getting rid of sanding scratches

Keep using finer grades of sandpaper. Use the wet-dry sandpaper and sand with plenty of water. After each phase of sanding go to a finer grit and continue with more wet sanding. Keep going, using finer grit with each phase. After sanding use a polish to buff out the tiny scratches. Then wash with dish washing liquid and rinse with plenty of water. Let air dry and check your work. You may have to go back over with more polish to eliminate the small scratches.

as you use progressively finer grades, sand perpendicular to the direction of the previous grade.

Mike

HEY, I agree with berny. Use finer grits of sanding paper and polish with a plastic polish afterwards. Renarts, that is a great tip to sand perpendicular. I did not know that.

Try to get hold of some micromesh, that's a REALLY fine wet'n'dry, it's used to polish out scratches on aircraft canopies, I think there may be an ad in FSM somewhere. It's used in a figure 8 pattern, but on a model, try a circular motion.
The paint on Rolls Royce cars used to be rubbed down with newspaper!
toothpaste makes a good (& cheap) abrasive, & it washes off easily.

You can get the Micro Mesh sets from Micro-Mark.

http://www.micromark.com/

They have most any tool you'll ever need for modeling.

Oh, and I heard it's best to sand in straight lines when doing it too. I always used to think you should sand in circles, figure 8's, but I've read where that leaves swirls and supposedly straight lines doesn't??? Either way a coat of Future at the end will make it look great.

Eric

How do you sand clear parts? One of the models I'll be working on soon has a two piece-canopy(right and left halves), and it will leave obvious seam. how do I get rid of them? Will sanding them create too heavy of scratches??

Tenchi,
If youhave to sand the "panes" you can use the micromesh in stages until you give it a final poish or coat with future. If you have a 2 part canopy, hopefully there is a frame running down the center? If so, try to sand very carefully so you don't scratch the panes and sand good enough for paint to cover the scratches on the frame.

Eric

after you have finished with sandpaper .use a very fine steel wool to polish off the scratches left by the sandpaper......

Quite often a quick spray os Mr Surfacer will fill any nasty sanding scratches, then continue sanding with a finer grit as advised above.
Cheers.

I have found that just using a primer coat tends to fill any scratches made, a gouge is a different story though.