I have been having a scratch about Anigrand’s site & see that they have some nice stuff big stuff in 1/72, like the Globemaster, Starlifter & an upcoming Extender.
I have only ever built Injection moulded kits from the larger manufacturers (I can’t say i have even seen an unbuilt resin kit) & I am wondering exactly what I will be up against with this medium??
I also see rumour’s circulating that the will be doing a Galaxy in 1/72. Now that would truly be something - anyone know anything about this?
Any advice on the subject appreciated.
Well it’s different from working with plastic. You’ll have to use epoxy to attach everything (and superglue). There’s less margin for error. Also the limited run nature of a lot of resin kits means they can fit less well (though there are some outstanding resin kits around too). More time will be needed to remove everything from casting blocks also, but on the whole it’s probably not too difficult a challenge. Don’t have any experience with that brand though.
I’ve built a number of resin kits. I have not built an Anigrand, but I have two in the stash and I’ve played with them and they look good.
It’s an entirely different set of skills than plastic, and I really like it. I would start small though. You’ll have to add supports at all of the major joints, like wing to fuselage, etc. They’ll just be a butt joint, no tabs. Also the parts are heavy, so the model will fall apart unless you use pins in the cantilever joints. Imagine the whole airplane in twelve or so parts, each one a complex casting with all kinds of detail. The emphasis switches to paint and prep.
The canopies will be vac forms, and that takes a little practice to get ok at.
I’d start with a high quality smaller a/c like a CMR Spitfire. OK, it has a lot of parts, but CMR does a good job on them.
I’ve read a couple of build reviews of the Globemaster II. I’d like one too, but something like that takes a lot of extra work. Because it is so big, the fuse and wings are several pieces each that require building jigs to align them for gluing. Getting the wing to stay straight will require making a spar to exact dimensions, about 18" long, tapered and with dihedral.I’ve seen where builders of those fill the inside of the fuse with polyurethane foam to make it stay uniform. All pretty difficult stuff.
But it’s the only game in town for quite a few a/c types.
Unfortunately Anigrand tends to have casting and accuracy problems. I have some of the smaller kits, the XFR-103 and XF-108. Try a smaller one before spending the big bucks.
Much appreciated folk.
I think I will put in on hold for the moment & do a bit more research into the mysteries of “doing resin”. It also sounds like taking on one of these giant kits will involve two learning curves, one for resin & another for big resin, so I will heed your advice & try something smaller to start with when I get ound to it.
Cheers.
I have built one of the Anigrand kits,(Atlas ICBM), one about 3/4 built, (F7U-1), and one in the box. (C-141A), all in 1/72 scale.
The two smaller ones went together without any internal bracing since there weren’t any long lever arms to stress the fuselage. The Atlas parts were badly warped and a real bear to get together anywhere near straight. The Cutlass went together like a fine Swiss watch and I am currently getting it ready for paint. I have dry fitted the basic parts of the Starlifter and they seem to line up pretty well. I will have to seriously consider the concept of bracing the wings with some type of spar arrangement.
Darwin, O.F. [aln]