Working With Resin
By: RedScorpionsGirl (aka RedStickStudio) First published online: 25-04-2009 on Bell of Lost Souls
Resin can be a tricky medium to work with. If you don’t take the time to prep it properly, all your hard work of painting it could go to waste. The larger the item is, the more likely there is a longer prep time to ready it for primer and paint. The mould releaser needs to be removed (the brilliant sheen when you look at a piece in the light) the resin feeds need to be carefully removed, sometimes in multiple steps, trimming with an exacto knife, filing, ensuring the resin dust is removed (a second washing after filing is recommended) and more, depending on the complexity of the pieces you are working on.
Forgeworld produces some of the best resin pieces for our games, and if you are investing in these pieces, you may want these to be the focal point of your respective army. If you don’t take the time to prep it correctly, the focus point could end up a disaster, as the primer could go on splotchy, act as water does on a car surface, and maybe even go on just fine. Chances chances by not washing it, as you could be fooled, the primer goes on great, and once you paint it that even works too, but you touch it for the first time and the paint rubs right off down to the bare resin leaving you wondering how to repair that damage. Resin can be stripped, but it is a particular process, and depending on a number of factors, if it indeed does work as you would hope it to.
The first thing that should be mentioned is the obvious warning that is on anything that you buy from ForgeWorld at least, Resin dust can be harmful if inhaled. Always wear a dust mask or respirator when sanding or sawing resin parts. This being said, use the appropriate safety equipment if you are sanding/filing resin parts. Resin dust has an oddly sweet smell and can easily be overlooked when working. It is best to throw out the pieces of feeds you cut off, as unlike removing metal tabs and flash, resin has no weight so it isn’t really useful for anything else like weighting bases and such.
To start off, take what resin pieces you are working with and lay them out. If you are working with a number of different items, I would suggest taking a digital picture of each, that way if you are working with a number of different items that have small components you can separate them after cleaning.
Resin can be a tricky medium to work with. If you don’t take the time to prep it properly, all your hard work of painting it could go to waste. The larger the item is, the more likely there is a longer prep time to ready it for primer and paint. The mould releaser needs to be removed (the brilliant sheen when you look at a piece in the light) the resin feeds need to be carefully removed, sometimes in multiple steps, trimming with an exacto knife, filing, ensuring the resin dust is removed (a second washing after filing is recommended) and more, depending on the complexity of the pieces you are working on.
Forgeworld produces some of the best resin pieces for our games, and if you are investing in these pieces, you may want these to be the focal point of your respective army. If you don’t take the time to prep it correctly, the focus point could end up a disaster, as the primer could go on splotchy, act as water does on a car surface, and maybe even go on just fine. Chances chances by not washing it, as you could be fooled, the primer goes on great, and once you paint it that even works too, but you touch it for the first time and the paint rubs right off down to the bare resin leaving you wondering how to repair that damage. Resin can be stripped, but it is a particular process, and depending on a number of factors, if it indeed does work as you would hope it to.
The first thing that should be mentioned is the obvious warning that is on anything that you buy from ForgeWorld at least, Resin dust can be harmful if inhaled. Always wear a dust mask or respirator when sanding or sawing resin parts. This being said, use the appropriate safety equipment if you are sanding/filing resin parts. Resin dust has an oddly sweet smell and can easily be overlooked when working. It is best to throw out the pieces of feeds you cut off, as unlike removing metal tabs and flash, resin has no weight so it isn’t really useful for anything else like weighting bases and such.
To start off, take what resin pieces you are working with and lay them out. If you are working with a number of different items, I would suggest taking a digital picture of each, that way if you are working with a number of different items that have small components you can separate them after cleaning.
Finding a good spot to do this is always best. A sink that has a drain cover, preferably one that is perforated with holes smaller than the smallest piece of resin you are working with (less of a chance while rising it or working with it in the sink that it will disappear down the drain) or if you don’t have easy access to a sink, use a small bucket or pail.
Warm water, too hot is best for soaking them. If you have pieces that need to be straightened, it is best to wash them first, and then use the hot water to reshape them). Let the pieces soak for 10-15 minutes in the warm water. In a separate container, add warm water to it (this will be where the pieces will be put after washing with a mild detergent or soap).
Go through each of the components and wash them thoroughly. I prefer to use a Sonic Scrubber for this (but any type of a scrubber will work as long as it can get into the detailed areas of whatever you are washing), and just bar soap from a hotel, or a very mild liquid detergent will also work. I don’t use anything harsh or abrasive by any means, as that would ruin the details in the resin. The Sonic Scrubber is a really interesting item; Wal-Mart carries them for $9.99. Best investment in my opinion if you are stripping models, or needing to wash a lot of resin parts, as it is battery powered and seems to last forever, and there’s a lot of different brush head options as well. It shouldn’t take too long, and the bucket will look something like this:
At this point, you can go through and determine if you have any seams that need sanding, and the feeds that need to be removed. A good deal of the feeds you will find can easily be removed with clippers, however, anything that the clippers can’t easily fit around should be removed with a fine tooth hobby saw. These can be found at most hobby stores and while Games Workshop does indeed have one they sell, I highly recommend against that purchase. The Games Workshop saw is a single piece unit retailing at $22.00, which once you use up the blade, you have to buy a new unit, another $22.00 spent, and there isn’t a choice between saw blade degrees. (ie. standard, coarse, fine, ultra fine) Both Excel and Exacto produce a hobby saw as well, with interchangeable handles and blades. They have several different styles collectively, with the best one being the aluminum Exacto in my opinion, as this one is extremely light, and very durable. While the handles come in anywhere from $6-$12 approximately (the Aluminum handle being $12.00 when I recently purchased it and a fine blade coming in at $4) and the blades being anywhere from $4 and up, it is a bit of an investment, but in the long run a solid investment. The handles can also be used for regular blades as well, so it isn’t restricted for use just to the saw blades, and there are several grades of saw blades available, and the grades being the same as buying any type of handsaw or hacksaw, the closer the teeth the finer the blade, and the smoother the cut will be. All in all, a better investment from a source other than GW, as the ability to reuse rather than have to buy a new implement every time you wear it out is a bonus, as well as that you can interchange regular blades with the handles, and it breaks down into two pieces for storage versus a single piece is good as well.
When feeds are sawed off, remember to leave approximately 1/8” of the feed on the model piece you are working on. This allows you to trim it down appropriately, rather than trim it too tightly and possibly ruin the part you are working on. Better too little of the feed removed than too much. Remember that resin dust is dangerous, and it is best to do this outside if at all possible, or if inside, wearing a mask and try to limit where you are doing this.
Carefully trim off the feeds, again leaving the 1/8” for final cleanup after you are finished sawing all of them off. Then with a fine file, finish cleaning up the spots that have been sawed off, making sure that they are flush with the surface. Once you have finished this, it is best to give the parts a once over again before continuing any farther. After the final check it is time for assembly, if need be, or basing and priming.
With resin kits, it is extremely important to do a dry fit, and make sure all the parts are the proper shape and not warped. If anything is warped, take some hot water and carefully submerge the part(s) in it. Remember though, you need to get these parts out of hot water as well, so take care to have something that can grab them, or submerge them in a shallow pan for ease of removal. Larger parts can also be reheated and reshaped as well, however it is a bit more time consuming, as the thicker the piece the hotter it needs to get to press it back into shape. A couple of pieces to my thunderhawk I recently invested in have to be put into an oven at its lowest setting for 1/2 hour plus to get them warm enough to fix them, and I’m still not sure it will work. Only literal trial and error will tell what is needed, and in this case it’s best to start out at lower temperatures and not have it work than it is to go too much heat and ruin the pieces. Make sure when reshaping the pieces you also have a bowl of cold water ready to submerse the piece into. It is best to hold it with your hands to make sure it ends up the way you want it to. Just dropping it in the cold water will not fix the bends, it will likely let it bend back the same way it was. Just a quick dip into the cold water holding it will set the piece. Just remember there is a chance if you accidently leave it in a vehicle on a hot day even after it is painted it could warp again and ruin the model. Not a common occurrence, but depending on the heat in your vehicle it could happen.
Super glue works wonderfully on the resin, as it bonds resin parts together faster than plastic pieces. Be wary of this before assembly, as once you touch the pieces together, they are solidly bonded together and there isn’t a chance to reposition in most cases. If you have extremely large parts you are gluing together it is best to leave the edges you are gluing together a bit roughed up. (An example: the wings of a Tau Manta are approximately 2” thick at their widest point. It is best to leave the inside seam rough so that when you attach these to the main fuselage they have better contact, as if both sides are roughed up just before glue, there is more area for the glue to seep into and make a stronger bond) This assists in the bonding process with large pieces, which will make for a stronger finished model.
Once you have finished your assembly and are ready for primer, any primer honestly will work well on resin. The only part to remember is that like any other model, choose your day wisely to prime it. Too hot of a day and you will end up with a fuzzy model, too cold of a day and it will appear caked or spotted or worse. Each type of primer has it’s own personality, literally, and can have various reactions to weather conditions. It is best to save a couple of the feed blocks and test your primer on them if at all possible. Resin can be stripped if your priming goes awry, with Simple Green, California Awesome, and few other cleaners, but remember you are working on resin, or possibly a combination of resin and plastic when choosing a stripper. If you prime it well, you won’t even have to worry about this.
Carefully trim off the feeds, again leaving the 1/8” for final cleanup after you are finished sawing all of them off. Then with a fine file, finish cleaning up the spots that have been sawed off, making sure that they are flush with the surface. Once you have finished this, it is best to give the parts a once over again before continuing any farther. After the final check it is time for assembly, if need be, or basing and priming.
With resin kits, it is extremely important to do a dry fit, and make sure all the parts are the proper shape and not warped. If anything is warped, take some hot water and carefully submerge the part(s) in it. Remember though, you need to get these parts out of hot water as well, so take care to have something that can grab them, or submerge them in a shallow pan for ease of removal. Larger parts can also be reheated and reshaped as well, however it is a bit more time consuming, as the thicker the piece the hotter it needs to get to press it back into shape. A couple of pieces to my thunderhawk I recently invested in have to be put into an oven at its lowest setting for 1/2 hour plus to get them warm enough to fix them, and I’m still not sure it will work. Only literal trial and error will tell what is needed, and in this case it’s best to start out at lower temperatures and not have it work than it is to go too much heat and ruin the pieces. Make sure when reshaping the pieces you also have a bowl of cold water ready to submerse the piece into. It is best to hold it with your hands to make sure it ends up the way you want it to. Just dropping it in the cold water will not fix the bends, it will likely let it bend back the same way it was. Just a quick dip into the cold water holding it will set the piece. Just remember there is a chance if you accidently leave it in a vehicle on a hot day even after it is painted it could warp again and ruin the model. Not a common occurrence, but depending on the heat in your vehicle it could happen.
Super glue works wonderfully on the resin, as it bonds resin parts together faster than plastic pieces. Be wary of this before assembly, as once you touch the pieces together, they are solidly bonded together and there isn’t a chance to reposition in most cases. If you have extremely large parts you are gluing together it is best to leave the edges you are gluing together a bit roughed up. (An example: the wings of a Tau Manta are approximately 2” thick at their widest point. It is best to leave the inside seam rough so that when you attach these to the main fuselage they have better contact, as if both sides are roughed up just before glue, there is more area for the glue to seep into and make a stronger bond) This assists in the bonding process with large pieces, which will make for a stronger finished model.
Once you have finished your assembly and are ready for primer, any primer honestly will work well on resin. The only part to remember is that like any other model, choose your day wisely to prime it. Too hot of a day and you will end up with a fuzzy model, too cold of a day and it will appear caked or spotted or worse. Each type of primer has it’s own personality, literally, and can have various reactions to weather conditions. It is best to save a couple of the feed blocks and test your primer on them if at all possible. Resin can be stripped if your priming goes awry, with Simple Green, California Awesome, and few other cleaners, but remember you are working on resin, or possibly a combination of resin and plastic when choosing a stripper. If you prime it well, you won’t even have to worry about this.