Resin kits????

[takeslousyphotos]

Hi All,

Stupid Question. I have my eye on a resin kit but, I've never built one. Are they more of a challenge ????? and do I need a whole load of new kit to work with it.

Take care everyone and stay safe.
Peter

 

[Steven000]

I find resin is a harder material than regular plastic, this makes it a bit harder to clean-up the parts (scraping etc)

Glue like Tamiya Extra thin etc doesn't work on resin, I use super-glue...

This is what I find, others may think different about it
Have fun!
Steven

 

[MikeC]

Resin kits......
Some you will find a nightmare, others a blessing. Before you even start to build I would first wash all the parts in a good dose of washing up liquid/water, this will help get rid of all the release agent.
Construction - check the fit of parts and then check again, clean up must be done either in clear air or when wearing a mask. Most sanding can be done with wet'n'dry paper as used in car paint preperation. Cutting parts from the moulding blocks use a modelling saw. And glue with c/a or two part epoxy glue if you need more time or a gap needs to be filled.
This is one of my resin builds, and as you can see with a lot of extra work it can be made to look something.

Cheers, Mike.

 

[Mini Me]

If nothing else is available in plastic I will resort to a resin kit, but I really have to want to build that particular model. In other words, my last choice in modeling would be resin. Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

I have my eye on a resin kit but, I've never built one. Are they more of a challenge ?????

It depends a lot on the manufacturer, but in general: yes. It’s an entirely different material, and you can’t really work with resin in the way you would with plastic.

Where the manufacturer comes into it, is that there tends to be a much greater difference between good and bad resin kits than with plastic kits. If you’ve got a good resin kit, it’s probably about as difficult to assemble as an average plastic kit – but with a bad resin kit, you’re generally looking at a lot more work filling air bubbles, straightening warped parts, making parts fit together at all, or even just trying to get things to stay on long enough for the glue to take hold.

do I need a whole load of new kit to work with it.

Mainly, you need superglue and a razorsaw (that is not a saw shaped like a razor blade, but a thin, fine-bladed regular saw intended for modelling, among other uses), and for large, heavy parts, epoxy glue and a sheet of wet-and-dry sandpaper stuck to a flat board. You can’t glue resin with normal model cement, because it won’t dissolve in it, so you need superglue or two-part epoxy (use the latter when strength is needed). The saw is needed to separate some parts from the sprues they’re on and the sandpaper is to make sure they’re flat, though you should try to saw and sand resin as little as possible because the dust is harmful. Always sand it wet, for example.

 

[stona]

I have copied and pasted this text from a thread I did a few years ago when I built a resin kit from Iconicair. I've re-read it, and there is nothing in it which I would change today.

"A word about 'resin'. What we all call resin is just another plastic, almost invariably polyurethane. You will read all sorts of stuff about it which might lead you to think it's as dangerous as asbestos and will have the same effect on you as kryptonite on superman. This is a load of tosh. I am not talking about working with the chemicals mixed to create the plastic, for which different precautions would be required, but working with polyurethane parts.

First, you are not going to be gassed by the parts (yes, I've actually read that you can be on one forum). Any out gassing going on (if it is) when you get the parts is minimal and not dangerous.
Second the dust is not a material so hazardous that it will almost certainly destroy your lungs within seconds of exposure. The dust, like just about any other dust, is not good for you and you should take precautions to avoid inhaling it. You do not need a Darth Vaderish mask of the sort I wear to protect myself from solvents etc when I spray paints and lacquers, but if you are producing a lot of dust then a suitable dust mask is a good idea. You can minimise the dust you produce by wet sanding, not exactly rocket science! I also minimise the level of dust in my work area by vacuuming up any deposits fairly regularly, being careful not to vacuum up kit parts.
Really this is nothing you shouldn't do when sanding wood and certainly things like car body filler or fibre glass (which really is nasty stuff). It's just common sense.

There is no reason to be frightened of working with resin. It is an easily worked plastic, easy to cut and sand, and works well with CA glues (superglue) and epoxy resins. The fit of resin parts, how ever well made, won't be as good as injected polystyrene parts and this is due to the way resin shrinks as it hardens. This is one area where there will almost certainly be a bit of work to be done. Cleaning parts up is no more difficult than cleaning polystyrene parts. I use the same general tools, good knives, razor saws, files and wet 'n' dry, all of which most of us will have in the tool draw.

I'm not suggesting everyone should go out and buy a resin kit, I think a bit of experience is a sensible prerequisite, but nobody should be put off by a kit with some resin parts nor should they be scared to take a swing at a resin upgrade set or similar."

You can certainly produce good models from resin kits, but you will probably have to work a bit harder at it than some, particularly newer, injection molded kits. That Iconicair kit made this Seafang.



Cheers

Steve

 

[takeslousyphotos]

Thanks for all the input people. I think I just need to bite the proverbial bullet and take a shot at one. If I screw it up then I'll just keep qiet about it and move on. Otherwise I'll keep you all posted on what I end up achieving.

Take care everyone and stay safe.
Peter

 

[stona]

Go for it Peter.

One thing I would say is that you don't already have a good razor saw, you should certainly invest in one. It really is the best tool for releasing the parts from the casting blocks. I have an old Tamiya one with two blades, one coarse and one not so coarse (I wouldn't call it fine) and then some blades from RB Productions which fit to a an Exacto type handle and are much finer. Other options and manufacturers are available



Good luck!

Steve

 

[Jakko]

Thanks for all the input people. I think I just need to bite the proverbial bullet and take a shot at one.

What kind of kit are we talking about? Tank, aeroplane, car, figure, spaceship, something else?

One thing I would say is that you don't already have a good razor saw, you should certainly invest in one. It really is the best tool for releasing the parts from the casting blocks. I have an old Tamiya one with two blades, one coarse and one not so coarse

I’ve got that Tamiya saw too, and don’t much like it — maybe I should have mentioned it the other week in the thread about tools you wished you hadn’t bought Especially the thin blade, like in your photo, I found very prone to bending and becoming kinked as a result. I much prefer a razor saw like this:

 

[Road of Bones]

I rather like a resin kit, to be honest. They do tend to need a bit more fettling to get stuff to fit, and if you stick it with CA it can be rather difficult to un-stick if you make a mistake. You can get great results out of them though- here’s the Legend MaxxPro I did a few years ago (now Bronco make one in normal styrene):

(There’s obviously a fair bit of photo-etch in here as well!). It was a bit of an effort to build to be fair, as the two sides to the crew compartment were about 5mm different in length. I had to do some filling with card & putty- but hey, are we modellers, or assemblers?

 

[minitnkr]

I hate working with it, but have had several decent results. It is like others have said, just takes more effort & patience. Have found metal strongbacks or wire are required at times when strength is required of a delicate part. PaulE

 

[stona]

I’ve got that Tamiya saw too, and don’t much like it —

I couldn't agree more. I have used it, but it's a crude tool for a rough job!
Cheers
Steve

 

[Jakko]

I rather like a resin kit, to be honest.

Same, if I’m honest — unless the kit is bad enough that almost everything needs work, then it gets to be a chore. I’ve got a Schützenpanzer Lang by Elite Modellbau, and I’ve not had the courage to start it — that company can probably cast a solid tank hull, warped …

 

[MikeC]

Thanks for all the input people. I think I just need to bite the proverbial bullet and take a shot at one. If I screw it up then I'll just keep qiet about it and move on. Otherwise I'll keep you all posted on what I end up achieving.

Take care everyone and stay safe.
Peter

You can always fill your mistakes with cellulose car filler (stopper) as used in car paint preperation, but do it in a airy environgment and store outside in a shed untill dry, then wet and dry sand in soapy water.

 

[takeslousyphotos]

I thought for a start with resin I might go for somethng with not too much detail. Maybe something like this.

 

[takeslousyphotos]

or "STINGRAY". But it is a 1980s resin kit. So maybe it might not be too sharp on quality.

 

[Jakko]

Assuming they’ve been halfway decently cast, these shouldn’t cause too many problems, I would think. With that APC, for example, you’d probably want to make sure the backs of the wheels and other pats are sanded nicely flat so they fit against the model correctly, but that’s probably about it. These don’t look like kits that are likely to have a lot of warping, for example.