Sandpaper and Sanding Sponges: Types & Techniques

400 is probably good, if you want to get it really smooth, once you've done the actual sanding, buff it with some wet wet-dry sandpaper, like 480+ grit. ^^ The finer the grit, the smoother the finish will be.

 

Hello!
When I first got my Lishe from Luts, I noticed the same lines you mentioned, and thought they were cracks! :cry: Luts informed me that indeed they were not cracks in the resin, but mold lines, and that a little sanding would remove them. ops: To my delight, the sandpaper I used (very fine) worked beautifully.

HOWEVER, I did notice a strange odor, like burning plastic, when I sanded the surface.

Well, Sherry Miller informed me that the fumes created from the friction of sanding the resin were TOXIC! She then advised me that the next time I sanded, I should do it outside, or in a very well ventilated area, so as not to inhale the fumes. Hope this advice helps! :grin:
Bob K.
(tonifan)

 

;_; His skin is all mismatched. U can tell where i've sanded it because its scratchy and a shadel lighter than the non-sanded parts.

How can i get it smooth again? ...Or at least the same skin tone?

-Annie (stressing immensely)

 

I gave these same tips to Ayaka when she had to sand some scratches off of Akio the other day--

The first step starts with what sandpaper you buy. If you go to a craft store, and possibly your hardware store as well, they should sell sandpaper on foam pads in 3 different colors-- yellow, blue, and red. The yellow is the finest grain, IIRC (whichever has the highest number has the finest grain) and you should buy that and the second highest grain (which is red, IIRC).

Remember, you want the foam pads, NOT flat paper, otherwise you won't get as smooth a sanding job.

If you are doing a major sanding job, such as changing lips, cheeks, or noses, start with the larger grain (smaller number) and when you sand, be sure to sand in circles-- NOT back and forth!! Sanding back and forth creates more scratches that are deeper and won't give you a smooth, even finish.

Anyway, after you have done most of the harder trimming work (and it will take time), sand it the same way with the smaller grain to smoothe things out even more. Remember, sand in circles!

If you're still not satisfied with how smooth the skin is, take some toothpase with baking soda in it and use that as a polish on the resin, scrubbing that all over with a paper towel. The toothpaste's fine abrasives will help smoothe the resin the rest of the way. However, the finest grain of sandpaper should work well enough if you're doing a faceup.

I'd say rub the whole thing down with a paper towel anyway, scrubbing it down as much as you can.

From what it sounds like, you just need to use a finer grain of sandpaper to smoothe things out-- again, I can't stress how much easier it will be with the foam pads (thin ones-- not thick like bricks) to keep your smoothed curves. The 'light' parts are from the resin that is 'rougher' than the rest of the resin reflecting the light in a more diffuse way, making it more matte than the rest of your doll's skin <-- okay, not necessary to know, but.. bah!

Hope this helps!

 

*nods* Exactly! ^^
You might also want to try some wet-dry sandpaper in a really find grit (high number) if the toothpaste/backing soda polish doesn't work (though that sounds like a good idea!), which is what we used to polish Shiro when we took off his boobs. ^^

 

I got three - one that was slightly larger grit, to do the initial sanding, one more fine to smooth the initial sanding out and then the finest one my hardware store had to do the final touches. ^_^ Just have a feel. The resin does come off quite easily, so you don't need anything too coarse that will leave large marks in the body. CP dolls also come partially sanded, so you might not even need the larger grit, as you'd just be doing detailing and smoothing out for most the part. Good luck!

 

if you are just smoothing seams, I'd recommend anything from 220 grit to start and 1500 grit to finish. Wet-Dry sandpapers are really good too, because they're extra durable, and wet sanding cuts down on the harmful resin dust flying around.

 

Hi
Could you please tell me how wet the sanding sponges should be in order to use them correctly?
Thanks a lot!

 

I finish with 1600 grit. I think a ceramic knife or something similar is quite invaluable to get the worst of the seams off right from the start....it could save you alot of sanding with the coarser paper and minimize toxic resin dust!

Enough to keep the dust from flying. :-)

 

I posted a while ago about my new doll having a few 'marks' to her face.

Anyway, she cleaned up nicely but there is still those two tiny marks that will not budge with the help of a sponge or cleaning. They don't bother me as much as they did originally but I'm such a perfectionist! One is just mm's away from the corner of her eye and the other is like a pin point on the bridge of her nose. I have already decided that perhaps I might make the marks part of a new faceup for the doll when I get around to it but I was also considering using very fine sandpaper to delicately try removing them first.

What do you guys think, is there any chance that doing this could cause problems? I'm not silly enough to go sandpapering crazy in a way that will rid her of half of her nose or something simular but this is my first resin doll and I am scared I'll scratch up the dolls face in some sort of nasty looking way.

If anyone has sandpaper experiences or tips then please share them .

 

Use a fine one 600+. You just need to sand a little, the marks will definitly go.

 

same as what Kolra said, but I suggest using one that is a tiny bit rougher (400-600-ish) first and then smoothing it out with a very fine 800-2000 grit.

 

Be v-e-r-y careful with that. Speaking from experience....I did the same thing to get some paint from the lip of my MSD, and she ended up with a harelip..it's been awful trying to fix her. Good luck to you! (And don't talk to your cousin while you try to sand. ops: )

 

Oh dear, I hope you manage to fix her in the end. I'm yet to to find some time to myself to sit down and attempt the sandpaper idea but I'll be sure to use extra caution!

 

what grade does one use to sand down a nose? Mike fell on cement, face first and messed up the end of his nose. I need to know so either I can try it myself or just send him to get repaired.

 

Er, I dunno. I used 220 on Anei's seams. I wouldn't use a rougher grit than that probably.

 

I recently purchased a ttory elf and I'm really looking forward to painting her face-up. But before I can start on that she has some seams that need sanding. I'm planning on using a very fine grit paper and a little water to minimize scartching. My question is this: will the color of the sandpaper bleed at all when I get it wet? I'm afraid of sanding color into my girl!

Thank you for any advice!

~Mar

 

As i know a bit about sandpaper and such i dont think it will stain anything ! The color of them is usually what grains they are made of ! I know about this because i have studied to a car mechanic from 79 to 81 ! Hope it will help ! :wink:

 

Hi, I'm the only Italian member? I've tried in all the market in my town but nobody have or know the 3m sponge sandpaper or similaris. Somebody can help me? I've tried whit normal sanpaper but is really hard to seam.

 

You can get some "better" ones from the hobby shops that people use for garage kits and stuff. I got mine from the hardware shop behind my house. No real difference actually.

 

Craft store is where I got mine. Craft stores, hardware stores, Wal-Mart, Target, anywhere that has a section with tools pretty much ^_^

 

I bought my 320 and 600 wallpaper at Wal-Mart.

Yeah yeah, laugh, but in these parts Wal-Mart is the height of culture. Huzzah for small towns and Katrina damage.

 

At Walmart, if you look in the model kit section in the toy aisle, they sell testors sand paper along with the model paints. It's very very fine grit paper meant for plastic, so it's perfect. Hobby shops usually have testors too, along with Hobby Lobby, who also sells it in their model kit tesction. I think one pack has six grades or something.

 

Any craft or hobby store that carries wood items should have sandpaper. ^_^ Michael's, AC Moore, JoAnn ETC., Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart...I've gotten sandpaper at all these places.

 

I looked through a bunch of threads, but I could only really find information on sandpaper for sanding seams. What grit would be best for delicate facial modifications (like mouth-widening and cheek sanding)?

Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

 

For the majority of the work, I'd use the lower grits you've found. For fiiiine sanding I use 1000cw. It makes it sooooo smooth, it's wonderful. But taking off a nice bit of cheek with it? Hells no. It depends how much you want to take off, I guess.

 

If you're looking to do some major work, you need to start with something fairly course, 250 would probably be good, nothing harsher than that. 400 would take a LOT of time to take off much resin at all. It'll leave scratches, but smoothed down with 400 then 600 and should be fine... can go up to the 1000 like Omichao says if you want it really polished. ^^ I've never found I've needed it, though.

 

Thanks, both of you! Second dumb question (it'd amazing that I could be in this hobby for 2 1/2 years and still be a noob at something) do you have to soak the head in water before you sand it? Does that make it easier?

 

It depends on the kind of sandpaper you use. The only real difference between wet sanding and dry sanding, as far as I know, is the dust. With wet sanding, it mucks up, rather than floating into the air. You can't just wet sand with any sand paper, it'll say on the package if you can or not.

 

I work up to the higher grits gradually, using wet sanding. :]
Here's my order: 220, 400, 800, 1000, 2000.

 

Hmm, I've never soaked the head when wetsanding, just the sandpaper. *lol* I don't think soaking would do anything, the resin won't absorb water....

 

Ok, it always confused me why people are using such high grit sandpaper on their dolls. If you use a grit thats super fine, I would think you would get a surface that is too smooth and wouldn't want to hold even testors or MSC.

Then I came across this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpaper

They use different sandpaper grits in different countries.

So I use 400/600 with no problem, but Europeans would be using 800 - 1200.

Just a heads up, I haven't seen people mention this before.

 

i used various grits when i sanded, my favorite grit is 1500, 2000 was a little too smooth to do anything.

 

Oh~ Speaking of sanding, I have a little OT question. ^^;;; Is resin dust harmful?

 

Resin dust is harmful... it is toxic. ;-;
If it gets in your lungs, it won't come out. Ever ;-;
So make sure to wear adequate protection for your lungs!

 

What does it do in your lungs! 0.o Does it hurt?

 

wow that is really interesting. It's a good reminder that we shouldn't just assume everyone works on some kind of universal standard. We use the ISO system here in NZ which is the same as European standards.

 

I did find a thread like this using search, but it was posted awhile ago and there wasn't all the infomation I needed so I decided to start another. I hope that's okay.

MY elfdoll is very shiny, to the point of looking weird next to my other dolls. It's bothering me so much I think i'll have to sand him down.

I'm thinking of getting my dad to try it first since he is a lot better and more gentle at this kind of stuff. But we need some tips first.

How should I do it? What grade sandpaper is best to use? How do you avoid scratches? What is the best way to get a smoothish matte finish? If I do it properly, does sanding the resin have a downside in any way?

If anyone has sanded their doll sucessesfully for any reason, i'd be very garteful to hear wht you say. Thanks in advance.

 

Make sure you wear a mask. To quote JunkySpot, "Resin dust will MESS YOU UP, MAAAAANNNN!!"

 

If he's shiny maybe coating it with MSC Matte will help? That way you'd avoid the trouble of sanding...unless you want to sand the seamlines or something.

I sanded my boy's seamlines using 400-grit, then 600, and then some sort of microsandpaper at the hobby shop (considerably finer) to finish up. Later on I got a little lazy and stopped using the very fine one but he still looked and felt fine. I think some suggestions here by other people are starting with the 400 and go up to 1500 grit, and finish with 320 to avoid shinyness.

 

The coating has done much. He was always very shiny, but it seemed to get even worse over time.

 

Wet the sandpaper and the parts while sanding. : O That way the dust clumps up, and you wouldn't have to worry too much about it getting into your lungs. : ) Unhealthy, like Bell said. Completely and utterly poisonous.

: o Sand in circular motions, unless you want some nasty grooves along the direction in which you sanded.

That's all I can think of. : );;

 

sandpaper should acctually specify that its waterproof
i use 600 grit wet sandpaper to finish/smooth resin out, its fine enough to smooth resin out but not fine enough to make it superglassysmooth, but if it doesnt work you can go down to 400
like its been said, work in circular motions, nothing too large and such, its tedious so yeah

 

what kind of sand paper question i should get?
i bought the soft one
but im still not sure this is correct or not ><

whats the type of the sand paper ;_; ><

 

You will need a pack of various grits (they sell them just about anywhere you can get sandpaper). I use 600-200. (Use the harsher grit down to to the softer grit). Also, you should make sure it is waterproof, because you need to wet it before and during use to keep the resin dust down. It also comes smoother and cleaner that way, I have found.

 

I know it has to have a higher grain count than 400. I'd go ask some place like Advanced Auto Zone. They have really fine grained sand paper that I think is used for customizing paints on cars.

 

Any big hardware store has a display with slots for various grades of wet/dry sandpaper sheets. The slots will be labeled, and the number will also be stamped on the back of each sheet.

I just finished sanding a head and used a 220 (in circular motions) for the sections I had to take a lot off, and, variously, a 300, a 400, and a 660 for smoothing.

Someone in another thread mentioned using 600-ish for smoothing, but giving a final once-over with 300-400 to give the first coating some more "tooth". (Tooth is the art term to refer to the amount of texture in any surface. The more tooth, the less smooth it is, and the better things will adhere to it. A perfectly gloss, perfectly smooth surface is too slick for most coatings or coloring agents. It doesn't have to look like the doll head recovered from chronic acne, but doesn't have to feel like a plastic doll either. The coating agent will effect it's own "evening-out" as well.)

Some people will recommend finishing off with grits in the 1200+ range. I tried them, and didn't see the point. If I was using a Dremel, OTOH, I'd be really leery of coarser grits at really gung-ho RPMs! But I think my choices did well with hand-sanding.

Wish I'd thought about wetting the sandpaper. I was using the "polymer clay bead" method I learned a long time ago - holding a piece under water while sanding. So at least the head was damp to wet all the time (some curves demanded close-up attention!), and I periodically swished it in soapy water and rinsed it off thoroughly before checking how much more I still had to do.

When the boy's eyes come in, I'll have to get peoples' opinions on the head sculpting I did -- on a Hound head --

 

oh ?
i think i bought wrong stuff here then o_0;;
i bought cc800
is that too soft?

 

Hi all I was reading about a tutorial on removing seamlines and it said something about sand paper that is "designed to be wet when you sand, and prevents the dust becoming airborne."
I looked all over the Painting, Customizing and Esthetics thread on this paper, but can find anything. I have a few questions about this paper.

Does anybody know where I can find this kind of sandpaper? Is it called something else, like sponge paper (or is that something different ?)
Also, would you still need a dust mask/goggles when using it?
Thanks!

 

It's wet/dry sandpaper, and you can usually find it at hardware stores (ACE Hardware, Home Depot, Lowe's). And yes, I still wear my mask when using it.

Hope this helped.

 

Wow, Thank you! And, sorry I didn't ask before, but wet sand paper comes in different grade, right?

 

yes it does ~ I bought mine at AutoZone

 

The sandpaper is sometimes used to get the more stubborn stains out from a head, though that can sometimes cause a liiiiiiiiiittle bit of a dent lol. The sponge sandpaper (I found) is particularly good for cleaning the stains without damaging the head lol.
It's more commonly used for modding the physical structure of the head - sanding down noses, lips, cheeks, etc. and also for getting rid of seam-lines on the body.

Basically, it's a customization tool, and face-upping is a form of customization, so yeah, lol. :P

 

I've been looking for sandpaper of grades 400-1000 and found Tamiya fine finishing paper... but it's blue.

Will this leave blue residue/staining on my doll?? Thanks guys, Maya x

 

I'm using the Tamiya Finishing Abrasives.
Comes in a pack with grade 400, 600 and 1000 (About 3 pieces of each grade).

I'm not sure which type you're using as mine is white.

 

I use a 600 grade that is gray-blue. It's never stained my doll o_0

 

ooh thats promising.. it only costs £4 for a batch of 400, 600 and 1000 grade papers. It sounds really good stuff but it just looks blue - the seller said it cant be used wet either.. Is the white tamiya finishing paper useable wet?? maybe thats the difference?

also - i read somewhere that a good way to reduce seams is to start on 400, then smooth with 600 and then finish with 1000 - but soemone else said grade 1000 makes your doll shiney.. anyone else heard of this? do other people use more than one grade??

 

The white Tamiya finishing papre can be used wet. I was using 600 and 1000 for removing and smoothing out the seams. Don't think my doll became shiny