Wet sanding vs Dry sanding?

[tehmarken]

I tried searching the forum first, but couldn't find anything about wet vs dry sanding.

I'm not really sure what the difference is, from watching some model building videos I just notice that they seem to dip their sand paper in water then sand the part. I'm guessing this helps with removing plastic dust.

Is there any specific kind of sandpaper to use for wet sanding, and is it really much more beneficial than just dry sanding?

[mtomczek]

With wet-sanding the water acts as a type of lubricant in a way. It also helps clean away dust and mess when you are sanding the surface. I usually will only wet-sand in the final stages of finishing, when I need to clean up paint or smooth out primer. I tend to start with 400 grit and work my way up to 1000 grit for an ultra smooth finish.

I dont really see the need to wet-sand at any point before then.  Hope that helps.

[fulcy]

Wet sanding can have it's drawbacks - especially if you are sanding seams and such.  If the seam has not been fully filled, and you wet sand it, the 'slurry' that is formed when wet sanding will actually fill the seam, making it more difficult to see that the seam still needs more work.  I like wet sanding my resin model kits though, because it keeps the dust down, which means I don't need to wear my respirator...

[David-GelgoogAce]

Idk if its that valueble for OOB building, But its a lifesaver if you Scratch-Build. As scratchbuilding materials such as Epoxy putty and Bondo dust is not fun to inhale.