Fall is coming, so I’m starting to think about the layout again. Next up: build some plastic structure kits (which I haven’t done since I was a teenager). I have the Jeff Wilson book on Basic Structure Modeling. He says that the wall edges on plastic structure kits have a slight bevel for removal from their molds. The edges need to be cleaned to 90 degrees and he recommends a true sander tool. It looks like Micro-Mark offers such a tool.
I’m looking for advice/experience from the forum. Is cleaning the wall edges a necessary step? If so, what’s your method - is this tool the way to go, or an unnecessary luxury item?
i just lay a piece of plate glass on top of the work desk and cover it with the desired grit paper and then rub the material to be sanded back and forth on it. it comes out fine for me.
for smaller objects pick up a few of the oversized emory boards from a beauty supply shop. the kind women use to smooth out their hooves. they come in different grits and are about 3/4 " wide.
Most of my kits are walthers cornerstone kits and I have never really sanded the corners before putting them together (except in 1 or 2 extreme kitbashing cases). I just make sure there are no spurs or leftover notches on the edeges and carefully cut them off with a hobby knife to make sure its nice and smooth before putting them together. To tell ya the truth, I have never seen that sanding tool.
Those sure look like knock-offs of NWSL True Sanders and Duplicutters on that MicroMark page.
Anyway, I have owed a True-Sander in the past, and I am not sure of how true it is nowadays, but my copy was made of hard masonite - except the straight edge where you ran the sanding block against. So, after a little usage the sanding block would wear irregular groves into that edge, which after awhile was no longer straight, and therefore no longer sanded true! Grrr!
Maybe the new ones now have masonite on those straight edges, or metal, or something that won’t wear out after sanding a bit, but if not - skip it and use the sandpaper taped flat to a pane of glass method.
I find these to be a very good tool, I also simply tape a sheet of what ever grit sand paper on a piece heavy gage sheet metal I have on my work bench that i use for squaring up structure walls etc. And FYI every DPM kit and similar types you build you need to sand the bottoms and the corners of each wall to get them to fit right and sit flat.
I saw the Micro Mark price and went out into my garage workshop, took two pieces of tempered hardboard and made my own. I epoxied a piece of L angle aluminum across the top for parallel alignment and use a small piece of hardwood wrapped in whatever sandpaper (preferably wet/dry silicon carbide 200 and 400 grit) and do my edge cleanups on plastic wall parts with that. I think I spent a total of $10.00 for the epoxy and the L angle. E-mail me and I’ll send you some images for you to use to make your own. These days, some home-made solutions are truly cost cutters in our hobby.
Cedarwoodron
Minnesota, Sioux Lake & Western Ry- serving the good folks of the upper midwest!
Go ahead and post the pictures here. Far as I know there’s no rule against showing/tellign how to make a useful tool, even if it replicates the function of a commercial product. Now if you exactly duplicated the construction of the NWSL and Mico-Mark products - but it doesn’t sound like it from your description. Sounds like the commercial products may have some additional features that you may or may not need - if not, your simpler design would be more than adequate.
Unless you are going to have a super detailed model that’s painted etc, I would just make sure the edge is clean with no stubs from the mold. The notes above are quite easy and only add a couple of seconds per part to clean the edges.
Well, here’s one homemade ‘true sand-it’ from a model ship site (so? sanding wood is sanding wood).
His use of a metal plate as a guide would resolve the ‘grooved guide’ issue I had with my True-Sander.
Looks like the consensus advice is to build a simple jig specific for squaring walls (don’t think I’d have the skill to sand freehand). I will give the jig a try. If my design/construction turns out OK, maybe I’ll post a pic.
You know, that link probably caused me to waste an hour or two. Scrolling down that thread, the guy provides links to his work - like a dozen pages of pictures of the ship model he is building, and all the little detail parts. Wow is that some amazing craftsmanship. Right down to making the sags in the cannon rigging correct. The intricate detail is amazing - and he’ building the ship plank by plank, like the real thing.
Sorta makes a scratchbuilt outhouse look like a booger. Guy has a good philosophy on modeling, too.