What grit sandpaper for sanding Squandron green putty ?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

I am using it on airplane seams and gaps. I have 800

grit wet sandpaper is that fine enough ? I don’t want

the sanding scratches to show through the primer

coat. I take it sanding is done dry ?

2

I consider 800 a bit too fine. I generally use two grades- 320 or 400 for initial smoothing and shaping, then 600 or 800 for removing the scratches. I find using just the fine grade takes too long, and it isn’t that much of an effort just to switch grades at the proper point.

3

Thanks Don !

4

I knock the majority of the putty down with a Sally Beauty Supply fine nail stick, then go back over with an extra fine nail stick to complete the sanding. These can be used wet. Then finish up with a nail buffer which has hardly any grit at all. Polishes and removes any remaining scratches.

These nail sticks have a plastic core with foam backing. They can be scored with an Xacto knife and snapped off to be cut/shaped as needed to fit into fine spaces

I will lay a couple of strips of masking tape along the seam to be filled, leaving a 1/8-inch or finer gap between them. Fill the seam with putty, smooth, and allow to dry. Once dry, I sand with the fine stick before removing the tape. The tape protects the surrounding detail. Progress to the x-fine grit and sand out any scratches. Pull the tape - there may be some ridges along the edges. Sand them down with the x-fine stick. Then polish with the buffer stick

5

Cool thanks for the info!

6

I have a couple of sets of needle files- a regular sized set and a small micro set. I find these great for the initial smoothing of putty and seams. I just finish up with fine sandpaper but the files take it down to that point very quickly and accurately. Putty does clog the files periodically but I bought a brass wire brush and it cleans them fairly easily.

7

Thanks eveyone ! I have been using 320 garnet

and 1000 silcon carbide for that putty, so far

so good. The sanding scratches do not show

through the pimer coat that I can tell.