Sanding clear parts

Burke · Post by **Burke** » Tue May 31, 2011 6:54 pm

Im currently working on my polar lights 1/1000 enterprise and have started playing with the brussards. There's burrs on them, how do I remove them, without messing up the clear plastic? I'm assuming I sand them, but what grit and how to retain the clearness?

AbsoluteSciFi · Post by **AbsoluteSciFi** » Tue May 31, 2011 9:05 pm

Only sand the part you need to. Start with 600 grit and work up to 2000, get the sandpaper from an auto-shop, wet sand the whole thing.

The whole thing will go white, but do not worry, the white is coming off from the removed material. As you get down to the true surface, begin to feather the area, and lighten up on the pressure. This will polish out the area and you can work on cleaning it up. After all the polishing is done (2000 grit), put some Future Floor Wax on it.

scratchy · Post by **scratchy** » Tue May 31, 2011 10:14 pm

Thanks for posting this info AbsoluteSciFi, I'll be sanding some clear resin parts as well.

AbsoluteSciFi · Post by **AbsoluteSciFi** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 12:53 am

I sand ALL my clear parts. even if they are spotless, I can make them thinner and that makes the "wavy" look go away, and the entire canopy starts to look more real. This process takes a good long time too, so don't rush it. I spent about three days sanding down the 1/72 canopy for The GlassDragon, I took the plastic off an old cassette case.

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad27 ... ckpit1.jpg
http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad27 ... ckpit2.jpg

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 12:12 pm

On the finer grades of sandpaper & polishing film, working wet will be your saving grace. Change the water out between grits, especially on the coarser grades. I usually polish to about 10,000 and then dip in Future to cover the last shreds of micro-scrapes.

seam-filler · Post by **seam-filler** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:40 am

Kylwell wrote:On the finer grades of sandpaper & polishing film, working wet will be your saving grace. Change the water out between grits, especially on the coarser grades. I usually polish to about 10,000 and then dip in Future to cover the last shreds of micro-scrapes.

A few drops of dishwasher rinse aid in the water reduces clogging in the paper/film too.

AbsoluteSciFi · Post by **AbsoluteSciFi** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:09 am

Kylwell wrote:On the finer grades of sandpaper & polishing film, working wet will be your saving grace. Change the water out between grits, especially on the coarser grades. I usually polish to about 10,000 and then dip in Future to cover the last shreds of micro-scrapes.

Using a grit over 2000 will help only for the clean grit value, but I have found that after 2000, if you still need a finer grade, an old piece of 2000 mimics the value of 5000. As I do not work below the scale of 1/72, the need to sand further is pointless. A piece of fresh paper has as much grit. (And yes, I have used a piece of paper to sand with!) If you need more than 5000, then get a nice piece of leather, it will do more for you, and you can hone your blades with it too. Use the rough side for buffing, and the smooth side for fine sand and polishing.

Future Wax will glaze and fill anything over 600, even 2000 is overkill. That is why in the automotive repair industry, they never stock more than 2000, its a waste of money.

DeltaVee · Post by **DeltaVee** » Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:47 pm

Actually, on the bussards, leaving them sanded 'frosty' and painting clear behind them gives a nice seething plasma effect.