This is my first post, a few questions inside.

Nice board you guys have here, read the newbie FAQ and I certainly learned many things that I did not even realize they exist. I picked up the hobby at a really young age but I was never a good modeller. Then later left the hobby thanks to Nintendo. About 5 years ago, picked up the hobby again but I still sucked at painting and putting on decals. Even though I haven't built anything in the past several years, I have always remain fascinated by what other modellers' works. Couple weeks ago, I wanted to buy some die-cast automotive model (suck as the Minichamps) but I was disappointed by the quality of details. Since summer school is over, I figured this is the perfect opportunity for me to start building something again, so here I am. :)

I am building a Tamiya Mercedes-Benz SLK kit that I bought several years ago and I have a couple questions regarding priming.

1. I bought a really fine wet or dry sandpaper today but it doesn't say what grade it is on the back. I asked the shop keeper whether it is a 800 grit and he said "it feels like it" so hopefully he was right. All I know is that it's made by 3M and it has a reddish brown color. When I use it wet to key the body shell of the model, the stuff comes off from the sandpaper and it becomes really muddy. Is this how it is suppose to work?

2. Once I prime the interior components, is it necessary to sand it with the wet or dry sandpaper? Some of the parts are quite small for sanding.

3. How do you prep the components? Do you prime/sand/paint them while they are still attached on the tree?

4. The top of the SLK is made of transparent plastic, should I prep it any differently than the rest of the components?

Whew! I think that's all the questions for now. As you can tell, I am still a beginner and I want to get everything done right this time. TIA. :)

yes wet and dry does get "muddy" as you put it. Just wet the paper agian and most of the "muddieness" will come off of the paper.

The small interior parts I prime only and don't sand it smooth (far too fiddly on most parts. The only part I do sand lightly after priming is the body.

small components can be painted buy sepperating the tree sections (but with the part still attached) into the various color groups. Then painting then and when dry cutting them off of the tree and patching up the small part that is not painted.

Clear parts that are to be painted (not headlights, windows, or tail lights) should be primed and painted as per the other parts.
*see my street GTR project as the tamyia kit has a clear bonnet that needs painting*

Thanks Tazdev. :D Now back to more sanding and priming.

hopefully that answers the questions well enough