Thursday, September 4, 2014

Estes Guardian Build, Part 6, Fillet Smoothing

I've been asked how to get fillets smooth and even.

On the right are the Titebond M&TG fillets after spraying with the white undercoat. There is some roughness and ridges.

This is a white undercoat I can now wet (actually damp sand) the fillets.
400 grit was wrapped around a Q-tip end for cushioned sanding.



After sanding the sides, be sure to go around the front edge of the fin / tube joint. this is where most of the glue "boogers" will show up under the color coats.

When sanding off the fillet glue ridges, just sand off the top, don't go too deep.

Here's how the sanded fillets look. All I've done is knock down the top of the glue ridges. Some of the paint is filling the remaining dips.
Your color coats are your last "fill" after CWF sanding, then primer sanding.
Another shot off white and the color coats follow.


Keep a close eye on your sanding. Sand and check, sand and check.
Here I've sanded too far and almost went into the balsa!

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