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Resin vs styrene kits


bradco

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I want to add to my civil war models and saw the CSS Hunley submarine and CSS Palmetto State iron clad (Civil War battle ship). These come in resin model kits by Verlinden. I've googled "resin",etc and don't find much info such as Verlinden model reviews or other hits regarding resin modeling. I understand that there is more work to it than styrene (I went ahead & ordered the above kits from scalehobbyist.com). Would appreciate others experience here-- preferences, tips, experiences with resin. Thank you:

Edited by bradco
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I love resin kits (I build a lot of figures.

 

Couple tips to start. Resin has a mold release so it needs scrubbed well and washed before using. First,, take off the pour stubs (where trhey poured the resin into the molds). Sanding is a good way to do this. Once trimmed, then wash them off really well- I use dish soap and hot water. Let them dry. You want to use super glue (cyanoacrylate) to put them together. Some come with photoetch and that requires some work too.

 

Feel free to keep asking but that will get you started

 

Dave M

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Scrub and clean, scrub and clean, and then do it one more time before painting.

I use the same sandpaper and files on resin that I use on styrene. The same blades for cutting, the same basic tools all around.

 

I find resin is less forgiving than styrene. I don't have a factual explanation for that opinion but it just seems that once a serious mistake is made on a resin part it is much more difficult to repair than on a styrene part.

 

I enjoy working with resin and much of the detail work I add to aircraft is "resin".

 

One thing I'll mention....when sanding, either have a vacuum system (a shop vac with a piece of window screen over the intake to act as a Parts trap) going or wet sand because the resin dust is n.a.s.t.y.

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I've found it a lot easier to temporarily fix the parts together with just a dot of white Elmer's glue. In case of a mistake or such, it can eaisly be pried apart. Once I am satisfied with the postion, I'll use the extra fine super glue to set the parts together.

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Appreciate these replies. What is resin? Is it a plastic? What are the advantages over styrene? At the local IPMS meeting this past Thursday I heard mention that resin is "thinner" than styrene and shows detail better. Anyone worked with Verlinden kits before?

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Appreciate these replies. What is resin? Is it a plastic? What are the advantages over styrene? At the local IPMS meeting this past Thursday I heard mention that resin is "thinner" than styrene and shows detail better. Anyone worked with Verlinden kits before?

 

Resin is a two-part (like epoxy) plastic. You mix the two parts - both liquids - together in the right proportion and after a few minutes it starts to harden into a solid similar to styrene (usually a little harder and denser). Regular styrene glues won't melt the resin; you need to use superglue or epoxy glue for assembly.

 

Resin parts/kits are made by pouring the mixed-resin into rubber molds. To make a kit, someone first makes a "master" of the parts, either by modifying an existing styrene kit part or scratchbuilding it from plastic stock, or (for figures) sculpting it from some sort of putty. Then they make a mold of the master-part using a two-part latex-rubber. The rubber is also an epoxy-type product; since it starts out as a liquid it can pick up very fine detail on the "master" part. And since the resin starts out as a liquid, it can reliably pick up that fine detail from the mold.

 

This is all handwork, and the molds have a limited life-time (usually 50-100 pours), so the kits are small volume and pricey. Quality can vary quite a bit, depending on the skill of the people making the masters and doing the molding/pouring. A typical problem with low-quality kits is air bubbles in the rubber or in the resin causing bumps/holes in the parts that need to be fixed by the modeler. Verlinden is a "big name" and should produce high-quality stuff; more obscure kits from true "garage shops" are more of a crap-shoot (some are still very good - it pays to ask around before you buy).

 

Hope that helps!

 

Don

Edited by Schmitz
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Verlinden, for a while, was the only company making after market Israeli Defense Force items. I have had good luck on most of their line. However, when I used their dozer kit, none of the parts were true angles. It may have been the way the parts were poured, age, or user error. I did not have these issures with the Resicast Dozer that I ended up building for this conversion. I had no problems with the two different M113 based conversions I have used.....at least not with the resin parts.....the PE parts are another story for another time. Take your time, go slow and you will probably come out with a really neat model.

 

 

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I bought the Verlinden 1/32 Hunley, and one thing I can pass along is that you should have a motor tool with the biggest griding/cutting head you can get your hands on. The kit I have was molded in a light green resin, and was super hard. I got impatient when removing the keel pour block and shattered it while trying to saw it off, giving myself a huge cut on a finger which bled like hell while I continued grinding off the remaining stub. I worked in the laundry sink and kept dunking the parts in soapy water to keep the dust down, which made the parts slippery and contributed to my little accident.

 

Anyway, after clean-up the kit went together without any problems and turned out OK in the end. The only changes I did was to add punched acetate porthole windows and some additinal bracing for the torpedo spar. Sorry, but I am technologically backwards and have no on-line photos to share. I really gotta set up a Photobucket account.

 

There was a waterline kit in the box in additon to the full hull kit. If you want the waterline model parts, PM me.

 

Neal

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