What is a reasonable grit to which to sand down repair work before painting?
This would be things like correcting uneven seams, patching holes, removing flash, etc.
The class is recreational hobby kits, not competition. My goal is that a casual observer without a magnifying glass wouldn’t notice any visual issues. I don’t have enough finished models to gauge this for myself yet, although 400 seems to be ok so far. I do have a set of fine pads (3200-16000) but haven’t really used them yet. Is it worth it?
Does brush painting vs. spray/airbrush impact the best level?
Thanks for your time!
Mark
Well Sir, it depends on what type of finish you’re looking for. If you’re only looking for something to remove small imperfections use 600 wet-or-dry sandpaper. This makes the smallest sanding marks that you can smooth things with, and paint over it without anything visible afterwards. This is what is used in the wet-sanding of automotive finishes to smooth out orange peel from the spraying process. It removes only tiny bits at a time, and can be controlled so that you get professional results without the worry of going too far. What you’re using is too soft, and is meant for polishing - not shaping. Use hard grits for shaping, medium, and fine grits for smoothing, and ultra fine grits for polishing. Sandpaper is considered a supply, but it is also a tool! If you use it wisely you can do amazing things with it. This is what I use the most other than 60 grit, 200 grit, and 600 grit all the time for most of my modeling projects.
~ Cobra Chris