A friend of mine gave me a Cold War Soviet cruiser (a Kresta) from Combrig. It’s my first resin ship. When working with plastic I will sometimes paint a lot before assembling. I’m thinking that may be harder with resin since I’ll be working with CA glue (I think)?
But I’m uncertain. What are your best tips for a first time resin ship builder?
I don’t build floaty things, so I’ll refrain from commenting on best techniques there, but…
The nice thing about working with resin and CA is that it’s actually easier to prepaint some items. CA doesn’t react with paint like styrene cement does.
You’ll still need to ensure a clean surface for optional bond, but it won’t act like a thinner and strip paint like styrene cement does.
Also consider investing in some 5min epoxy for bigger bits. Not as brittle as CA.
I am very reluctant about resin ships because most of the time the upper works are cast to the decks and hull making one solid chunk. That must make an enormous, and difficult amount of masking decks from superstructures, etc.
I have built a couple of ComBrig kits. They resin is very nice to work, the detail is usually a lot finer than plastic but they also provide a lot of detail in photo etch which is quite fragile. Definitely CA glue is required, or epoxy if you wish for larger pieces i.e. if you building a FH version then the hull usually comes in two parts, upper and lower. As for superstructure, it depends on the size of the boat., but usually the first layer is cast with the upper hull. Masking is not that big a deal. You will need to make your own masts, one drawback with ComBrig. If your want some brass ones Master make very nice masts and spars for ships. For painting, definitely wash the resin parts and you must use a primer otherwise the paint will peel off. I don’t know anything about Soviet cruisers so I don’t know about their colour schemes and where pre-painting of components maybe be required. ComBrig don’t give colour callouts so you’ll need to do your own research.
cheers
Michael
Thanks for the tips, guys.
I have a warped piece of resin that I’m not sure what to do about. It’s a kind of deck that runs the length of the superstructure and bends up at the back (because of the warping). It’s with 3 or 4 other pieces on a wafer which is supposed to be sanded off. I think I can separate the other pieces and sand them off, but then I’m not sure what to do about that larger piece. Do I heat it and brace it to something to get it back to flat? I do that with plastic hulls that get warped, not sure about resin?
Usually straightening resin parts in hot water is easier than plastic - plastic has more memory than resin and wants to return to it’s original shape. Just dip the warped resin piece in hot water and gently straighten, then plunge into cold water to hold the shape. How long you heat the part, or how hot to make the water depends on the thickness of the part. If the piece doesn’t bend easily on the first try, then try again with hotter water.