I spent quite a bit of time trying to get these SOL Industries 1/48 scale AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles built only to have the fins continually break off each time one was even barely bumped. I finally got them all on and started priming them to see how they looked, which was not that great really. Upon inspecting them one fell to the floor and broke most of the fins off again so I put them in the garbage can where they belong. I wish Revell would have used their brain before releasing this F-15E kit so that it would have had some normal styrene ordinance rather than this resin junk. [soapbox]
Now I have to build two more since the SOL kit came with six. [:(!]
I haven’t done much with resin, two cockpits to be specific, but I have noticed a couple of things about using it:
Resin is fragile as egg shells. Look at it wrong it will break. Drop it, it will break. Use too much pressure painting it or drip glue on it too hard, it will break (OK, that one is a lie but it sounded good!).
In some cases there is no way to clean up or trim a resin part without breaking it.
In some cases, using styrene parts that came with the kit to supplement the resin parts is the only way to remain sane.
People who build entire kits out of resin have a much lighter touch than I do and the patience of a saint.
I definately feel for you. I built a resin electric generator kit and had a very difficllt time just as you did. It taught me a lesson. Avoid resin like the plague.
I like the detail you can get with Resin, especially for cockpit interiors, but it is fragile. For Bomb/Missle fins, it’s really not much more than flash thickness in resin. I prefer to use old PE frets and cut fins from the unused border material, which is often close to scale in 1/48. Still a [censored] to glue with CA, but at least they dont snap off if you look at them too hard.
I rebuilt them last night and they came out better this time.
The back fins had small tabs sticking out of them that fit into recessed dimples in the missile body. I didn’t like that so I went and drilled into the dimpled areas with a #65 drill bit and fit the fins into the holes which made them much stronger. [tup]
I see that FlightPath makes a 1/48 resin AIM-120 set that does have the photo-etched metal pieces for the fins. It looks even more difficult to build though as it has 90 parts for two missles. [:0] [(-D]
Many of the kits I build in 1-87 are resin. I get a good one and I love it, a bad one and I’ve wasted my money. As far as being fragile goes, it all depends on what type of resin the manufacturer uses. I like working with resin because it can be carved and shaped easier than styrene or metal parts if there are imperfections in the castings.
I like the resin stuff that comes out personally. yeah…it’s fragile, and I like to break it to keep me on my toes, but the details are second to none most of the time. I’m sure the first wood modelers felt the same way about the first plastic kits to come out. I have thought about doing a whole resin kit, but…I’m not quite that insane…yet!!! LOL
The resin I use for my own parts is a bit softer than most of the kits out there. It has a little more flex to it, whick makes it much more resiliant, though it’s still more fragile than styrene. The only thing that has ever bothered me about resin kits are the giant casting plugs. It isn’t neccessary to mold them that way, though it is certainly easier for the garage shop.
At my old job resin parts were our bread and butter. They’re no big deal to me. You really want something to pull your hair out? Try working with the extremely delicate parts made with StereoLithography machines http://computer.howstuffworks.com/stereolith.htm. The epoxy resin used to make those parts, though surprisingly resiliant, are like glass, and the machines leave heavy build lines on the parts which need to be sanded smooth. We had a guy who just couldn’t do it. He broke nearly every large part he worked on just from sanding, and several small ones. He got fired within three weeks. Oh yeah, and don’t ever drop them. They shatter like glass too. Nothing worse than crawling around on the floor looking for tiny amber shards amidst all the finishing debris and dust on under a table.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
ain’t the biggest fan of resin but, some of the cocpit and modification creators sure do some nice stuff…and since i like chopping and cutting and altering and changing and adding on…aside from photo etch resin is the way to go…[banghead]
i feel for ya Mike…seems like [censored]scratch building is the only way to go if resin is out…
No, the Hasegawa weapons sets do not have AIM-120’s at all.
Next time I build another F-15E I will buy the Revell Pro Modeler version as it comes with AIM-120’s. [:D][;)]
I was looking at a resin cockpit set for gavia’s (sp) 1:48 la-7. You could see through the side walls. It’s in my wish box there, but will come out because I had no clue that it was so brittle. But the detail on them was something else.
Hmmm… this is kinda discouraging… I was looking around my favorite hobby shop the other day, and saw a resin detail kit for a 1/72 Academy mustang, and then i saw the academy kit was just behind me. If I had the money then, i probably would have gotten it.
This came as quite a shock to me, because in this part of the world, you either have to order the stuff for the right kit (and shell out a lot of money), or be very lucky to find a AM resin detail set and the kit it was made for… You think should still try for this? I have never used resin before… [:)]
used a verlinden set for that revell phantom i was doing , same thing you look at them they break arrgh , then you fit them into the cockpit , they dont fit properly double arrrrgh , so i sent them both to bruce , his now put them all together , attach rockets then good bye to ####
i hate some resin parts, especially mpm kit resin. i have this one resin kit where the resin is EXACTLY like styrene, even easier to work, its flexable even more than styrene and it’s sooooo goood… yeah. but i hate other resin parts.
aw man, i cant assemble a kit without resin!!! i gotta have. i just did a stang cockpit with a PE set from eduard. the PE set don’t cut it in my opinion. however, the resin instrument panels and seatbelts dont look as real as PE belts and panel. thats why i purchase aires cockpits because they have jut the right amount of both.
but, to answer your question mike, i hate some of the characteristics of resin such as having to attach the parts with CA, trying to clean the flash from tiny parts without damaging it, and the general brittleness of it, but i can easily get over it when i see the finished product!! i looks so much better that most kit pits. as for ordinance, i’ve never assembled a set of resin ordinance, but it seems it would definetly be a pain.
i just assembled a resin and PE pit for a westland whirlwind that that actually came with the kit and it just wasn’t well thought out in my opinion. you had to cut out tiny instuments from a resin foot and most of the parts took nearly 5 or so minutes of delicate cutting to loose them from the foot. then, there were 2 control sticks that had to be carved from what looked like a pool of resin!! terrible!! the aires cockpit sets are really simple and look great. later.
I don’t mind resin as long as it is all resin. What I hate is resin/PE combinations. I built an ejection seat that was resin/PE. Trying to get the PE parts, some as small as a gnat’s whisker, bonded to the resin part was almost impossible. It kept sticking to the tweezers or you finally get it in position only to watch it fall over. After fighting with it for over an hour I threw it against the wall and pulled out the kit molded plastic seats and went from there. I am in this hobby for fun and relaxation, not frustration.