whats the best type of sander to use for preparation of bady panels for painting?

i've got an electric flat sander, but not sure its the best for getting into the curves in the panels on the truck (convex and concave curves) and keeps tearing up sheets of paper before they're worn

thinking about an air sander, the type that use sanding discs, but don't want one if its a waste of time, and another one of those tools i buy and never use

doing it mostly by hand at the moment, but progress is slow, but possibly a better result

what has everyone been using?

my panels are all fibreglass btw



or
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[Edited on 12/8/07 by blakep82]

One of those orbital sanders is ok for knocking a surface down but you need to do the vast majority of the sanding by hand to get a decent finish. I wouldn't bother getting any fancy tools and just make sure you've got a lot of sand paper!

err seems to be one thing missing a friendly local bodyshop mate who does it for you (or is this just me )

I have to start off with a file.



Paul G