Smoothing an Area 71 Body

[Audi1]

I received my first Area 71 kit today and like it very much. I do plan on smoothing the outside of the body some before painting it.

For those of you who have, perhaps, done this before, what is the best way to smooth the outside without adding too much weight? I was thinking Tamiya primer followed by wet sanding - repeat as needed, but primer can add a lot of weight. Any experienced-based suggestions as to how I should proceed?

Thanks in advance.

Allan

[docdoom]

1st I do a quick sand to take off the high spots and then I brush on 3d printing uv sensitive resin and place the body in the sun to dry than sand that . you can get it off Amazon.

[F1Fan]

Allan, I assume you saw my previous post on this subject, but to recap, I used an automotive filler primer (this is designed to fill small scratched and sanding marks) with wet sanding (800 - 1000) in between. Tamiya primer is by design very thin so as to not fill details on small models, and it will take many coats to smooth out the body.

I am sure my method added some weight (did not weigh it before or after) to the body, but the body was very light to begin with and I was happy with the end result, I also have an A71 body on my bench and I will follow this method again.

Chris

[Cgyracer]

Seems like you have time on your hands, perhaps you can start a business sanding bodies for some of us?
Rob

[Audi1]

Thanks Chris. No, I hadn't seen your previous post; thanks for the recap. I'll give it a try.

Allan

[Rleog]

Chris has much more experience with Area 71 bodies than I, so I’ll defer to his comments. However, be careful of the automotive filler/primer that you choose. I applied a rattle can filler/primer coat that went on very thickly, then spent hours carefully sanding and etching out filled body lines to restore lost detail. Once the body was again acceptable, I was nearly back to where I had started and needed to prime and sand again.

The second primer that I chose, pictured below (Amazon), required air brushing. There are probably many suitable primers. The primer I used was acceptably thin and it’s application better controlled with the air brush. I think that you have a neighbor who has lots of air brush experience but I’m not volunteering his free time. 😜 I ‘d be willing to give you a hand with primer coats of this product if you wish.




DocDoom’s suggestion of light sanding before first coat of primer may be a good one. As you can see, these bodies have a very rough 3DP surface.

Good luck.

[Audi1]

Thanks Bob; yes, they certainly do. Let’s discuss on Sunday after the WC Proxy race.

Allan

[F1Fan]

Not so sure about the "more" experience, but here is what I used: (BTW Zack posted a great thread about the A71 Aston he painted)



and here is the end result:

[Barc 1]

This is the stuff I use as well. A sanding to knock down the edges and an application or two of this will have it paint ready depending on the quality of the print.

Using a coat of UV resin is an option but you need to be careful to brush it out well and not let it pool in body crevices or intakes.

[Austin]

Was going to enter in the GT3 proxy but can only get 8mm tires on the rear. Lots of sanding with small peace 500 grit. Still looking for the right decals.

[Audi1]

Is that the Alfa 4C?

Allan