Resin Bodies vs. Normal Plastic Bodies

[Newbs99]

Hey Guys,

I've never completely understood the difference between Resin and Plastic bodies, such as the up and downs for each. If anyone could help explain this to me,that would be great.

Thanks,

Newbs99

[Craig Irwin]

Injection molded plastic requires expensive tooling and machines to mold, resin can be done by a hobbyist on a much smaller basis. Resin models are a way for reproducing old oop kits or handmade subjects in small numbers. Many cars that were never modeled by the "little three" can be bought in resin giving us a larger variety.

[Newbs99]

Thanks for the help, Craig.

Newbs99

[Randytheroadrunner]

Resin also cracks and breaks easily.

[Ramfins59]

You need to use either CA glue (super glue) or epoxy to glue resin parts together, or plastic parts to resin. Resin can be drilled, filed or sanded just like plastic. All paints are safe to use on resin but you should still use a good primer first for good paint adhesion. You should soak all resin parts in Westley's Bleche White for a day to remove all mold release agent, then rinse under lukewarm water and let air dry before priming and painting.

[38 Crush]

Drop a resin body one time in a sink while sanding, You'll find out the difference. Trust me !!!

[jeffb]

i drop resin bodies all the time. it depends on what resin they're made out of

[Eshaver]

Jeff, I won't argue that .................

[Tom Geiger]

As said above, large manufacturers give us kits in plastic, which is a heat process, in which the plastic is melted to liquid, injected into a mold and dried quickly by cooling.

Resin is a liquid that is made into a solid by a catalyst (hardener) rather than heat.

Depending on the resin manufacturer and type of resin used, the casting art has gotten so good that there are bodies and parts you would swear were injection molded plastic.

Resin casters give us repops of older kits that are no longer available and / or cost prohibitive to acquire. Or they give us cool varieties of injection molded bodies and kits that we wouldn't see from a manufacturer, due to limited appeal of the subject matter. For instance, Revell gave us a 1950 Oldsmobile business coupe, A resin caster will take that and give us alternative bodies like a fastback or 4 door sedan.

[checkmate]

Resin is generally a little harder to work with but there's a lot of variables also. I've found the resin the Jimmy Flintstone uses is more brittle and less forgiving than the resin Auslowe or I use, I only use Revell Contacta model glue to assemble my stuff and have never had the need to use superglue.

When painted I usually give them a light sand and build up the coats of primer very thinly and gradually to avoid dramas.

As mentioned one of the advantages of resin is it offers a heap of cool alternative body styles that can expand your collection.