A few questions??

[Kaleb]

I have searched the postings and found a few things that are useful for clear coats, and plastics.

First question what is resin? I have laid fiberglass before and refered that as resin.

2. Ive seen some builds like "snowball I" where someone built a frame...what is it built from and where can you get it?

3. What makes primer to wrinkle and make the "old cracked paint look" Ive sanded it down after several times and it eventually goes away.

I have more questions but i have to go back to my cars to remember, I have sometimers

[Harry P.]

I can answer your first question.

When someone talks about "resin" in regards to model cars, they're talking about either parts, bodies or entire kits that are manufactured by pouring a liquid resin into hollow molds in order to cast the parts. It's the same principle as metal casting, but done without heat, as the resin is in liquid form at room temperature. Once it sets up, the parts are removed from the molds (which are usually made of rubber).

Resin casting is used by most aftermarket manufacturers, basically because it's much cheaper to have a master made, and a rubber mold made from that master, and then casting resin parts using that mold, than it is to invest in the metal dies and injection-molding machinery needed to produce parts by the injection molding process (the way mass-market model kits are manufactured). Aftermarket resin casters tend to "fill in the gaps" with oddball parts or kits that the major manufacturers don't produce. They can do this because the upfront costs to create a new master and the molds needed to cast the parts in resin are so much lower than tooling up for a new kit to be produced by the injection-molding process. Since the upfront costs are so much lower, they can make a profit selling far fewer kits than a mass-market model kit manufacturer would have to sell in order to recover the startup costs of a new kit; therefore aftermarket guys can offer "oddball" kits that won't necessarily sell as many units as a mass-market manufacturer would need to sell in order to recover their costs. That's why the aftermarket guys can offer kits of subjects that the big model companies can't (or won't).

Cast resin parts are a bit different than typical injection-molded styrene parts. First, the resin is somewhat more brittle than styrene, and resin parts can snap and break fairly easily, so you have to be careful. Second, regular "model glue" (styrene cement) will not work on resin... you need to use either superglue or epoxy. But generally, other than those two specific differences, resin parts can be cut, sanded, painted, etc. pretty much like any "normal" styrene parts.

The Modelhaus is one of many aftermarket companies that specialize in cast resin parts and kits. Check out their site (modelhaus.com) and you'll see what I mean by aftermarket companies offering kits that the "big guys" don't.

[Kaleb]

Wow, I thought it was different in the type of stuff was used but nothing like that thanks for the info.