Sanding techniques/advice?

poholio · **Joined:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:18 am **Posts:** 27

I have what may seem a dumb question. I am fabricating the chest armor and shin guards currently out of Sintra. I am using PC7 and PC11 to fill in and contour the spaces where the raised parts of the armor (the parts which will eventually be gloss black) meet the body of the construction (gunmetal). While sanding the PC7 and PC11 I have noticed that, despite trying to keep the application of it even, there seems to be rough spots and bumps up and down where I applied it. Sanding with a few different grains has only produced so-so results. Does anyone have a sure-fire method of sanding that will help me to achieve a more-uniform appearance?
I will try to get pics up soon.
Regards,

Justin

CSMacLaren · **Posted:** Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:06 am

Justin,

Can you post pictures and explain what grit levels of sandpaper and tools you're using?

poholio · **Joined:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:18 am **Posts:** 27

Mac,

Here are some pics of what I've got so far:

I tried to get some chest armor pics with natural light and indoor light, with and without flash.
I forgot to mention- I experimetned with some Bondo, particularly on the center portion of the chest, but so far I'm not thrilled with Bondo's performance.
Thus far I have been using 60 grit to rough out the epoxy, 220 to touch up, and 400 for some polish/refinement work. I've also used the Dremel with 2 small-sized sanding wheel with what I think is roughly 100 grit.
There's a base coat of autobody primer on now, just to help accentuate the defects.

The pics actually disguise some of the bumps and irregularities in the seam between the raised stripes and the base.
Let me know what you think.

Regards,
Justin

CSMacLaren · **Posted:** Wed Aug 31, 2011 2:47 am

I hope you weren't using PC7 and PC11 based on my "Goldie" buildup from a long time ago, as those weren't really my favorite products. But that's quite impressive for a first effort. I'm kinda wondering if you could have used Sintra all the way, and the PC products are possibly unnecessary.

Your'e using the right sandpapers, so here is one of my sanding secrets.

Get a good solid eraser, wrap the 60/80 grit sandpaper around it, and *wetsand* in circles. Once your initial shaping is to satisfaction, then go to 200, then 400.

The trick of wetsanding is creating a little slurry that then does the work for you. That may mean you have to wash the gunk out of the sandpaper now and then so that the sandpaper has more bite. You'll probably go through a lot so have some sheets handy.

poholio · **Joined:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:18 am **Posts:** 27

Mac-

Thanks for the tips- so far, so good. I see what you mean, though, about eschewing the fill altogether and simply sanding the Sintra and shaping it via that method alone.
I'll get some more pics up when I have a chance to further implement your advice.

Regards,
Justin

Sanding techniques/advice?

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