Garage Kits, Part 2

Prepping the pieces is one of the most important steps in building a garage kit. I'm not very good at it, but I try my best. Some tools of the trade...

Metal files for levelling:


Sandpaper of various grits (400, 800, 1000) for smoothing and exact-o knife for removing flash (dangly bits where the part was released from the mold):


Putty for filling holes, rebuilding, corrections and modifications:


The process involves sanding, adding putty, waiting for the putty to harden, then sanding again. Eventually the pieces come out looking something like this:


Using putty, I fixed the big chunk on the bow:


The goal is to create even, clean surfaces. After spending lots of time sanding and applying putty, all parts are washed again to remove any dust. The next step is the most difficult for me: Priming!