Sand it!

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t is not possible to precise determine what kind of work engage most of our effort but for sure is that surface and joint treatment present very important steps in model making. This start from the removing part from fret, you need to cut connecting point with fret as flat as possible and in many cases to sand it down. It is also good to sand all of the joint lines and surfaces of parts and make it better set up together. Also rough surface which are result of sanding is better for the cement application. So conclusion is that sanding is one of the very important process in model making.

In this review will be give work properties of the few products which is widely available and very important for quality model work. Cover image of this article is one of great product, Flex Set, stock item number Code 550, and this product present fusion of few different product and present excellent starter subject for every modeler. Inside of pack is the one aluminum frame with eight sanding tapes and five different sanding pads. Frame is simple to use, you need to attach tape on the frame edge and you get nice tool for the surface sanding and work perfect on curved surfaces but also on flat surfaces. Same tape is very thin so you can use it to sand inside slots at need. Images 3, 4 and 5 in gallery bellow show some samples of use of the tape. First show use of rough grade tape to sand wide curved nose surface on F-84 scale model. Second show work on the sharp elements like the leading edge and fifth image show fine surface sanding. It is always nice to sand a bit with fine paper surface as well this will make paint to better adhere to surface later. Package contain four different grade of this tape so you could be able to make strong surface sanding and fine surface flatting.

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In the same package is five different sanding pads. They are all of flexible material and this is perfect as well it flow tightly over surface. As well one part is cut at angle, it make it excellent tool for corners and sharp edged details. Image six show it in work and it show sanding process where is sanded only surface under filler and some external tinny details are skip and safe from damage (thanks to the shape of tool). Image number eight show one of application and this is final fine sanding of surface with fine grit pad and this make perfect preparation for the basic liquid filler before painting.

First image in gallery show three products sanding pads and they are three different grits, all coarse. Each package contain three pads and in general they are intended for the rough surface work, when you have need to sand wide area of the kit and to work on various material. Images nine and ten in the gallery show it in action in conversion work on Caproni 310 and first mentioned image show it while sanding extension made of epoxy putty and the second one sanding of wide area under model filler. Both material are much different in their physical properties but sanding pads perfectly did its job in both cases. Hardly that this toll will find any use in perfectly designed plastic kit which you make it direcly out of box but you will definitely need it in conversion works, scratch built work and work on kits of less quality manufacture. Stock item for this products are Code 341, 342 and 343.

Image number two in gallery show one very interesting product, sanding sticks, stock item Code 344, 345 and 346. All are coarse grit and due to the very specific shape their use are also specific. One part of each tool is pointed and this make it very effective in sanding inside holes (image number seven in gallery) but also very useful for work on wing and stabilizer sleeves, inside of exhaust and intakes and so on. You can use it on sanding cockpit edges of WW1 kits as well modern jet air intakes. Versatile tool in any case!!!

All above mentioned products could be direct order from Albion Alloys

Srecko Bradic

Great thanks to Matthew D. John from Albion Alloys for providing of sample products.