As I learn to work with resin parts, I thought I’d share a few of the tips I’ve picked up along the way.

Resin

  • You’ve probably read this a hundred times before, but I’ll share it again: resin dust is nasty, stinky, and dangerous to your lungs. Use water when you sand to keep the dust to a minimum. I use beauty store washable sanding boards. I have an old plastic container with a lid that sits on my workbench that I can dip the sanding boards in from time to time, or even the part itself to rinse off the dust and/or mud that I’m creating by sanding.
  • I also use a respirator.
  • The easiest way to separate the casting sprues from the part is simply to score slowly and gently in the right place. Take a few passes with medium pressure and it’ll snap right off with a little pressure. Don’t get impatient. This is a clean, simple way to do this that requires less cleanup, but if you get to antsy, you’ll break the part!
  • Use a #11 type blade as an alternative to sanding. Resin parts tend to be soft enough to sand fast, which means you can take off too much. Scrape off unwanted material with the knife, rather than sanding.
  • Take good detailed pictures of the parts before separate them from the sprue. Both sides! You’d be surprised how many times you find yourself wondering where to sand down to…what is part and what is sprue? Depending on the manufacturer, this may be more or less obvious.
  • Like I mentioned in the photoetch post, instructions suck. Make sure to lean on your research material and photos, and even other models made with these same add-on kits. Test fit like crazy. Think logically about what would have made sense in the field. Think twice, glue once!
  • Super glues CAN come off… drop some debonder in the area of the part to remove and let it soak for a few minutes. Eventually, it should just pop right off. Don’t force it though! Patience, young grasshopper.

What about you? What tips have you found?