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Best tool to sand tight areas like ejection marks in wheelbay doors.


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So i am building Tamiya P-47M and while it is obviously a great kit, Tamiya sure likes their ejection marks. Including ones on the wheelbay doors and such. Those wheelbay doors have raised rivets and other details.

 

Are there any recommendations for the best tools to deal with the putty after filling ejection marks in areas like these? In areas like these it can be hard to use a sanding stick, even skinny ones. I have a glassfiber brush and it works fine (last i used it, which was ages ago now) but having strands of glassfiber around isn't optimal. Then there are diamond files and modeling chisels and such, but neither seem optimal either. Any other recommendations for other tools or any i have listed?

 

Quick and bad pictures of mentioned areas just as an example;

 

TpeLAOn.jpg

 

4BRreCX.jpg

Edited by Berkut
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Hello Berkut

 

This is what works for me; cut the tip of a toothpick with a shape and an angle that fit the space you want to sand but also give you room to make a sanding motion; put a blob of cyano and glue a piece of sandpaper, when it's set, cut the sandpaper to the shape you need (the blob of dry cyano allows you to have a hard edge on the sandpaper). I usually make them with 400 and 600 grit.

 

7KKwUcd.jpg

 

Hope this help

 

Carlos

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For some areas I use a scraping tool like this:

https://www.hobbyzone.biz/alec/alec_fv6.shtml

and remove the surrounding plastic instead of filling in the ejection mark.

 

This tool is similar but better with curved surfaces:

https://www.hobbyzone.biz/alec/alec_rv6.shtml

 

Hobbyzone has a number of very useful, albeit somewhat expensive tools. I've always found, though, that good tools are worth the money and good tools make work easier.

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On 8/29/2020 at 10:02 AM, ElectroSoldier said:

I roll with a more precise application of filler so I dont have to sand.

Very helpful advice, will read again.

 

20 hours ago, cruiz said:

Hello Berkut

 

This is what works for me; cut the tip of a toothpick with a shape and an angle that fit the space you want to sand but also give you room to make a sanding motion; put a blob of cyano and glue a piece of sandpaper, when it's set, cut the sandpaper to the shape you need (the blob of dry cyano allows you to have a hard edge on the sandpaper). I usually make them with 400 and 600 grit.

 

7KKwUcd.jpg

 

Hope this help

 

Carlos

Hi Carlos! Yeah, i remember solving this issue same way many years ago. 🙂 So it is indeed a solution that works, but would just like to find a more sustainable and precise way of doing it with better and more "uniform" tool(s). But i guess it is worth a try for this specific case on P-47, thanks for reminding me of this. Longer term, would like to find a more precise tool.

 

19 hours ago, Mstor said:

For some areas I use a scraping tool like this:

https://www.hobbyzone.biz/alec/alec_fv6.shtml

and remove the surrounding plastic instead of filling in the ejection mark.

 

This tool is similar but better with curved surfaces:

https://www.hobbyzone.biz/alec/alec_rv6.shtml

 

Hobbyzone has a number of very useful, albeit somewhat expensive tools. I've always found, though, that good tools are worth the money and good tools make work easier.

Hmm, those are interesting, but quite pricey indeed and unsure how well they would work in tighter areas like in my second picture. I will look for alternatives but if there are none that are as good i guess i will bite the bullet on them. Thanks!

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I was about to suggest something like what Chuck suggested. One idea to adapt it better to your specific problem is to glue a small length of styrene rod or sprue onto the area that held the bristles before. You could get a sanding area that's really just the diameter of whatever rod you use.

 

What could also be useful are the mini sanding sticks by Alpha Abrasives/Albion Alloys/Micro-Mesh. I use them all the time. They have a thin foam backing, so are slighty different from cruiz' DIY option. The DIY option with the hard backing may actually be more useful in this case, though.

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The David 400 pen sander looks promising. But before I spend $100+ on one I'd like to hear a bit more about it from folks who have used this tool for modeling. One of my concerns is that you have to cut the sandpaper to fit the head you want to use. That may sound easy enough, but past experience with cutting adhesive backed sandpaper has shown it can be a bit tedious and troublesome. Especially if the pieces are small and need to be precise. So if any of you folks can elaborate a bit on your experience with using this tool, it would be appreciated.

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On 9/6/2020 at 5:21 PM, KenK05 said:

The David 400 pen sander looks promising. But before I spend $100+ on one I'd like to hear a bit more about it from folks who have used this tool for modeling. One of my concerns is that you have to cut the sandpaper to fit the head you want to use. That may sound easy enough, but past experience with cutting adhesive backed sandpaper has shown it can be a bit tedious and troublesome. Especially if the pieces are small and need to be precise. So if any of you folks can elaborate a bit on your experience with using this tool, it would be appreciated.


I picked one up as well and am liking it. The sandpaper packs that came with it had some templates and cutting them out didn’t seem to be any trouble. 
 

It’s seeming to work very well smoothing/flattening large flat areas where it can be easy to get a valley or leave a ridge with sanding sponges, sticks, etc. 

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On 9/6/2020 at 3:21 PM, KenK05 said:

The David 400 pen sander looks promising. But before I spend $100+ on one I'd like to hear a bit more about it from folks who have used this tool for modeling. One of my concerns is that you have to cut the sandpaper to fit the head you want to use. That may sound easy enough, but past experience with cutting adhesive backed sandpaper has shown it can be a bit tedious and troublesome. Especially if the pieces are small and need to be precise. So if any of you folks can elaborate a bit on your experience with using this tool, it would be appreciated.

I echo what ESzczesniak says. WRT the sandpaper, I cut up a supply of the sizes I typically use. Removing and replacing the sandpaper is easy. The sandpaper does not need to be precisely cut. 

 

Head over the LSP for more feedback from folks who have one.

 

It's been one of the best tool purchases I've made for this hobby. It has definitely made sanding a lot easier.  

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17 hours ago, Ichitoe said:

I echo what ESzczesniak says. WRT the sandpaper, I cut up a supply of the sizes I typically use. Removing and replacing the sandpaper is easy. The sandpaper does not need to be precisely cut. 

 

Head over the LSP for more feedback from folks who have one.

 

It's been one of the best tool purchases I've made for this hobby. It has definitely made sanding a lot easier.  

It sounds like a winner! Thanks to you and ESzczesniak for the hands on information. It was just what I was looking for. 

 

I have a question regarding your post that will probably show my lack of computer and forum knowledge. What are you referring to when you say "head over to the LPS"? Is that some other part of this forum?

 

Thanks again for the info.

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19 minutes ago, KenK05 said:

It sounds like a winner! Thanks to you and ESzczesniak for the hands on information. It was just what I was looking for. 

 

I have a question regarding your post that will probably show my lack of computer and forum knowledge. What are you referring to when you say "head over to the LPS"? Is that some other part of this forum?

 

Thanks again for the info.

I think he is talking about the Large Scale Planes Forum:

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/84303-new-tool-for-sanding/&tab=comments#comment-1191458

Larry

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