Alpha Precision Abrasives

Ultra Fine Waterproof Finishing Kit, #0110 Micro Fine Assorted Sanding Film, #0202 Adhesive Back Hobby Film & Profiling Sticks, #0204

Reviewed By  by Jack Wade, IPMS# 45604

MSRP: 0110 - $8.99 0202 - $14.99 0204 - $14.99 Website: www.alphaabrasives.com Here we have it folks: the filet mignon of sandpaper - the Ferrari of wet and dry - the champagne of abrasives. Okay, so perhaps that is a bit over the top, but these are indeed very nice sanding products. They come in a cellophane package with card stock headers stapled at the top. A good bit of thought went into the design of these products which is something that can't often be said about sanding materials. The Ultra Fine Waterproof Finishing Kit is the most usual of the bunch. It is a package of eight 3.5 inch by 8 inch paper backed sheets. The grits include 320, 400, 600, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000 and 12000. This is a nice general range of useful grits that constitute the cornerstone of most modeling related sanding needs. The 12000 grit paper actually polishes rather well and if you were to get just one package of sand paper, this is the one to get. As the name suggests, it is ideal for wet or dry sanding and the grit seems to have a good bit of 'staying power' remaining course for a bit longer than some other brands encountered in the past. The grit is printed on the back of each sheet to help you keep them straight. The thoughtful thing about the Micro Fine Assorted Sanding Film is that each sheet is color coded with a corresponding chart on the back of the package to tell which sheet is what grit. As you can well imagine, the difference between 20000 grit and 30000 grit is somewhat ambiguous by feel alone. This set comes with five 4 inch by 8 inch sheets with grits of 15000, 20000, 30000, 40000 and 60000. The backing is a plastic film as the name implies. This is a good polishing set for tasks such as restoring the shine after taking the mold seam off of a Tamiya F-16 canopy. To test these sets, I used them on a Seafire FR.47 fuselage that has camera ports that must be drilled out before inserting a round clear piece. Cutting out the hole leaves a jagged edge that requires filing after fitting the clear part. With the clear piece in close proximity, some polishing is inevitable. I filled the edges with super glue and sanded away with each piece of both the Ultra Fine Waterproof Finishing Kit and then the Micro Fine Assorted Sanding Film. They performed admirably knocking back the glue seam and then polishing the plastic to a clear shiny surface. That is much more than can be said for my filling job as there were still some spots that will need to be filled again.

The Adhesive Back Hobby Film & Profiling Sticks is the most ingenious of the bunch. I'm sure we have all tried taping or gluing sandpaper around a paint brush handle to get into that odd area or corner. Usually after a few passes it all starts to come undone and leaves something to be desired. In this set you get three lengths of acrylic rod - one round, one square and one triangle. There are five sheets, one each of 150, 320, 480, 600 and 1000 grit sanding film with adhesive backs. You cut a length of film, remove the paper backing to expose the adhesive and wrap it around the desired shape for the job. It sticks firmly and evenly and gives you an ideal tool for getting into that odd space to sand away. This was just the trick for getting into the corner of the fuselage strakes on the underside of a BAC Lightning that has occupied the bench for a while now, partly because of the awkward sanding needs for which I had no really satisfactory tool. The adhesive held the film in place until the job was done. This is quite the handy little sanding set and enables you to customize a sanding stick for a whole range of nooks and crannies. The rods are several inches long enabling you to sand deep inside an air intake or any variety of other hard-to-reach places. This set will come in very handy indeed.

These are superb sanding materials with some really innovative design features. I can whole heartedly recommend them for modeling and am very pleased to have them in my tool box. Thanks to Alpha Precision Abrasives for the review samples.