Any painting experts on here?

I got a dime sized chip. I know I'll never be able to fix it so you don't see the flaw without a full panel repaint. I'm just trying to make it less obvious to the extent that I can. It's painted a bright cherry red with a pretty significant red flake in it. I've been able to match the red color pretty well and fill in the chip, and that alone has done a decent job of making the chip less obvious. However, what I really need to do is add flake to get it to blend in better. I should add that I'm brushing on carefully as I don't have a airbrush and I have never used one before. In fact I'm not even sure of an airbrush can handle flake of this size. I'll finish off the repair with wet sanding and polishing when I'm done.
Here's the crux of my issue. Do I add another layer of red paint with flake added in it (I bought some) and then clear on top of that, or do I add flake to a layer of clear then another layer of clear over top of that? What's the proper way to add flake to the repair? Where in the paint/clear layering process is the flake introduced to the repair?

 

For what you are doing, I would try to place the flake in the first coat of clear. After this Burry it in 2 more coats of clear and buff it out. You are going to have a tough time brushing clear to look even close, but with a little patience, and some creative brushing you might pull it off. I would even be tempted to use a needle to move the flake around for a desired look.

 

All the best painters are on You Tube….just ask them.
Not on this subject matter but it’s unbelievable what some are doing with rattle cans today. I’ve even surprised myself on small projects. It’s getting more expensive but what isn’t?