I’m new to this so I would like to know the purpose of using water (wet sanding) when sanding your model compare to just sanding it.
You get a smoother finish and the paper lasts longer. A drop of hand soap in the water helps to keep the paper from clogging.
Mike
It also eliminates much of the dust.
I use one of those shoe box size plastic boxes from dollar general and keep it about 1/3 full of water. I just sand over the box and dip the paper in the water when needed.
Oh yeah, make sure the sand paper you are using is made for wet sanding or you will have a huge mess!
I will say this:
As a modeler who did wet sanding Before I ever used it on a model , by the way .There’s two reasons .One has already been mentioned here so I won’t repeat it .
now the other is just as important . I have found that " Wet " Sanding not only gives you a better finish , but it keeps the sandpaper useable longer .
There is a brand of paper you need to stay away from though . It’s called Diamond Brite .( From China .) It states on each sheet " Waterproof " If you are a sieve I guess it’s okay . Plus as you sand with it, you find no more grit on the face of it !
Right after sanding with my finest grit I dry the model by hand ( gently ) and put it in it’s own drying box .A week later it’s good to go .The air drying gets those pesky corners and stuff dry . Then I buff it if it calls for it . If not I paint to my heart’s content . Tanker - Builder
TB
You can also use a hair dryer to speed things up and a can of compressed air (used to clean electronic parts) to blow the water from hard to get corners.
Thanks all. I’m using the Tamiya finishing abrasives and since its in japanese I just assume since its built for models so therefore its wet sanding type, correct?
It is only needed when you get down to about #320. Above that the plastic dust blows off pretty easily. But the really fine paper makes such fine dust that it clogs the paper quickly. When you get to about 1000, a few passes and the paper is worthless unless you rinse it out.