Resin - What's the big deal?

While I can't comment on the specific details of the Italeri kit:

Resin, in general, allows the mold maker to make much finer detail than would be possible (or economical) to do in plastic. Regular model glue won't work when trying to join resin to plastic or even resin to resin, you'll want, as you mentioned, CA or epoxy. I use slow setting CA for my resin. It's always a good idea to wash the resin in soapy water prior to painting. I've used both enamels and lacquers on resin parts with no ill effects. IMHO, while you can still get the details brush painting, I think to get the best (detail wise) you need to airbrush, then brush paint the details. Don McIntyre Clarksville, TN

Resin allows VERY fine detail. However, in order to do so, one must have a good pattern first. So the patternmaker's skills are important. Also, if made in silicone molds, the parts do not need relief angle and can then be more accurate (a box can have true square sides, not tapered ones.

The big thing, however, is that molds for resin casting are MUCH cheaper than the metal molds needed for die casting, and allow a kit to be produced profitably in much smaller numbers.

For the modeler, IF the mfg employs a GOOD patternmaker and mold maker, the resulting pieces CAN be more accurate and better detailed than in die cast styrene, but it is not automatically so.

Nigel Heather I have just bought an Italeri AS42 Sahariana. One of it's selling points

It all depends on who's resin you're getting...just like anything else, there's good stuff, ok stuff, and bad stuff. Really depends on how good the pattern maker was/is.

Use CA to attach it, and make sure you join bare resin to bare plastic and not over paint, and it'll stay stuck. Epoxy is good for filing holes or bubbles in a resin part, but not really for making joins, in my experience. CA is easier.

To see the differences in plastic and resin, take a look here:

The first kit is a Hasegawa 1/48 F6F (in Royal Navy markings) with the resin set from Jaguar. There was very little in the way of trimming or cutting away of casting blocks on this one, and to me it's worth the cost.

Don McIntyre Clarksville, TN

Okay then... that FAA Hellcat is excellent! I particularly like the way that you are not afraid to portray imperfect invasion bands. I know that the vast majority were hastily applied and very shabby but I've never quite had the courage to represent these the way I know they should be represented.

FWIW, let's not forget that breathing the resin dust as you sand may be hazardous to your lungs. Supposedly, resin dust is a carcinogen and can really mess you up - this might be heresay, but it makes sense, anything you inhale that is not air is not supposed to be in there.

Ray ===

Cheers, I guess it's just that the Italeri stuff isn't very good.

To me the detail doesn't look that great - the plastic parts in the kit are excellent, I would say better than the resin.

Also the rsin parts will need a lot of razor saw work to remove the parts from the huge lumps of excess resin.

Frankly I can't see the point in this case - just added to try and justify the kit as being special.

Cheers,

Nigel

I would suspect that the kit may have been originally intended to be all injected styrene, and something came up that required modification of certain parts. The cost to do another injection mold is so high that they took a cheaper way out, and did those parts in resin to save money. Is that kit a modification of an earlier kit, by any chance?

Thanks, Enzo. The stripes on the starboard side, appeared to be overpainted for some reason, but not on the left side. I'm guessing there was some sort of battle damage repair or something. I was really leery about airbrushing that part, but just decided to go for it. Otherwise, I hate messing with them, but I guess for some of the schemes I want to do, I'll just have to knuckle down and get to it. OBTW, it's MUCH easier to do with an airbrush. 8-)

The removal from pour stubs is just one of the "hazards" of dealing with resin parts. Some companies are better about this than others, but if you want to get into adding resin details it's one you learn to deal with.

I've worked with resin for twenty years now. Never sanded dry, always with water and wet sanding. Four stage foam backed emory board for cleaning and polishing followed by further polishing with Brasso and a good rag.

I did get contaminated by the mold making material, however. Than innocent-looking marshmallow cream stuff is really nasty. Mask, goggles, gloves, careful cleaning, the works. Still got a slight case of skin tags around my eyes. All gone now after three years.

So now I have things made for me. The MAI Super King Air was done in Hong Kong and came out really nice. Others in the works.

Cheers,

Tom

Ray S. & Nayda Katzaman wrote: