Hey guys.. as a few may konw, my car is getting resprayed and as a result of waiting and having no car, i decided to fix my badges, starting off with the calais garnish badge i dont have a pic of how it was when i started, it was faded and all step 1 remove the badge, i used a plastic knife and pliers (to get the clips off) there are 2 locating pins in the badge step 2: Clean the badge I used Prepsol (prepwash) to clean it all up Step 3: Apply the background colour I used a Matt Black paint for the badge Step 4: secure the badge somewhere thats moveable and sturdy, I got a cardboard thing out of the guts of a pc game box, cut 2 holes for the locating pins and put it in Step 5: get a silver PAINT pen, I've got one iwth a fine tip Step 6: start painting the calais writing parts with it BE CAREFUL, THE LESS CAREFUL YOU ARE(LIKE ME) THE MORE ****UPS YOU HAVE TO FIX UP) when done, let it dry Step 7 get a black paint pen and go around the edges where you stuffed up, finding its a gloss finish, i done the whole around part step 8 let it dry, and hit it with a coat of clear i konw the bootstrip needs work, im polishing it up now with plastix... ill post up results of that too Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

A for the effort but I dunno if it's just me but they look like they were done with liquid paper. Maybe give em a sand before you start with 1500 wet and dry and get them nice and smooth first. Otherwise not a bad idea

ill give the face of them a hit with 1500 now that htey are dry... the problem is they were still wet, and thats why they are mottly the holden badge is now looking great... camera is charghin, ill get pics tonight as for the calais badge i still need to work on the face of it a little... from 50cm away it looks perfect

nice bit like my car looks good fro far but far from good lol

in the end, how close are people gonna get to the badges? the holden one will be removed the side ones turned out alot better ill have another go at the garnish one...

I think you've done an excellent job MaD_WoG. Without going to the trouble of hunting down NOS badges, this is an excellent alternative. If you can refine your technique (sanding, painting, sanding, clear, etc), you could have a real winner on your hands! Could you post up some more information about the pens you used? Brands, tip sizes/styles, prices?

ive sanded the garnis badge back, and hit it with matt black again... gonna get mum to do the silver (my hands arnt steady at all) ill see how they go... re the pens, ill get info about them, they are half dead, thats why they came out ****ty, the tips are frayed and uneven on paint distribution

instead of matt black give a gloss black a go and see how they come out.

i did this recently. here is my process 1 - seperate parts to be painted from other parts. 1.1 - badges have to be removed from the car. you can use a paint scraper, fishing line, filleting knife was my weapon of choice. 1.2 - remove any double sided tape. again paint scraper or fingernails at first then as mad wog did, wax and grease remover. if you have a can of fuel sitting around it will work even better. 1.3 the calais bullet badges have 2 plastic fins these are held onto the metal with 2 pins which can be seen once the double sided tape has been removed. gently push the fins off. all other badges on vls are pretty self explanatory except for the front lion badge on non calais. this has 2 pins one top one bottom be careful removing this so as not to break the pins off in the holes. 2. once the badges are removed and stripped we can prepare them for paint. 2.1 as many badges have ridges all over the joint get an old toothbrush and scrub out any deposits. as above fuel is good for this. soapy water is also fine if the dirt hasn't hardened too much 2.2 sand back with 1200 - 1500 grit sandpaper any flat surfaces. i used wet and dry sandpaper. 2.3 rinse off any grit from sanding with clean water and leave the itens to dry. 2.4 once dry wipe over with prepsol / wax and grease remover 3 painting! 3.1 first set the parts like madwog has done on a flat surface. i hadn't considered putting holes in cardboard but sounds good as sometimes the pressure from the spraycans actually made the pieces (especialy the calais fins) move about. 3.2 use a black primer as a base. i used a can of black bumper and trim paint i believe it was k&n branded from autobarn. it is flexible and gives a satin finish which is closer to stock than a gloss. 3.3 after the black has been allowed to dry you will need to seperate parts that can be sprayed (like the fins) and the parts that will be hand painted (eg electronic injection, calais or other badgeing) 4 the silver coat 4.1 i used a can of asteroid silver to spray the bullets while i used a nailpolish bottle of asteroid silver touch up paint to paint the lettering and raised section of the lion. i did 3 coats of silver on the fins and 2 coats on the lettering (if needed) do not sand in between. 4.2 allow to dry again, and finally slap some clearcoat over all badgeing to get it looking really nice. 5 reassembly 5.1 on the bullet badges once they were seperated i used metal polish and some coarse material to polish up the chrome. in doing this the black paint ( and between the areas in which the fins sit) was removed. this could be repainted but i prefered to leave it all shiney shiney. 5.2 get some good double sided tape, a sharp stanley knife / blade and a little tube of superglue / sickaflex. 5.3 while bullet badges will have to be reassembled and the glue holding the fins in allowed to dry, other badges can be fitted straight away. the front lion badges on models below calais will smack back in with no glue or tape (assuming you didn't break it. take no offence i broke it ) while most others will need to be fitted with double sided tape 5.4 cut and apply the double sided tape to the shape of the badge and then use the blade / knife / patience to remove the backing tape. 5.5 stick the badge in place and get some of the 3m green masking tape (it doesn't bake on or eat paint like normal masking tape does, it also tends to leave less residue). what you do with the tape is smack it over the badges and onto the metal to hold down the badges while the double sided tape settles onto it's new home. if you don't do this you run the risk of losing the badges on the road or just haveing them fall off. here are some pics of what i did. rear calais badge and garnish restoed - side calais badge restoed - side bullet and calais badge restoed but not fitted - mid resto - Quote: Originally Posted by 5spdvl I think you've done an excellent job MaD_WoG. Without going to the trouble of hunting down NOS badges, this is an excellent alternative. If you can refine your technique (sanding, painting, sanding, clear, etc), you could have a real winner on your hands! Could you post up some more information about the pens you used? Brands, tip sizes/styles, prices? sorry for the thread steal mad wog you did really well but i have had a lot more trial and a hell of a lot more error to get to the stage where i am at now. i started building model cars back in my early teens and the principle is basically the same. tim, the touch up paint i used came in a nail polish thing but they are also available as a 'paint pen' or 'touch up pen' never used one though. also hobby paint and a fine brush does the job, thats how my dad restoed all of the chev flag and brougham badges on his hk and they are holding up well after years. paint pens are also available from hip hop stores. eg obese records in prahran and i believe (i have beeen told) there is a record store underneath richmond station. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

isnt the paint k&h and isnt it the raised part of the calais nose cone badge that get painted? not the outside?

ahh yes all i remembered was its red and blue and similair to K&N. as for the calais badge yes the raised part (the 2 fins) get painted BUT those are a seperate piece to the chrome. it is better to seperate them as you can see from the pictures above and paint them. maybe you got confused as i also mentioned painting the stock lion nosecone badge. or maybe i am the confused one and wrote it a little bit wrong. anyway hope this clears it up alex. anyone have any other tips to add on restoing badges? i really like the cardboard idea to suspend them!

second last pic looks like the outer ede was painted not the raised part

i feel inadequite

Quote: Originally Posted by SIroller tim, the touch up paint i used came in a nail polish thing but they are also available as a 'paint pen' or 'touch up pen' never used one though. also hobby paint and a fine brush does the job, thats how my dad restoed all of the chev flag and brougham badges on his hk and they are holding up well after years. paint pens are also available from hip hop stores. eg obese records in prahran and i believe (i have beeen told) there is a record store underneath richmond station. I know there's an exceptionally good art store in Mordialloc (beach side) that has a wicked selection of pens. Might be worth a look!

Quote: Originally Posted by PLZB-18 second last pic looks like the outer ede was painted not the raised part i painted the raised part and the side leaving the centre black. gives a better finish i feel but i know its not toi everyones tastes. mad wog not inadequate buddy i have learnd from you

Good write up mate, I did a similar thing with some of my old badges a fet tips: make sure you leave enough time to let everything thoroughly dry between steps. If you get impatient you will stuff things and it just makes it harder. also practice with the paint pen, the more you go over it the worse it looks. Try and get it all done in one smooth coat then fix where you've gone outside the lines later.

agree with antho, impatience is my worst characteristic as a car modder / restorer. it is not what you want.

I'm about to start restoring some badges, gonna make a rotisserie to make it a bit easier as i hate crawling around under badges.

I badging my car as a berlina turbo and got a free Berlina boot badge from the wreckers the other day. It was fully faded even the silver berlina writing was faded back to black. I scrubbed the badge down with soap and a tooth brush. Then gave it a coat of gloss black, let it dry and then gave it another coat. Let it dry and then did the silver Berlina with a "zig" silver paint pen. Let it dry and then gave it 2 coats of clear. Turned out great. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Restored my badges the other day havent put them back on yet. Soaked in prepsol for a few hours, then sanded down the plastic bits. Sprayed 2 coats of matt black on the plastic. Then 2 coats of a clear coat. The CALAIS badges were just done with art shop paint pens. With 2 coats of a clear gloss. Gives a nice look. Cleaned the **** out of the badges wit a toothbrush then polished wiht purple polish. Have a look. Putting them on soon. Wish i had taken before photos haha the were horrible. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.