Finish sanding in tight spaces

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wwattles

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Working on a LPR with a lot of tight spaces, and finish-sanding the primer is taking forever. I was contemplating using a Dremel for the sanding, but the finest sanding grits available is 240. Can one of the cloth polishing tools be used for getting into those narrow crevices?

Have any of you found a simple, high-speed method for getting your birds ready for final glass-smooth paint, even in those hard-to-reach places?
 
Working on a LPR with a lot of tight spaces, and finish-sanding the primer is taking forever. I was contemplating using a Dremel for the sanding, but the finest sanding grits available is 240. Can one of the cloth polishing tools be used for getting into those narrow crevices?

Have any of you found a simple, high-speed method for getting your birds ready for final glass-smooth paint, even in those hard-to-reach places?

In a word NO!
With all finishing "haste makes waste". That Said there are lots of little tricks and tools to help get into those tight spots but for the most part the work is done by hand. Hey! I build lots of intricate Micro models beleived me when I say the finishing ALWAYS take much longer then the building.

Regardless of size getting into small, hard to reach areas can be done with Grit Sticks, GlitStick 1/4" sanding belts. strip and roll sanding round rolls, needle files and the like. Sometimes i'll wrap a tiny needle file with 240 to 400grit sandpaper to get into some tough spots.

Dremels can be a help with roughing out stuff before getting into the fine nitty-Gritty LOL! but for the most part we just have to bit the bullet and cut special pieces of dowel, stick or strip to cover with sandpaper or sanding grit glued on with 3M 77.

I'll post a few pics of some of the Micro-Mark purchased handy stuff below. Hope these things helps or at least give some ideas.

c-sm_Glit-Sticks & Excel sanding sticks & belts_07-21-05.jpg

d-sm_Flex-I-Flie Sanding frames_07-21-05.jpg

1h1_Plastic Artist pallet knife_01-28-09.jpg

3 Panel scribe tools-Lg_Dental probe,punch &scribe_05-01-07.jpg

Double Ball end burnishing tool_03-80.JPG

Prec. Panel Line Scribe-b_6in Bare Metal Foil Co_03-16-17.JPG
 
I don't know what model you are working on, so I can't evaluate what you mean by "tight places." My recent experiences with LPRs with hard-to-reach areas for finishing are building an Estes Trident clone and a Saturn Press Astrobee 1500. If your completed model is going to have hard-to-reach places for finish sanding, consider painting major components prior to assembly. I know that is not going to help you with your current project, but for the future it's something to consider.
 
Building rockets really means "sanding" rockets...

It is much easier to get all parts to near "final paint ready" before assembly...
 
Building rockets really means "sanding" rockets...
It is much easier to get all parts to near "final paint ready" before assembly...

Ditto!

For me, I fill and prime before gluing everything together.
You've just got to remove the primer and rough up the surfaces at the glue areas.
It's very hard to get into all the tight corners when a model is fully assembled,
then try to fill and prime.
 
I have a plethora of homemade sanding devices. Different sized dowels with different grits, custom cut emery boards for certain areas. Popsicle sticks make awesome sanding sticks. I keep two sizes. Standard, and the tongue depressor size. Square off the ends and glue different grits to them. For a more flexible sanding stick, I cut and fold some heavy duty hard card stock, glue that together and then glue different grits to those. Micro is being straight up with you on his point. There ain't no real easy fast fix for those hard to reach places. It's part of the building craft. You just have to exercise some tenacity. Here's a pic of a model I built a couple years ago that required some custom sanding devices. The fins are laminated on the leading and outer trailing edges. Imagine getting up in that tight spot on the upper most part of the fin.

DSCF2349.JPG
 
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