Ben,

Definitely update your progress. Now that I've had my car almost a week, and the haze has cleared from new ownership, I went over the body a bit to see what needs to be fixed (it had 2,700 miles on it already). There's the typical swirls and some tiny nicks here and there. However, I have two nick like the one you showed but much smaller, in just about the same place on the hood as you.

I have an Aero Blue, but your findings on paint may be of help.