All I know about resin is that it’s different from plastic. I have always been under the impression that it is hard to get resin to adhere to styrene and you need different adhesives, and you have to clean it a certain way first, and - basically I’ve always been led to believe that it’s a real pain in the butt to use. Is this true? I’ve seen ads for very interesting resin model kits that aren’t offered in plastic, but if it is a real pain to deal with then I’ll pass. And as far as resin after-market products are concerned, I’m curious about the ease (or difficulty) of integrating them with plastic kits. Are there any techniques that are recommended (or necessary), and is there basically a downside to using resin?
Resin requires the use of CA (aka super glue) or epoxy to attach to styrene plastic. Building an all-resin kit is difficult to do when you are first starting out, but adding a resin conversion to an existing plastic kit is not that hard.
The reason why it is referred to as a pain in the butt is because either the CA glue sets before you get the piece into proper position or the CA glue sets slowly and it keeps flopping over before the glue sets.
Additionally, not all resin manufacturers are created equal. Some are literally garage kits made in someone’s home. Others are fairly high quality. Almost all are high priced.
What Rob just said. Additionally cleaning. You really should clean everything before you start assembly, though I don’t always follow my advice. As to ease, check the sites that are more specific to your interest. Most have reviews of new releases and you’ll get an idea of hte ease or difficulty of the kit. Even some of the major companies, okay, at least one of the major companies now affiliated with one of the major online shops in the US has sometimes strange ideas. I reviewed a couple buildings by one of their subsidiaries. Some parts were beautifully detailed on both sides, others were poured into one sided molds making clean up a potential nightmare.
You’re also likely to hear that resin dust is a nearly poisonous substance and you’ll need a super respirator to wear while sanding it. The fact is, resin dust, like any fine dust is an inert irritant. You shuld take the same precautions sanding that as you would any other substance, such as wood or plastic.
Fact is, though, you’ll find things in resin you’ll neer find in plastic.
what about shipping damage? in a few reviews over the years it was mentioned that the reviewers samples came with a damaged (cracked or worse) part or two
is resin semi-delicate before it is built ?
Sure, resin is more brittle than styrene plastic. Smaller details can break off in transit, thin pieces can break removing them from the pour stub or wafer sheet.
I’ve had a few resin parts show up either broken or even only partially cast. In each case, the folks I ordered it from provided a prompt replacement.
yes jwb i have heard the manufacturers do this
and it is my understanding that when it comes to customer service they are far superior to their plastic manufacturer counterparts