Flexible Sanding Pads 180 grit

Flexible sanding pads for rounded parts

Five pieces of EVA foam five millimeters thick in a format of 100 x 80 millimeters, with abrasive on one side only. The foam gives under the pressure of the fingers and follows the shape of the part, so it sands even where a flat pad cannot reach: leading edges, rounded transitions of a fuselage, barrels, engine cylinders or the shoulders of figures. Folded over the edge of a table it serves as an improvised file for inner curves and cut-outs.

Cutting, rolling, getting inside

You divide the material into narrower strips with ordinary scissors, roll them up and pass them through an opening or a groove. The smooth reverse side protects your fingers as well as the neighboring surface of the part from abrasion. The 180 grit removes material briskly, so it suits the first leveling of filler and coarser marks left by a mold, not final polishing before paint. Once the work is over, knock the foam out and rinse it so that the grit is rid of stuck-on waste.

The difference from the rigid version

A hard carrier holds a flat plane, while foam follows a shape. For flat sides and mating surfaces, therefore, reach for the rigid pad, and for curves and soft transitions for this flexible one. Both will take water; the wet route also extends the life of the abrasive, because the pores do not clog with sanded-off plastic.

Who the box is for

• builders of aircraft and ships with a majority of rounded surfaces
• figure builders cleaning up small shapes
• modelers working with fillers and modeling putty
• anyone who wants to cut a sanding strip to size