Difference between RESIN & PLASTIC KIT

[leo]

Hi all,

I've been building plastic kit for a long time, and planning to do some resin kit. Can some one be able to give me a brief summary on the difference between RESIN & PLASTIC?? I Know that most resin an't posable and yet requre "BRASS PIN"?? (Where do you order these?). Is each pieces of resin a soild piece? (Not hollow). Also, if I have a robot resin kit and I buy ball joints or connectors from HJP, will I be able to drill holes on the parts to fit the joints in to give a min movement? THX in advance for all the help!

L,

[Gundamhead]

Resin kits tend to be very limmited in their numbers and are usually of 'unusual and uncommon' subjects. Resin kits use RTV rubber molds that only last for a few casts compared to the thousands that steel molds for injection plastic uses. Resin is a liquid plastic that hardens through a chemical reaction. (Sorta but not really like plaster.) Unlike other plastics, it doesn't need tremendous heat or pressure to form parts. Generally it takes two parts (A and B) to react with each other that causes the resin to harden after a certain amount of time. (I mix resin part A with resin part B and pour it inot a mold, a little while later I pull out a solid part.) Resin will only bond with crazy glue or epoxies. It generally sands easier because it tends to be softer, so go slow so you don't accidentally destroy details. You should get in a habit of wet sanding resin, because the dust is bad for you. Resin kits need a bath with a deteregent type of soap to remove mold release agent used in creating the kit. This helps paint and glues adhere to it better.

The use of pins is just that. Long or heavy resin peices can warp over time. Using a small metal pin will help support the part like a skeleton. It can be any stiff metal, coat hangers and even paperclips depending on the parts you're trying to reinforce. It doesn't have to be brass, but brass gets used more often because it is easy to find. Your local hobby shop should have brass rod of various thickness.

If you want a resin kit poseable you could try what you said. But the problem is most resin kits are solid and weigh 3 times what a normal plastic kit weighs. Your joints will wear out that much faster or simply be unable to support the parts. Now having said that, there are rein kits with the P-caps molded in, and hollow cast, but they tend to be pricey. Some use plain old screws for the joints, but resin is soft and this wears out even faster. Most people feel a resin kit should be a statue and not poseable anyway, so there aren't going to be too many poseable resin kits around.

Most people will tell you you need to 'graduate' up to a resin model by building x number of plastic kits. I don't think this is true. A model is a model. If the subject grabs you, go for it.