ChipEx Car Paint touch up system Review

ChipEx Car Paint Road Rash Kit

How many of you have checked your car only to discover a stone chip or scratch on your precious car's bodywork...argh so thats now gonna cost you well over £1,000 for a complete respray.

Or are you about to sell your car and know those 2 stone chips on your bonnet is going to lose you a couple of hundred pounds or more just to sell it.

Well worry not as ChipEx literally comes to the rescue.

ChipEx use a revolutionary new paint kit with a 100% colour match guarantee which is fast and easy to use...yes even I can do it...hey don't laugh...anyone that can use a paintbrush can repair their car....really!

I was really excited when I was asked by ChipEx if I would like to review their car paint repair system as we live in the middle of nowhere and I have so many little chips on my car.

Checkout my full photo review and video to see how easy it is to use for yourself.

Chipex® was launched in 2009 so to provide a fast, very effective and safe solution for the home user to repair paint damage to vehicles to a high standard; without the time and expense of going to a body shop.
The main objective was to make a product that gave both a superior finish compared to conventional touch-up paints and easy for the novice to use.

To start with ChipEx ask you to find the colour code of your car so that they can match your paint exactly, I found mine on a metal panel under the bonnet.

Your ChipEx paint comes hand made to the manufacturers formulation for exact colour match for great results.

Packaging
I was then kindly sent their Road Rash car kit to show you all and it arrived so well packaged in this gorgeous blue cardboard tub with a solid white plastic lid. I loved this as I can now keep all the kit together for when I need it again.

 The back give you a brief explanation of what you need to do.

I absolutely love how this is packaged maybe this is a girly thing; but the effort involved to have everything so neatly packed shows me the high standard ChipEx want for their clients.

 Inside you get alot for your buck you really do...check this out;

Three Step Chip paint kit; Paint 50ml, Blender 75ml and Polish 65ml.

Blue Nitrile gloves (x2) which are latex free and slightly stronger than latex gloves. I would say they are a medium size; as my hands are small and were still a bit big but not swamped.

10 brushes that are specifically designed for ChipEx paint with tiny fluffy tops.

 Blue paper cloth for blending solution combined with a small sanding block for those deeper scratches.

Large soft microfibre cloth for polishing. This bright yellow cloth is super soft and amazing quality I may have to get more of these.

Plus fully detailed instructions which are easy to understand.

100% colour match paint!
My car has the most gorgeous metallic blue colour and I honestly didn't think it could be matched perfectly...but I was wrong. Checkout how good this paint looks in the sun, even down to the minute metallic particles, isn't it just gorgeous. I need a matching nail polish like this.

Finding your colour codes

Before you buy the ChipEx kit you need to find the exact colour of your car paint and there are 2 ways to do this.

1. Use the ChipEx colour location guide here. This has excellent explanation and diagrams.
2. Or even easier watch their video guide on how to find the code here.

Most colour codes are found under your bonnet, passenger footwell or in your boot; but checkout the make of your car and find out with this full list of manufacturers here.

ChipEx are the official supplier of the Morgan Motor Group.

How to use the ChipEx kit

Find a small area to familiarize yourself with the process even though its simple its good to get to know the products your using first.

Step One paint Application

1. Make sure the area to be treated is thoroughly cleaned and dried prior to application of the paint and that all waxes and polish has been removed from the area. Put on the blue gloves supplied and pick up bottle number 1 your custom colour paint and shake vigorously.

  Always use the supplied microbrushes...which I must say...are genius as rather than your standard paint brush; these have a fuzzy but soft top to get a more blobby effect to fill in the chip.
You can see how small these 4 inch long brushes are from the image above as its sitting across the tip of my gloved index finger....and no I don't have fat fingers ;-)

Simply dip into the paint and your ready to roll!

Here you can see the size of the chip on my bonnet...eeep I never in a million years thought it could be repaired.

NOTE: I used a small screwdriver to scrape-out the surface rust inside first; otherwise it will keep rusting underneath the new paint.

You can already see how its blended in against the original paint and this is JUST 1 coat. Some may only need 1 coat.
( You can see this in action in my video further on) .
This paint dries up in approximately 5 minutes depending how deep your blob is. Ours took a bit longer as we've had snow and ice to deal with. (approx 1-2hrs) As this chip is deep Ive added paint which sits proud of the surface for a neater blend.

Its so easy to use this microbrush.

 You can see I had to use 2 coats to build it up and even left like this it looks so much better than my bright orange rusty chip..but I'm not leaving it like this...there's more..! ;-)

2. Step two Blending.

 ChipEx have been extra clever in supplying you with this mini sanding block.

 You simply wrap the blue paper cloth around this and then add a few drops of the blending solution.

 Then using slight pressure wipe gently side to side which will remove any excess paint and raised bumps from the new paint surface.

Step 3 Polish

Apply some of the Step 3 Polish over the chip repair and let it dry to a slight haze and then using the giant excellent quality yellow microfiber cloth you can now polish the whole panel to high a shine.

 Squeeze a few drops of the Step 3 Polish onto the cloth.

Wipe over the repairs and leave to dry and you will get this white haze.

NOTE: I was over eager and forgot to leave till the polish dried and I found the new paint starting to wipe away onto the cloth....oops! But once I left it to dry to the haze shown above and...THEN polished; it brought the paintwork up to this gorgeous gleaming shine.

 Final result of the corner of my bonnet.

After being blended and polished, the arrows are showing all the other slight chips that were repaired at the same time.

The darker blue at the edges are reflections from the trees behind me; not paint discoloration. Its almost a new bonnet edge I'm so pleased.

 Just to summarize how I repaired my worst bonnet chip.

(From left to right);

1. Shows STEP 1 applying the paint.
2. Applying the 2nd coat.
3. Two coats drying.
4. STEP 2 Blending in and removing excess paint.
5. Applying polish.
6. Final result highly waxed shine.

More before and after piks
This is what you want to see guys isn't it; not pretty piks of the cloths and bottles lol!

You can clearly see the amazing results I got with this incredible kit!

Here I have 2 chips alongside my windscreen. (Seen at work in my video clip).
Image 1 shows 1 coat of paint on both chips one above the other.
Image 2 Both have dried and about to blend.
Image 3 is after blending and firm polishing.
Below is the final effect!

Here you can see a longer shot as I wanted to show you just how gorgeous the shine is after you've used the polish. The small insert shows the 2 chip repairs; which are barely visible.

Here is another scratch that was repaired on my passenger side door, you can see from my original zoomed in circle the deep scratch I made when I accidentally scraped a brick across my door frame as I was taking it out...argh... I was absolutely gutted and I had no idea there would be anything out there to repair this without a respray!
(See more in my video clip).

The ChipEx paint repair is so smooth and seamless; I'm over the moon with these results.

 Here is my own ChipEx video demo showing just how easy it was to do.

The full ChipEx repair Kit

Opinion
I cannot stress enough how amazing this ChipEx kit is; right from the start they matched my paint exactly.
Its so easy to do and the instructions are clear and super easy to follow. The finish is outstanding. We've used many touch-up brushes in the past and they are a complete waste of money; don't even bother with those; GET THIS KIT!
If you are planning to sell your car but your worried you're going to lose money as it has some noticeable chips or scratches but do not want to spend up to £1000 on a new respray GET THIS KIT!
No more dropping your selling price because you have a few chips or scratches! I had resigned myself to having my ugly chips forever as we live in the middle of nowhere and drive through trees and mud everyday. I never in a million years expected these incredible smooth and seamless results. Plus I have so much paint leftover for any future mishaps.
Its easy to use, anyone can follow these easy to use instructions...hey if I can do it you all can! The cloths, gloves, and brushes are all excellent quality and the polish is just gorgeous its looks like Ive had my car professionally waxed and whats even better I did it myself...ok almost all of it ;-)
My only niggle is that I now have shiny polished areas all over my car and I'm going to have to polish the whole car now....sheesh! BUT she will look damn good!

If you've accidentally scratched your door or your partners car door with your shopping then this will make it all better. My other half says this is the equivalent of me getting flowers and chocolates; so get the love of your life a ChipEx kit for Valentines day!

Pro's

• 100% colour match guarantee.
• Treats stone chips and small scratches.
• Stunning results.
• You get so much paint for this small kit it will really last.
• The brushes are brilliant easy to use.
• Blends with a clear coat lacquer.
• Blue Nitrile gloves- for those allergic to latex gloves.
• Easy to use.
• Enhances vehicle resale.
• Prevents rusting.

Con's

• None, except I now have to polish the whole car as I have gorgeous shiny clean patches all over it lol! ;-)

Here is ChipEx's own instruction video

You can buy your Road Rash kit directly from
ChipEx

Choose from 3 different sized kits depending on how many repairs you need.
Smaller kits available below.


ChipEx Lite (enough for 12 stone chips.) 
Was £32.99 
NOW £29.95

ChipEx Medium Kit (enough for 24 stone chips).
Was £39.99
NOW £35.95

ChipEx Road Rash kit (For heavily chipped cars).  
was £45.95 
Now £37.95

Call ChipEx to discuss what you need and more information; they are there to help and advise you.
+44 (0) 1295 258 308.

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Twitter (@chip_ex)
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All my thanks goes to ChipEx for kindly sending me this amazing kit free of charge for this review.
My views and opinions are my own.

Pump Audio Earphones- The Best in the World earphone Review!

Pump Audio Earphones.

What with New Years resolutions so many of you are now already on your new healthy kick; not just with your diets but with exercise too and what better way to enjoy your exercise than with your favorite music through a great pair of earphones or headphones.

Today Ive something for those of you that are after great quality earphones; either to exercise with or use on a daily basis.

I was kindly contacted by Pump Audio to ask if I would like to try their new Pump Audio earphones with the massive claim of 

"The Best in the World!"

  They ARE better than Dr beats.

How could I say no to trying the BEST earphones in the world. 

So I took the PUMP challenge!

Please see my photo-loaded review after the jump!

Pump Audio are the specialist earphone division of Speedcam systems who specialize in high quality electronics that are excellent value for money and have a great user experience.

I'm not really a lover of in-ear earphones, as small ones have irritated my inner ears in the past so I had stopped using them. 

But I just had to give these guys a go and they looked so good too.

Packaging

The Pumps arrived in a cardboard box with a book-like front cover; which you open to a transparent window which reveals your Pumps. The Pumps then slide out on a plastic tray. To be honest I expected classier packaging for £99 earphones; especially with no pouch to keep them in, sometimes you can use the box, but this would be to big; but then I suppose it does keep some production costs down.....

Whats in the box;

• Pumps showing jack plug and inline microphone.
• 3 sets of earbuds inc 2 spare different sized earbuds.

Description

Pump believe they have created "The Best Earphones in the World" with unparallelled quality, unmatched sound with no expense spared in the development and the construction of these Pumps.

They are designed for "premium" audio playback with incredible bass and crisp clean highs only heard on serious sound systems. So with one style and 2 colours they chose not to become a fashion company.

• Frequency range 20hz-24500hz.
• Sensitivity - 102 dB.
• Impedance - 18 ohms.
• Complete noise isolation.
• Specially tuned ear-buds for small, regular and large ear canals.
• Specially tuned weight - 15g.
• 3.5mm gold connector jack inline microphone.
• Water resistant aluminum casting.

Use
So...are these gorgeous bright orange earphones "The Best in the world"?

I do not claim to be an Audiophile but I have over the years got to learn so much more about sound quality through reviewing many speakers and headphones and I know what I like. Plus I can certainly tell many subtle differences between brands. So I will try my best to explain why I really LOVE these earphones.

Design
I love the bright orange colour but it also comes in black too if this is too garish for you. For me its lovely to find some different coloured earphones to the normal black or silver...yay... even the aluminum casing has a metallic orange finish.

The backs for the earphones have an etched sun design; which catches the light and sparkles every now and then, making you think they have put in crystals instead...very clever.

You have 51 inches...yes I said 51 inches of cable to play with; how many of you find your earphones too short from your phone or MP3 player. 

I also love the smooth, flat, bright orange silicon/rubberized cable, making it less likely to get tangled up.

The soft supple ear-buds are so comfortable and felt completely stable within my ear and found even with moving around they were certainly not going to fall out, they felt soft, smooth and secure.

Sound Quality

Well I have to say....WOW....they are amazing, obviously I haven't tried every high quality earphone ever made so I cant compare these 100% BUT I have tried Dr beats earphones in the past and I feel these have a much richer and more immersive quality to them.

If you have a £20 MP3 player and have downloaded poor quality music files you are not going to get the FULL benefit of such a quality product; but you can certainly improve the sound quality from any device with these Pumps. 

I was in a total world of bliss with the amount of sumptuous bass being produced, silky smooth with just a hint of reverberation, just as it should be, allowing you to dip your hearing toe in the water and relax, without some BOOM BOOM shark swimming over and messing up your day.

What surprised me more was as I went to speak to my other half that I could barely hear my own voice over the music from my earphones. So I can completely vouch for the noise isolation and have to say this was a real bonus for me as Im often sitting up in bed catching up on my favorite YouTube videos with my Nexus 10; while my other half watches TV.
 

 Inline microphone

Phone calls
The music cuts out immediately you get an incoming call on your phone and allows you to answer without having to go mooching for your phone in your bag. Then once the call ends it continues with your music where it left off...just brilliant! Voices are clear and sharp too.
The fact its water resistant is perfect too, great for joggers out in all weathers and those of you hiking and want a bit of music for inspiration as you trek across the Himalayas or Hyde park lol!
The 51 inch length that you get with these is a real bonus; Ive had so many pairs of earphones and headphones that are way too short this has the luxury of the added length to tuck in and under coat, jackets shirts and t-shirts with still enough left to move around comfortably.

Opinion
Do I love my Pumps...absolutely; are they the best in the world, I cant say that but I can say they are one of the best earphones Ive EVER tried.
I love the bright orange colour it really makes you smile when you get them out, the fact you have 3 sets of earbuds for different size ear canals is a real bonus, you could also share them too this way. The Pumps are excellent build quality and feel great to touch, you can feel the quality emanating from them!
As for the sound WOW it really is gorgeous and what amazing bass...you know I love my bass...its all about the bass...no treble...! (yes there is treble)
The sound is so crisp, clear and rich and I cant even show you what they sound like; so you will have to take my word for it.

My only niggle is that I feel they should have come with a small pouch or case to keep them all together. Afterall you have 51 inches of cable to keep from getting tangled in your bag. Plus those little earbuds could easily go walkabout being so small and you want to keep them all clean and hygienic too when carrying them around in your bag like me.

The price...I realize they are not the cheapest earbuds but...are they worth it...yes I would say they are. I was really taken with the sound quality from my Samsung S4 as it only has 1 speaker so of course it sounded amazing through these babies; especially after I cranked up the bass...it was so yummy I love them! Plus you are getting a 5 year replacement warranty so just add up how many pairs of earphones you could have bought in 5 years; Im sure it will be alot more than £99.
Pumps would make a great quality gift for anyone who loves their bassey music, but don't expect them to sit and chat once they on, they will be immersed in their awesome music experience.

Will you take the Pump challenge?

Pro's

• Great colours black and orange.
• Super long length cable.
• Noise isolation.
• Water resistant.
• Amazing deep bass.
• Crisp, clear sound.
• Inline microphone.
• 5 year PUMP full replacement Warranty. (only applies to purchases directly from Pump Audio not from retailers).

Con's

• I would have loved a pouch to keep all my Pump and spare buds in.

You can buy your own Pump Audio earphones and take the Pump challenge in Orange or black from Pump Audio directly.

£99

All my thanks goes to Pump Audio for sending me a sample free of charge. All my views and opinions are my own and I was not paid for this review.

Thanks for popping by see ya soon.

Time of Death Book 1 Induction and Book 2 Asylum by Shana Festa Book Reviews.

 Time of Death Book 1 Induction and 

Time of Death Book 2 Asylum
By Shana Festa

I just discovered Shana Festa through her amazing site The Bookie Monster and she kindly sent me both her Time of Death books to read.

 One of my all time favorite authors Mark Tufo also recommended this book and wrote a great forward to Book 1 Induction; Shana's very first book and of course he was absolutely right.

Blurb
When no one or nowhere is safe, where do you go to escape the monsters?

In a few short days, 37 year old Emma Rossi’s hard work will finally pay off. She will don her cap and gown and graduate with a degree in nursing, but not before she loses her first patient and is confronted with a new reality. In Cape Coral, Florida, a storm approaches. The dead are coming back to life.

And they’re hungry.

Infection ravages the Eastern Seaboard with alarming speed while attempts to contain the spread of infection fail. Within days, a small pocket of panicked survivors are all that remain of civilization. Fighting to survive the zombie apocalypse alongside her husband Jake and their dog Daphne, Emma comes face-to-face with her worst nightmare.
Relying on snarky wit and sheer determination, she is forced to commit atrocious acts to protect her family and avoid joining the ranks of the undead.

The difference with this read is you finally have a female main character that is a kick ass, dog loving student nurse after my own heart with a great sense of humor. Emma Rossi is a brilliant well defined character who is definitely the female version of Mike Talbot from Zombie Fallout (those of you that are zombie-aholics will not need anymore explanation). Like Mike in ZF I found myself laughing out loud with her witty wisecracks and fab sense of humor; but also feeling the fear and sorrow in others, its the sign of a great writer to make you feel so many emotions. You can tell Shana's own medical knowledge as she allows Emma to show her medical expertise throughout. Emma is so realistic and reminds me of me when I was nurse training with their jokes with certain patients.
Daphne the Yorkie is another fab character...yes a dog can have character...before you all yell at me...sheesh! Shana has named the dog after her own pet dog at home; which of course I love but I have been living in fear of her being eaten alive...every time I turn the page... Shana...what you doing to me eeep!
My only niggle was I found Jake to be the weaker, more annoying character so I hope we get to see him step up more in book 2.

So what starts as a familiar day as a student nurse; turns into a apocalyptic chaos with Emma and Jake her husband fighting for their survival. If zombies ar'nt enough they have a hurricane to worry about too.
We get to see them reunite with other members of the Rossi family and also have to act on horrific acts to stay alive which would have been unthinkable the day before. Its a fast paced convincing, realistic gory read you simply cannot put down to the end. They found sanctuary on Sanibel Island where they all finally found safety and could relax without fear; but it only takes 1 person to change everything!
I'm just about to start book 2 as I just cant stop reading, I need to know what happens next...right now!

Time of death Book 2 Asylum

Blurb
Surviving the journey is just the beginning.
The last two months have brought nothing but death and destruction for Emma Rossi. She survived the initial zombie outbreak with her husband, Jake, and their dog, Daphne, but the cost was steep: Sanibel has fallen.

In a world where the only constant is change, the group is pushed to their limits before reaching the gates of Asylum, a coastal stronghold in Sarasota, Florida.
Once again, Emma must navigate an apocalyptic wasteland filled with relentless hordes of the undead and other menacing horrors that threaten her survival.

Only thing is certain. No one is safe from what lurks on either side of Asylum's gates. Asylum may offer more than just safety.
Sanity will be tested; and many won't live to tell the tale.


The Rossi's have only just escaped Sanibel and find themselves back to life on a boat. More deaths more very close shaves as they continue to fight for their lives Daphne included...phewey....thank goodness.

We get to meet some new fab characters. Striker a tough cop who helps them get to safety or is it....? The Asylum is a large group of survivors who are living together, run by creepy Mack the self promoted president of US who Emma discovers has the basement off limits. Yeah it'd drive me nuts too but curiosity killed the cat an all...it maybe the best idea to leave it alone but....hey it wouldn't be an exciting, scary e-read if you weren't yelling at the screen....don't do it.
I love this book as Shana isn't scared to kill off popular characters...loving the shock value; she has alot of new characters that stand well by themselves making it so realistic as we are swept along on a compelling and intriguing read too. Why do only some parts of the Asylum have electric, why are the men separated to work during the day.
Those of you that love Walking dead will find this on a similar line to Woodbury or The terminus you know something is wrong but don't know what...yet...!
I'm also gutted Em and Jake are at loggerheads as he is working with the other guys; so hopefully book three brings them back together...I'm gagging for book 3 now with a brilliant cliffhanger; what have Em and Meg have stumbled across and have they been rumbled too; is Jasper friend or foe....so many questions...I cant wait!

I would highly recommend reading book 1 Induction first so you can appreciate Asylum so much better and you would get to know the characters more deeply too. Its so refreshing to have a female main character as most authors seems scared to go to there with horror and you've made it work beautifully with a great balance of toughness and femininity.

Keep up the fab writing Shana..Im hooked!

Author Bio

Shana Festa was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on October 17, 1976 and grew up in Northboro, Massachusetts. She currently lives in Cape Coral, Florida with her husband and two dogs, Daphne & Casey.
Shana is a registered nurse with clinical experience in mental health, geriatrics, HIV and substance abuse. In addition to her clinical background, Shana possesses over 15 years of experience with project management and data analytics.
She has been heavily involved in the collection and dissemination of the ICD-10 clinical and coding analytics across multiple projects including the NCHICA ICD-10 Pilot, the HIMSS WEDI ICD-10 Pilot and commercial testing programs.
Under her alter ego, The Bookie Monster, Shana reviews horror and paranormal books, with an emphasis on (but not limited to) zombie fiction. With a background in Psych Nursing, Shay brings her unique perspective to the online reading community.

All my thanks goes to the lovely Shana for sending these books for this review.

My views and opinions are my own.

Review coming soon.

The Gerp now grips anything with a tripod mount; checkout the new Kickstarter campaign!

The Gerp Reinvented!
Introducing the worlds most versatile grip, stand and mount to enhance and unite your digital devices.

If you've been following me over the last few years (if not why not ;-) you will have seen my review for a product I fell in love with and still using today.... The Gerp!

  The Gerp
I didn't know how they could possibly improve on this brilliant design but they have...drumroll...they have now added a tripod mount to the end of the grip...genius!

 See "both" ends in use, one end suckered securely to the windscreen the other attached to the GoPro and the smartphone via the tripod mount.

Many of you "Gerpologists" are already using the Gerp in so many ways; now you have the opportunity to use the Gerp on almost any device that has a tripod mount!

 My Samsung galaxy S4 is securely attached to the large ergonomic grip which reminds me of a motorbike handle/pistol grip and takes the weight off your devices; especially if your holding it for a longer length of time.This helps prevent Repetitive Strain Injury and other disabling problems.

Want to know more then checkout my original review 
(without the tripod mount) 
 HERE .

Imagine how good it will be with the added tripod base.

 

It genuinely feels super cool to hold; very James/Jane Bond and its a guaranteed conversation starter.
Ergonomic, lightweight, durable, waterproof and super fun to use as you run round attaching it to anything and everything to see if it will sucker to it...ok maybe that just me then... ;-)

 You will see from my original Gerp review it securely holds my S4, Nexus 10 and Kindle, even a tray holder for your yummy eclairs.

Yes you know me well...even a tray...of....cakes....yummm!!!!

So why am I doing another post; well The brilliant Gerp team have improved the design and now you are getting a 2 for one Mount; So you not only have the incredible features of the original Gerp but the brand NEW tripod mount too.

 See how you can now attach your video or action cam and have a solid stabilized secure grip to film.

Just look at all the devices this genius of a grip will hold; if it has a flat back or a tripod mount The versatile Gerp will grip it!
Plus you have the choice to get a GoPack so you can use the Gerp Mount with many more devices; what more could you want.

Everyone who owns a phone, camera or action cam NEEDS this incredibly simple, cool looking, versatile gadget to be able to use your device comfortably anywhere indoors and out.

One grip for all!


 
A $1 means you will be part of this campaign and for $25 you can be one of the very 1st to receive the brand NEW first run of The Gerp Mount.

Go checkout their NEW Kickstarter Gerp Campaign and grab yourselves your very own Gerp and the Gopack of accessories.

Will you get a Grip on your Gadgets? 

Good luck to the Gerp team you so deserve every success with this already amazing gadget!

Just look at the brilliant Pledge rewards you can get below; there is a price range for everyone that want's to be involved.