Estes Constellation Build Part 12, Primer Sanding

Here's the body tube and nose cone after the primer filler was sanded down.
The nose cone was slipped into the body tube for primer painting.
The clear payload section will be trim painted later.

The fin and fin pod transition joints looked pretty good after spraying with the primer filler.

The primer was sanded with 400 grit.

There is plenty of inside edges that need to be sanded.

TIP: Here's another use for the Q-tip swabs.
Roll a piece of 400 grit around the cotton tip.

This gives you a small, round cushioned sander with no sharp creases in the rounded end of the sandpaper.

Quest/Enerjet Minotaur Q5015 Build, Part 4, SRB Primer & White

After sanding down the nose cone sides, 

the lip of filler overhung the body tube.

Sanding down from the sides of the body tube - 

gave me the squared lip showed on the right side picture.

The tubes and nose cones got a shot of filler/primer.

Sanding followed.

The right side picture shows two tubes after the first white undercoat.

Most of the six tubes looked okay. Two of the tubes developed a mottled surface, requiring sanding and a few more coats until things smoothed out.

Estes Laser Lance #3218, Part 4, Fin Assembly and Tube Contour

Here's one of the fin assemblies glued up.

The front end joints got some CWF and sanding.

The back end is open and a little bit too flexible. 

TIP: Make a fill piece out of scrap balsa for support in the next step.

The support piece was slipped in the back - no glue.

The base of the fins assembly is thick and will need some contour sanding.

Wrap some 220 grit around the BT-55 tube. Sand back and forth to make a inside arc and better fit the body tube.

Odd'l Rockets F-104 Starfighter Build, Part 4, Intake Dressing

There will probably be a bit of the glassine layer that will flop back and forth like a hinge. It's like the thin layer left after you file your fingernails. Knock it off with some 400 grit and light sanding.

Here's the cut and contour sanded intakes.
They are both as consistent as I could make them.
Like most any other building step - Slow down, take an extra few minutes in each step. The time you take will be reflected in the finished model.

Here's the underside of the intakes.
Look at the rear left, the edges ended up wider for a smoother transition against the body tube contour.

Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser, #1274, Build Part 13, Access Boom Detail Piece

The small access boom detail piece fits over the lower BT-50 tube.
I was surprised the instructions didn't mention sanding the bottom to fit the tube curve.
There is a curve in the piece after it is rough cut from the plastic sheet but it can be contour sanded for a better fit.

Roll some 220 grit around the BT-50 and sand the bottom of the vacu-form piece.

At the front you can see some very thin plastic hanging on to the edge. Instead of sanding more off the bottom, roll the edge under the piece and slightly sand to take it off.

Follow up with a little smooth sanding with 400 grit around the tube.
The picture shows the final dry fit.





Going back to the drive engines - 
There was still some small gaps where the the edges didn't meet up.
I set some beads of medium super glue over the gaps to act as a filler.

Estes QCC Explorer Build Part 10, Fitting the Intake Contour

Wrap some 220 grit around the body tube to sand the bottom of the intakes to match the curve of the body tube.

The upper intake is before,
The lower intake is the fit against the BT-60 body tube after contour sanding.

Keep an eye on the back of the intake when sanding.
All the intakes should end up at the same height at the front and rear.

The picture shows a good fit of the intake rear. This fit won't require any more than a fillet of Titebond M&TG for a fillet.

Estes QCC Explorer Build Part 7, Intake Assembly

Where you can, apply CA on the inside seams. Again this so the filler will adhere better on the outside. CA glue seals the surface and won't allow the water based CWF to stick.

The intake is sanded with 220 grit on a block.
In the picture, the upper intake is before sanding.

Below is the intake after sanding.
You can see how much of the burnt brown edges have been removed. Use the burnt brown color as a sanding "depth gauge".
Don't sand off to much. These intakes will require repeated filler applications and smooth sanding.

All the dark "dots" on the side are tab / slot recesses.

This is the end, Part L, before and after sanding smooth.
Any dark areas will require filling.

Keeping Fin Edges Square TIP

When sanding filler, primer or wet sanding between color coats you don't want to round over purposely squared fin edges.
On this Payloader II model the leading edges are rounded, all other sides are square.

On the right I'm sanding the flat sides of the fin right up to the squared edge.
Notice I make a "V" with my thumb and middle finger. With the sandpaper wrapped over my thumb it keeps it from getting too close or going over and rounding the square edge.
By varying the pressure and position you can get very close to the edge.

To sand the outside square edges, use sandpaper wrapped around a Q-tip.
Hold the fin under a bright light so you can see the gloss shine of the paint on the flat edge.
Just sand enough to dull the paint gloss.

Follow up with another undercoat.

ASP Corporal Build, Part 7, Tunnel Contour Fit Sanding

The bottoms of the 3/16" tunnels are too flat to fit the curve of the body tube.
Some 220 grit was wrapped around a BT-20, a smaller tube than the BT-50 tube supplied in the kit.
TIP: Sometimes you can get a better rounded root edge by sanding the underside curve on a smaller tube.

On the right the upper picture shows the fit of the 3/16" tunnel before sanding the curve into the bottom.

The inset picture shows the fit after the contour sanding.

The bottom sanding isn't really needed on the shorter 1/8" tunnels.

Quest X-15 Build, Part 8, Fin Gluing and Root Edge Angle

The top and bottom rudders and two long strakes are glued on like a four finned models, spaced at 90 degrees.
The top and bottom rudders are glued 1/8" from the rear edge of the tube.
The long strakes take a little time, sight from the back and be sure they are straight.

The root edges of the wings and "tails" are sanded at an angle for a better fit against the body tube.

I drew the angles larger on a piece of card stock for easier reference.





It's easy to get the sanded angles mixed up.
I marked the edges with pencil to be sure the angles were "mirror" sanded.






Set the wing and tails on a vertical line and the sanding block at the desired angle.
I didn't sand the root edges while sitting on the drawn lines, but used it for a reference and a more accurate angle sand.

Estes SR-71 Blackbird Build Part 13, Shroud Smoothing

I went ahead and primed the nacelle tubes, nose cones and tail cones.
After sanding you can see some primer still left in the molding seam in the nose cones.

Steaming the shroud sides gave me a nice, smooth curve to the card stock in the mid areas. The problem is at the top where the glue has puckered the card stock where the shroud is first glued down.
Even though I smoothed out the glue before setting down the shroud side it still made some long bumps.

On the right the raised lines were sanded down with 220 grit. I was trying to level the slight ridges. Luckily the card stock is very thick and there is little chance of sanding through it.

After a second sanding with 400 grit the center area was fuzzy.
Some medium CA was wiped on with a Q-tip to harden up the raised fibers. Use a Q-tip to apply the CA, don't flood it on right out of the bottle. The Q-tip will brush on a thin smooth coat, not too much.
Hold the CA'd areas up to a bright light and sand with 400 grit, enough that it dulls any gloss areas of CA.

Here's where one of the four sided fingernail files comes in handy.
The padded file works better than a sanding block on a surface like this.
This is the forward area where the long tab was bent down and glued to the sides of the balsa edge.

Estes Constellation Build Part 12, Primer Sanding

Here's the body tube and nose cone after the primer filler was sanded down.
The nose cone was slipped into the body tube for primer painting.
The clear payload section will be trim painted later.

The fin and fin pod transition joints looked pretty good after spraying with the primer filler.
The primer was sanded with 400 grit.

There is plenty of inside edges that need to be sanded.

TIP: Here's another use for the Q-tip swabs.
Roll a piece of 400 grit around the cotton tip.

This gives you a small, round cushioned sander with no sharp creases in the rounded end of the sandpaper.

FlisKits MMX Saturn V Build Part 4, Nose Cone Taper Sanding

After sanding and lifting up the nose cone,
The sawdust left on the block shows I was sanding more on one side.
Make adjustments and try to sand the adapter area flat.
Don't change the shape of the adapter angles.

Here's the nose cone after all five surfaces were sanded smooth.

Sanding again after the primer filler coat.

FlisKits MMX Saturn V Build Part 3, Nose Cone Filling

Looking ahead, I tried to figure out filling and painting.

The BT-4 body tube had no seams! At least none I could feel.

The launch lug is long and I could feel the seams with a thumbnail.
First up, rough the surface so the CWF will stick to it. 400 grit was used to take off some of the gloss.

The tapers in the nose cone will be interesting to sand.

After brushing on some CWF, pencil lines were drawn around the high and low spots. These will help as a sanding reference.

This tungsten carbide sanding block surface stops right down the side.
You can sand up to the edge without sanding down the adjoining angled surface.

Check the sanding dust on the block. It will show you if you are sanding the sides square.

Estes Plasma Probe Build Part 11 Sanding the Dowel Joint

I wanted a small rounded piece of sandpaper to smooth off the CWF in the dowel seam.
400 grit (or any grit sandpaper) won't roll into a tight cylinder without crimping.

TIP: Set the sandpaper over a small dowel and pinch your fingers around the right side. Roll the sandpaper over dowel by pushing your thumb forward and back. This will round the sandpaper without creasing it.





Remove the dowel and you have a tight cushioned circle of sandpaper to sand the CWF joint smooth.
This works well as the tight curve has some give with no creases to scar the filled joint.

TIP: Small Padded Sanding

The Centuri Satellite 62SL is pretty small.
I could have simply folded up a piece of sandpaper to get in the tight spots.
Sometimes the sharp crease in the sandpaper cuts "ruts" into the finish.
This time I tried something new.

I rolled a piece of 400 grit around the end of a cotton swab.

This gave me a padded sanding surface with no sharp creases to scratch up the paint.


 

It worked very well, especially when sanding over the top of the leading edge joint.

Sometimes there are bumps and a rough surface where the rolled over fillet wasn't smooth.
This padded sanding took off just enough of the paint and smoothed out the surface.

The rolled over sandpaper won't get into a tight fillet joint, but it sure helped sand the rest of the small model.

Cyclone Build Part 6 Spar Contour

The instructions specify a 15 degree angle of the spar. This is critical!

You can have a variance of + or - 1 degree.

If the angle is much wider the the upper unit won't rotate.

If the angle is narrower, the engine exhaust will scorch the fin.

The picture shows the spar assembly glued in place. I glued the spar assembly opposite the vent hole. You can see the slot for the main spin unit fin.

Look down the tube from the front and be sure the fin spar assembly is in alignment.