Should I be worried about doing a resin kit??

[Steve Jones]

Hi Everyone

I have always been wary of doing a full blown resin kit for the obvious toxic dust issues and also when ever I have done resin after market parts I find them to be brittle and break easily. I also hear stories of bad moulds and bubbles. Are my fears correct or unfounded as I have found a resin kit I want to do but it is £50??



I also want to make a few changes to the kit so can I add plastic to resin easily??. Any help/advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance and happy modelling

[Guest]

Don't think you will have any trouble Steve.
A good razor saw is a must, CA, and a couple of fine sanding sticks. I've only built resin engines, quite a lot of very fine flash, so fine its just came away. Just take your time removing items from the blocks, and of course wear a good respirator.
When I put the resin engine into the Border models plastic kit I had no problems using CA.
Looking fwd to seeing this built.

[Steve Jones]

Some nice positive feedback mate. Many thanks

[Allen Dewire]

Evening Stevie,

So you wanna go resin huh??? It's pretty easy stuff to work with and I have found that when you saw or sand it, do it wet. It eliminates the dangerous dust you get when you do it dry. At the bench, just keep a bowl of water and dip the part(s) in and then saw or sand. You can also do it under the faucet in a sink for larger pieces too. It will create a slime looking mess that's easily washed down the drain and leaves no dust to go in the lungs. You can wear a mask if you still want to, but 99% of the dust is gone.

Always wash the kit parts in soapy water to get rid of any residue from the molding process before you glue them together. A good CA does the trick and you can glue plastic to resin with it also. HTHs my friend....

Hope all is well and you have had a chance to hit the links a bit too!!!

Prost
Allen (almost retired)

PS. I forgot to mention that the older the resin, the more brittle it gets so be careful.

[Jim R]

Hi Steve
With your skills and experience you'll cope easily I'm sure. I've never done a full kit but didn't Jakko do one on here a while ago. It will make a great blog to follow.
Jim

[Guest]

Not built a whole kit just add ons some quite large.

Certainly strange to handle & work. No Mr Thinghy Cement.

Found also a lot more prep. work with little holes in the resin. Also the surface is not as smooth & good.
as plastics. Filling not as easy so more priming & sanding.

Perhaps not as accurate & detailed as plastic (except Marquette) . Also found not so many pieces as the detail is cast in the resin. But that is all that I have found.

Laurie

[Guest]

Um … are you sure you want to be your first resin kit to be made by Wespe? Though I’ve never built one, from what I’ve seen the detail on them is rather basic and coarse, like they designed them at 1:87 and scaled them up for all the other sizes they do (they tend to release a single vehicle in several scales).

Aside from that, of course you can build a resin kit. However, the tools and techniques are a bit different than what you need for a plastic kit, but if you’ve advanced beyond starting modeller skill level, you should be able to do a resin kit as well. And yes, you can stick plastic bits to resin — superglue or two-part epoxy works fine, and you need those for the resin parts anyway

[Dave Ward]

Steve,
shouldn't be a problem - just heed the warnings about dust & wear a mask. Normal fillers don't take well to resin - I've used 2-part epoxy filler ( Milliput ), and 5-min epoxy glue, and that seems to work. Don't use any solvent to clean or degrease ( like IPA ) - this can attack the surface & ruin a model - I trashed a Modelkrak 1/700 'Chin Yen' battleship that way - washing up liquid & hand warm water is best!
Dave

[AlanG]

As people have mentioned, wear a mask when sanding. But like Allen says, you can sand wet which helps reduce the dust further.

[Steve Jones]

Fantastic feedback guys much appreciated. Please let me address some of your points.

Great tips on degreasing and cutting with water. If solvents are a problem on resin will I be okay weathering with oils once primed and coated with varnish?? I have plenty of Milliputt so I will use the tougher one for the bubbles. The reason for the Wespe kit is that the Accurate Armour is £90+. Ideally I wanted a plastic model but no one does this vehicle in 1/35 scale???

[scottie3158]

I have built a couple of resin kits one of which was a gift from Allen Dewire. As the others have said about the dust and giving them a good wash they are pretty much the same as any other kits, and can be very detailed. Bubbles can be filled with any good filler. The downside of resin kits normally is the instructions well at least the ones I have built.

To be honest a man of your modelling skills it will be a walk in the park, so have ago and have fun.

[minitnkr]

Stand by for pain. Dry fitting is a must. Some parts may be missing or not shaped as instructions hint. Have done several 1/87 by Wespe. Instructions are poor to useless, but can be figured out. Details/fit run hot & cold as some are excellent and some muddy or poor fitting, so take Jakkos' remarks in. You might reference my Wespe attempts w/ Diamond T969 A Wrecker, Le Tourneau Bulldozer, & LVT Buffalo bloged on this site. $50 ain't cheap. None had bubbles. HTH

[Dave Ward]

Steve,
once you're primed, you should be OK to do anything over the top, as long as you don't go through the primer. I think you'd have to experiment with 'chipping' - I've never done that on a resin model..........
Dave

[Guest]

The reason for the Wespe kit is that the Accurate Armour is £90+. Ideally I wanted a plastic model but no one does this vehicle in 1/35 scale???

Hmm … that’s a difficult one. Your choices are either a Wespe kit that’s likely to have crude detail and may or may not have poor fit, vs. an Accurate Armour kit for almost twice the price that’s likely to have good detail and may or may not have poor fit. I’m not sure which one I would take, if I’m honest. Well, I do, but I don’t know if it’s an option: an old Accurate Armour kit, one that was moulded and boxed 20 years ago or so, before they got their reputation for poor quality.

[Mini Me]

If it's available in plastic you can save yourself a lot of work.....If not, welcome to the club! I have purchased one Wespe kit and as Jakko and Paul have stated, the level of detail and quality of fit can be questionable. I have inspected the contents of the kit I purchased and found it to be wanting in fine "crisp" details. I know I'm in for a lot of work but if this is all that there is to choose from....you do the best you can.
Rick H.