Wet or Dry Sanding and PFC

Here's a couple more cents...

Personally, I have never wet sanded. I use Testors "sanding films". Basically the same thing Don mentioned (3M). They come in a 5 pack, 1 of each grit from very fine to heavy.

I have the same bottle of "Future". I have found it most useful on the floor. I've had nothing but bad luck with dipping canopies, and it didn't go any better when I tried using it as a gloss coat...even with every "experiment" I could come up with and following everyone elses advice. I went back to using Minwax gloss lacquer (over enamel paints). The only GOOD use I have found for it in modeling is for decals. Just prior to placing the decal, brush on a little Future, place the decal, dab it with a paper towel...basically do what you'd normally do with a decal. Many people do get good results with it...just not me.

Great advice on the wet sanding.

On the other issue, I noticed you put "Future" and the word "sanity" in the same paragraph. That may be misleading.

Seriously though, looks like you might have scored an extremely old bottle in stock for a long, long time. That Future Shine logo has been gone for at least 3 years. Future fans would consider that like striking gold, I reckon.

Welcome, btw.

While wet sanding, I put a few drops of liquid dish soap into my water dish to keep the sanding residue from clinging to the parts and my hands.  It helps a lot!

Chip,

I'll add my current techniques for sanding. If I am prepping parts for assembly, I typically will use a medium grit sanding stick followed by a finer grit, depending on what I am trying to remove. If I am just removing attachment points I'll usually just hit it with a medium grit, if its something that can be seen externally, I'll gradually go finer and finer.

Wet sanding I typically only do for paint prep or in between coats to remove any hair, dust or whatever from the surfact that may have settled while the paint was curing.

Like the others, I only use PFC for dipping canopies, and only then if I've had to do some polishing to remove light scratches or seam lines.

When I am applying a clear gloss, my go to clear is Alclad Aqua Gloss, it is a water based product from the Alclad Lacquers brand. I will also use Testors gloss (acrylic and lacquer) and I've used AK Interactives gloss acrylic clear some as well.

Thanks to all who responded.  This was very helpful.

The finer the grit, the faster it clogs when sanding dry.  Note that in coarse grades you can find dry sandpaper, but in the finer grades you generally only see wet-or-dry paper.  So in general, if you are using wet-or-dry paper, use it wet.

However, if you are only going to use it for a small area in a quick job- say a single dust speck or hair in a painted surface, nothing wrong with grabbing a fine grit, even in wet-or-dry paper and taking off that blemish.

 Also, there is a new 3M sanding material that is a plastic film with sanding grit on it. It is more resistant to clogging than regular sandpaper. I am using a package of 320 grit, and frequently use it dry for quick or even somewhat longer jobs.

Hi, Chip -

Wet sand vs dry:

Dry sanding tends to fill, (clog,) the texture of the sandpaper with paint residue, soon rendering it ineffective for use.

Wet sanding keeps the paint residue floating away, the paper remains useful for much longer and stays fully effective. But the paper does eventually wear down and gets replaced.

It doesn't take much water, I mostly do it over the sink and keep a small plastic pail filled with water, then if the part is small enough to dunk in the pail as needed to rinse it works well, or I can rinse the sandpaper in the pail as needed.

I mostly use 600 grit wet or dry for the more agressive sanding, then smaller grit for a smoother surface finish, prior to spraying final paint layers.

PFC ; That's excactly the same label as on mine, I only use it for dipping canopies and other clear bits. For spraying a clear finish over paint, I use several of the model paint company clear coats, like Micro Scale Clear or Testor's, etc.

PFC, (for me,) seems to be a bit more fiddly, often results in a pebbly finish when sprayed, it does brush on very well though. Likely my limited expreience with it, others swear by it for spraying.

Build on, sounds like you and your son have some enjoyable times ahead.

Patrick

Greetings, Chip.

For sanding, I usually rough-sand parts with either a jeweler's file or an emory board, to remove pour stubs and flash.  This has to be done rather gently and carefully, otherwise the files and/or emory boards can dig to deep and leave pretty large scratches.

Then wet sand.  All I do is dip the sand paper in water and go at it.  I don't have any particular rules/tips/protocol.

I make small sanding sticks out of flat tooth picks, for most usages.  It gives a little more "oomph" to the sand paper than just backing it up with your fingers.  Use CA glue to apply the tooth picks to some sandpaper, then cut them apart.

I normally start out with a 320 grit wet-n-dry sandpaper; then switch to a 400 grit; and finally a 600 grit.  Covered with paint, it works fine.  For some especially smooth finishes, I've noticed that some will go with an even finer grit paper, but I haven't found that necessary except for sanding clear parts when needed.

About Future, I have no idea.  I don't use it, except for concealing scratches on clear parts.  The bottle I have is old, before they changed things.

Good luck!