noob question, what is resin modeling?

[blueoval92]

Well this may be kind of a dumb question but what i resin modeling. I see kits online being marketed as resin body car kits and such but have no idea what is actual meant and what building one entails. Is it just a body and you have to use other kits to get the rest of the parts? Somebody please give me a good breakdown of what resin modeling is and what it is about.

[91blaze]

Resin is merely the material in which the parts are cast. With a resin body, yes, you do need a donor kit of a similar vehicle. Sometimes, you can find whole resin kits, but they are typically expensive. Resin parts are just copies basically.

Parts are cast from resin because it does not have to be melted like styrene does.

[Art Anderson]

  On 7/30/2012 at 11:37 PM, blueoval92 said:

Well this may be kind of a dumb question but what i resin modeling. I see kits online being marketed as resin body car kits and such but have no idea what is actual meant and what building one entails. Is it just a body and you have to use other kits to get the rest of the parts? Somebody please give me a good breakdown of what resin modeling is and what it is about.

"Resin", in the model car sense, generally means bodies, parts, even full kits molded in urethane resin. Resin parts, generally cast in RTV rubber molds can be as simple as reproductions of existing kit parts (most generally those from long out-of-production kits; or parts that have been either modified from existing kit parts or in many cases, parts that were scratchbuilt by a modeler, then duplicated in resin.

Several resin-casters offer model car kits in two basic ways: As a full kit, meaning that all, or nearly all, parts, from chassis up through the body are provided. Most resin kits however, are what are called "transkits", meaning that they are intended to be used with an existing model car kit--this results in a different version of a particular car or truck--someone will have done all the conversion work ahead of time, then duplicated the results in resin.

Urethane resin is the material of choice almost always for many reasons. It behaves a bit differently from the polystyrene plastic that commercially produced plastic model cars are made from, in that the glues used for styrene often will not work, as plastic model glues work by dissolving the plastic slightly, allowing mating parts to be "welded" together. Resin parts on the other hand, cannot be dissolved in this manner, so either epoxies or cyanoacrylate (CA, or just think "Super Glue" here) are what has to be used.

Being a Newbie, stick around, read and look, resin stuff gets talked about a lot on these forums, and in Model Cars Magazine as well!

Art Anderson

[blueoval92]

thanks that helps a lot. So in general a resin model is the better choice for chopping tops and other modifications of the like, in a sense it is basically the model car equivalent to hot rodding.

[91blaze]

  On 7/31/2012 at 12:15 AM, blueoval92 said:

thanks that helps a lot. So in general a resin model is the better choice for chopping tops and other modifications of the like, in a sense it is basically the model car equivalent to hot rodding.

Not necessarily. A resin body is good if you don't want to do the work of chopping the top or modding the body. When someone chops a car body or does some other mods, they will make a copy of the body in resin and sell it. Or if there is a rare part that someone wants to copy, they will make a mold of it and cast it in resin.

As a matter of fact, resin bodies are bad to do mods on from what I understand. I've never used a resin body, but I've heard that they are more brittle than kit bodies.

[blueoval92]

ok, so they are pretty much more of a nostalgic collectors item for those wanting a correct body or to reproduce a custom mod they did to another

[blueoval92]

another question would be how do i cast my own resin model. I am wanting to build a AMT 61 ford galaxie styline reissue and plan to modify and change the the hood and to put a chassis and engine in it. I would like to be able to cast the body if it comes out well so that i could make my design available to anybody who finds it attractive and would want one.

[tvandmoviecars]

nicest thing about Resin is.. you can get cars that were never kitted.. or that havent been kitted in decades...

I have purchased cars like a 4 door 68 satellite, a 60s Dodge Van, and a phantom Dodge full sized modern SUV based on the Dodge Truck snap kit from about 10 years ago.

oh... and HEY ART!!! LTNS!!!

Don Covell Jr

Edited July 31, 2012 by tvandmoviecars

[Art Anderson]

  On 7/31/2012 at 12:42 AM, blueoval92 said:

another question would be how do i cast my own resin model. I am wanting to build a AMT 61 ford galaxie styline reissue and plan to modify and change the the hood and to put a chassis and engine in it. I would like to be able to cast the body if it comes out well so that i could make my design available to anybody who finds it attractive and would want one.

Gregg (boss of MCM) and I have worked up a series of articles in the magazine on resin casting--the next installment should be on making a mold for a complete body shell. Check for back issues of Model Cars Magazine, and look forward to the next issue, the body casting article ought to be in that one.

Art

[GerN]

Urethane resins vary. I use MicroMark CR-300 and it is very easy to work: its softer than Alumilite, not brittle, and for a large body part, I include thin fabric (old pajamas) for strength. Its also good to reinforce resin joints. In my On the Workbench topic (Mustang II custom), you can see how I cast the roof, widened it with a simple butt joint and reinforced with a piece of wire near where it meets the body. This area will receive the most styling (and stress). Give it a try - I have a lot of fun with resin.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm sure Art's MCM series is very good, 'cause the man knows what he's talking about. In case you want to get a quick overview of the process, and other applications, a company whose products I've used extensively over the years has several hours of instructional videos FREE online at:

http://www.freemansupply.com/video.htm

Though the videos are geared to industrial and art projects, the processes are identical.

[blueoval92]

thanks all for the help. will check out the videos sometime when i get closer to being ready to actually try casting. Trying to gather the kits i need to build my planned project.