Sanding

Just a quick question about sandpaper. Have just bought three different grades of tamiya sandpaper, 1200, 1500 & 2000. Which one do i use first. Is it the 1200 then the 1500 and finishing off with the 2000 or is it the other way round. Cant feel any roughness difference on the sandpaper.
Appreciate your help guys.:flash:

You start with the lowest number and work up to the highest number.

The higher the number the finer the grit.

Cool, Im going to start sanding mine today, whats the first paper to use tho and the last? I know you have to go from lowest number to highest, but whats the min-max numbers to use?

Also, If I want to strip paint off an existing shell I sprayed (with cheap touch up paint from K- Mart (walmart i think), how do i do it? Nail polish remover didnt work, and even paint stripper didnt work. Should I sand it back to "bare plastic"

Remove the tyres and put the whole thing into ( dont worry about the windows ) caustic soda. Be generous with the soda and the process should only take about 5-10 minutes. Oh yes, i almost forgot......WEAR GLOVES !!!
Good Luck, Mike:smoker2:

Thanks MIKE!! But what the hell is Caustic Soda??

You know !?! its the stuff you use to unblock sinks with. Caustic soda & a plunger. Its a potently strong salt like looking stuff so for f**** sake watch your hands & eyes. Here in Sweden where i live and also in my native England you can buy it almost anywhere. Dont know where you are but it should be the same there, check out your nearest hardwear store.
All the best, Mike.:smoker2:

Ohhh, ok, Thanks mike, I belive we dont have it here, but we have this "pellet" like stuff called ....damn, I forgot. So is caustic soda the brand, or the substance?

hey mike
about the sandpaper your using.....r u doing a customization on your model?
because if you are and your using epoxy putty then you should start with 600 grit sandpaper....wet sand and dry
it works for me when im customizing my kits:)

Its the substance. Guess there's loads of brands. Aren't you in the states ?!?.......

Originally posted by mike united
Its the substance. Guess there's loads of brands. Aren't you in the states ?!?.......

Im an Aussie brother (well not technically, but Im in OZ)

I would suggest stripping the paint using brake fluid NOT brake cleaner. Most guys swear by CSC (castrol super clean) but I haven't come across any in Oz so far. Brake fluid does a good job of stripping paint tho - immerse the body into the brake fluid and leave a couple of hours and use an old toothbrush to take the paint off

Since this thread is about sanding I might as well ask my question here. How exactly do you wet sand? Do you put some water over the model and sand or do you do it over running water or a basin of water? What are the advantages of wet sanding and when do I do it? And it is a must to wet sand? I have been dry sanding all the way and all the times I sand until the primer shows. Sorry for so many questions but I hope somebody has the answers. (Sanding is covered in the faqs but there's no detailed information about how to sand and wet sand,)

Man, reading that, I thought you actually putting sand on your car, wetting it, and rubbing it! hahaha

Originally posted by KOFFEE-BLACK
Man, reading that, I thought you actually putting sand on your car, wetting it, and rubbing it! hahaha

Haha... maybe it's got to do with my phrasing. At least i didn't say 'put some water and sand over the model.'

But seriously... does anyone has answers?

Wet sanding is just doign the sanding under running water so that the stuff you are sanding off don't scratch the surface of your model and also you won't get dust everywhere.
But i usually do it in the sink filled with water cause i think running water is kinda wasting water :silly2: