that it looks like it has bad ass battle scars, and then I will tell myself to shut up, idiot...

thanks,
pg

[Lock-n-load]

I consider my firearms tools… scratches ,dings , will all come with lots of use. Sharpie marker works good sometimes. Unless you want to keep a safe queen I wouldn’t worry too much. It ads character!

[boatdoc55]

There was a thread on this a little while back that referred one to an older thread about this vey subject. Some use a Sharpie and this older thread said "Kleancolor Nail Lacquer Black". I found it on ebay for about $5.00. A sticker on it has the letters  DOYK01FG. Also say's  5 Black. It does a pretty good job.

[AZ_GunGuy]

I use fine point acrylic paint markers.  You won't be able to perfectly match the color but it will stand out way less.

[puddleglum]

I got some Oxpho-blue liquid from Brownells. I poured a little in a shot glass and let it sit while I prepped the slide, since I read it works better if the solution is exposed to the oxygen in the air for a bit. I cleaned the parts of the slide up that I intended to darken with alcohol, and then heated up the area with a heat gun. I applied the oxpho with a q-tip two or three times and it turned black pretty quickly. The heating made it evaporate almost instantly, and seemed to make the darkening of the metal take quickly. I cleaned it up and put a little CLP on the areas and wiped it down.

The later noticed the bluing does have just a hint of brown to it, which might be a tiny bit of rust in the oxidization. This weekend I will try taking a little steel wool to it and then apply the oxpho a few times again. Hopefully I can get the brown tone out of it. Not gonna do this too many times though, as I am not going for a deep shiny blue, but a matte black. Even if it doesn't quite turn out right, and I try a paint of some sort, some bluing underneath won't hurt.

[mkd]

Duplicolor perfect match paint in the  universal flat black paint code   in a can works pretty well. I spray it into a tin foil bowl i made and use a small brush for touchup.

[puddleglum]

I have read that high temp engine enamel in flat black works well, with the same application suggestion: spray it into something and apply with a brush. I'll try one more application of the cold blue and then I can always try touch up with paint if still needed.

[Old Schoolr]

I made the same mistake & used something like this to touch up my slide...
Dupli-Color ASF0104 Universal Flat Black Exact-Match Scratch Fix All-in-1 Touch-Up Paint
Not perfect but looks good enough at a distance.

[bonj]

I doubt if the slide is S.S., I would think Cold Blue should work fine.

[Old Schoolr]

I think the slide & frame are parkerized & then poly coated. Using touch up paint should cover the “wound” well enough to make cold bluing first unnecessary.

[john seeley]

If you can, rough up only the exposed steel with some sandpaper and wipe clean with rubbing alcohol. Then spray/drip a tiny amount of flat black paint into a piece of aluminum foil and apply it with a toothpick.

[M1A4ME]

The oxpho blue (the stuff from Brownells) will blend in pretty good with the CZ finish.  If it's an area where the finish was originally rubbed off, it won't last long.

Since your marks are chips in the finish (probably where it never touches/rubs anything) the oxpho blue should last fine.

My CZ75 Compact was carried enough that going in/out of the holster a few times each day wore the finish off the muzzle end of the slide, the thumb safeties, the slide release, etc.  The Oxpho Blue made it look really nice.  For a week or so and then I couldn't tell I'd don't anything to it.

Just make sure you get the oil off the bare metal before you put the cold blue on it.  Then when you're done, wipe it down with an oily cloth, just like you would normally after cleaning/handling it.

I've used one of these on several CZ slides to get the rear sight out and install a new rear sight.  Worked just fine.  Front sight is a different matter, but doable using different tools/method.