Thanks Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb).

I had a bit of time this morning before my wife woke and before walking the dog so I spent it trying out sanding the bottom side of the Thunderbolt. I started off with Tamiya 3000 sanding sponge which I have always liked for it's consistent sanding finish. However, I quickly found out that sanding Aluminum foil wears out the grit on the sanding sponge quite rapidly, even when wet sanding. It still works, but progressively takes more effort. I also noticed that sanding in one direction on the foil would leave a slightly shiny effect while sanding at 90 degrees to that direction left a flat finish.

Now, one of the challenges I currently have, and where this rapid wearing out of the sponge comes into play, is that I am almost out of the 3000 grit sponge. That is a fairly pricey product and I am have been searching for alternatives. I recently purchased a bunch of 3000 grit sanding sponges from a different company. At first glance, you would think they should be the same as the Tamiya sponges, but they are a bit more coarse. Not a lot, but noticeable.

I tried these on a different area of the underside and interestingly enough, this new sponge had difficulty giving a consistently smooth finish on the foil, regardless of how many times I sanded the same area. So I went back over it with the Tamiya sponge and it came out looking more like the wings (which I did only with the Tamiya sponge).

SO I can extend my Tamiya sponge material by first starting with this new sponge material, but I am still somewhat leery of using this on more visible areas. I also tried 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper which did get a more consistent sanding , but it still needed the Tamiya 3000 grit sponge to look the same as the wings.

I also first tried sanding the foils in different directions on different panels, but this was difficult to do and get all the way to the panel lines without accidentally touching other panels. So I am instead going to get a consistent sanded finish on the entire model, then use the oil filter washes and clear coat finishes I learned from testing to give the panel variety.

One other thing I learned in testing, which I forgot to mention, is that anything less than very low tack on any masking materials is at risk of pulling the foil off the model. This happened a couple of times on the test mules. So I will have to be especially careful with any masking I do.

A pity you were not able to find an alternative for the Tamiya sponge yet, Carl @clipper
Looks pretty nice currently.

Thanks John (@johnb), and George (@gblair).

Thankfully, I did some test sanding on the mule first and it gave me the confidence to sand the Thunderbolt. I found that after a while I could get a fairly consistent sanded finish even with my newer (Non Tamiya) sanding sponge, although I still went over it afterwards with the Tamiya sponges I have. I've ordered some more for the future since I use these fairly regularly anyway. I wish they sold those in bulk at a lower price. Pretty pricey at around 8 to 9 dollars each sponge.

I didn't go to the contest this weekend George. I probably should have gone, but I kind of have a love hate relationship with contests. I don't like to compete because I think it sucks the fun out of building and leads to personality conflicts at times. I do appreciate being able to see what others are doing and gain inspiration from that. It's also nice to socialize as long as the discussions are non competition related.

I always like looking for additions to the stash, but I am trying real hard to not buy anything else for awhile. My stash isn't huge, only around 100 kits (some would say that is huge). The only kits I am looking to buy anytime in the near future are the upcoming 1/48 Eduard P-40 range of kits and possibly surprise releases (not Kinetic or Kitty Hawk) of aircraft I just have to have (Banshee, Cougar, and Starfire to name a few).

@clipper - the KH Cougar is not that bad. I've done two from the new release. It is PITA, but nothing a guy with your experience and talent couldn't think of as a "normal" kit.

My friend @gblair, I too am not contest minded at all, however I "have" to participate in contests, in order to represent my small local club. A good thing is that my very young sons also "particcipate" in the junior category with models that we sort of build together and they always get a sort of diploma for which they are proud.

I too have amassed a large number of models, constantly telling myself not to buy more, but, quite often, I am in front of an offer I can't refuse...

Thanks George (@gblair), Tom (@tcinla), Spiros (@fiveten), and John (@johnb) for following along and participating in the discussion. Always nice to get a conversation going with other modelers.

Tom, I think I have shied away from both the Banshee and Cougar Kitty Hawk kits because of shape issues and my experience with other Chinese kits that have similar issues. However, I will look at them again and decide. Certainly, they cannot be any harder to deal with tan other kits I have built. The Hobby Boss 1/48 P-38J kit I built has numerous shape issues and I managed to correct them well enough to satisfy myself (including those atrocious engine cowlings).

John, I know how you feel about 100 kits being a large stash, and certainly, it can be somewhat ridiculous. My only defense is two parts. I'm weak when it comes to airplane models. 🙂 And too often in the past when I wanted to build something, I couldn't find the kit I felt was the best choice for it at a price I was willing to pay, so I try to hedge my bets a bit by making sure that, I will always have my most desirable subjects available. And as I mentioned earlier, I have definitely put a big slow down on acquiring more. For awhile a couple of years ago, it was a new kit or two every month, but now, maybe 1 kit every six months or more, and only if it's something I really, really want. I'm trying hard now to avoid the impulse buys of subjects that look cool, but don't necessarily fit in my wheelhouse.

And finally, I got the Tamiya sponge situation figured out. So another problem bites the dust. I should have some updates later on the T-Bolt.

I remember those good ole days in Japan back in the mid 70's when I was stationed there. You could buy some really nice stereo equipment for very little money. Most of the guys in our barracks had these massive systems, turntables, cassette decks, reel to reels, and big speakers. I wasn't modeling at that time so I didn't take advantage of any model kits.

Excellent job so far, my friend @clipper!