Sanding Down Clay?

[Rion]

Alrighty, so I'm still an amateur at making customs, so I've of course run into an issue.

I just started painting a custom I'm working on- clay, to be precise. However, I noticed finger print marks starting becoming visible after I began painting... I heard that sanding down the clay can get rid of finger print marks, so I did just that... or at least tried to.
I took some fine 220 grit sandpaper to the clay, but now it seems all scuffed up. Anyone know if this rough appearance will show through the paint? Should I keep sanding it down? Any solutions overall?

Thanks so much!

[Griffin]

You might want to go over it with finer sandpaper. Paint tends to get lumpy even if you're painting a smooth surface (like a non-sculpted pony) so I'd try to smoothen out all roughness there is before painting.

Are you using some kind of oven-bake clay? I have no experience with Sculpey but Fimo does not take sanding nearly as well as Apoxie. Then again, Fimo does not take fingerprints as easily as Apoxie so there's usually no need for sanding at all. I don't know how it is with Sculpey and other clays.

[Rion]

Yeah, I'm using Super Sculpey.

[Starly]

I'm sanding some sculpey down righht now with fine sandpaper, and it works great!

[princeichi]

I use Sculpey and sand it down with a small piece of 800-grit until i get the surface uniform, and then finish with 1500. I don't know how easily you can find 1500, since I've rarely seen it in lowe's, but my boyfriend's dad gave me a sheet from his workshop haha

Also if your paint is lumpy, let it dry completely and sand it down with the finer grit, and then do a watered down coat over top.