Sanding and finishing

[dirkpitt289]

I have a question about sanding paint finishes. As some might have seen in the Start to Finish section I've been working on a Me 262 Stormbird. Well last night I finished the camo scheme on the fuselage.

Now this was all done by hand and as you may be able guess the application of the paint is inconsistent. Its heavy and thick. I'm pretty sure it says "RED RUM" (Murder, for those who never read or saw "The Shining") in Braille. My question is how do I smooth it out? I assume wet sanding but what would the regiment be?

Thanks in advance

 

[lesofprimus]

Cant tell the difference in the one pic u posted Dirk, but if its that much of a deal in person, wet sanding would be the only way....

Lets see what the pros say...

 

[Crimea_River]

That's a tough one Dirk. If you sand, there's good chance you'll damage the background as well. I assume you're only trying to knock down the darker grey pattern. Unless you're patient enough to just sand each dark line without hitting the lighter grey, you might want to try several coats of clear gloss followed by a flat coat. You may loose some surface detail but the real 262 was puttied and sanded to make it smooth anyway.

Maybe some others will chime in with ideas. Good luck.

 

[Airframes]

I agree with Andy. When doing this type of finish by hand, using a brush, it's best to allow for this at the start, and use thinner paint, or a 'damp brush' technique, for the 'squiggles' etc. However, as it's now done, I wouldn't do any form of sanding; there's far too much risk of ruining what appears to be a good result.
Personally, I'd give it a coat of gloss enamel varnish, if possible, followed by one or more thinned coats, or acrylic gloss clear, then the semi-matt finish coat to simulate the Luftwaffe paint finish. By using enamel clear gloss varnish neat, it should even out the appearance without detracting from the colour tones or effect, and giving a 'thick' enough basis for the following thinner coats to give it an overall smooth, even appearance. Until I got an airbrush capable of doing mottle etc in smaller scales, this is the way I used to tackle all Luftwaffe mottle/wave schemes, with acceptable results.