My First Ever Resin Kit....HELP

Well I finally took the leap into things and bought my first ever resin kit.

upon opening the box my first impression was.......My gosh look at all that flash I have to trim!!

It is a Funaro & Camerlengo (I never heard of that company either) B&M Well Hole Flatcar with Load.

It comes with brass wire grabs and a sprue of Tichy detail parts.

I have trimmed most of the lfash from the major parts. I left the flash on the tiny parts for now though to sort of protect them from damage until I begin assembling this kit.

What I need to know is this. Are there any special considerations I should know about for resin kits?

Like special glues or prep work that I need to do to make sure I dont turn this nice looking kit into a blob of unrecognisable goop?

I really want this to go well especially since this will be my first Gauge rolling stock and also my entry in the July photo contest due to the boxed load on the car.
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Hi Chessie,

I have assembled a few small resin structure kits, and here are my two cents:

- Be sure to throughly wash all parts prior to assembly. You need to remove the mold release so the glue and paint stick properly.

- Small voids (if any - F&C are supposed to be top notch) can be filled with baking soda. Put a drop of liquid (thin stuff, not the gel) to cement it in place. Can then be filed and painted as normal.

- Check and recheck fit, filing as necessary.

- This only applies to buildings - if you want to light the structure, make sure that you paint the interior with a thick black paint. Lights will shine right through the resin, making the whole building glow. An alternative to the black paint is to line the building with tinfoil.

- CA works well to put the kits together. Use only what you need, and try a gel type - fills small gaps if necessary.

- Above all, refer to instructions. The manufacturer usually has tips for assembly and painting this "less common" material.

Andrew
 
Thanks so much for the tips.

I got really lucky on this kit, I only piad 6 dollars for it and I REALLY wanted to try my hand at a truely finescale rolling astock model for a change, especially after comparing my new (Used) Atlas Loco to my other locos. Only my IHC steamers come close to the detail level of it and this kit doesnt look too terribly difficult.

I am justa little woried about getting everything to fit right and it actually track true once it is assembled.

I know this is a really silly question, but do you reccommend painting before or after assembling the models?

I know painting before can cause issues with glue bonding properly and all and I was thinking of using my airbruch to paint the car once it is fully assembled and tested for rolling accuracy and all. That way if I have to unglue things and try again to get it to run well I can.

I also need to order some Andrews Trucks from kadee for it. as well as som kadee #5's .
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
For the painting part - I would paint as much before as you need to - i.e. stuff that is hard or impossible to get to once assembled. As for glue bonding - you are correct, but you can always touch up after if you have to remove a little paint to get a good bond.

One other thought - if you really want a great appearance, try Kadee #58 "scale" couplers (or any other brand if you prefer). They look a lot better than the #5's. I put them on my P2K 0-6-0 and they look excellent.

Andrew
 

mykroft

New Member
A couple of notes:

CA cures very fast on resin, even faster on skin. Be sure of the fit before you glue.

CA Debonder melts Resin better than it does CA.
 
F

Fred_M

And resin needs to be washed with alcohol and handled with latex gloves to paint. The oil from your fingers makes the paint fisheye and not stick. Fred
 

George D

Member
I'm starting my first resin kit a couple of months ago but I haven't done much work on it because of other higher priority projects. I have a couple of friends that have built them and the cars sure look good when they're finished. I bought Al Westerfield's DVD on resin car building and I think it's very informative. While he makes it look easy, I got the impression it doesn't take any special skills to build the kit, just careful work. His web site is: http://users.multipro.com/westerfield/

George
 
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