Help Needed: Working with resin buildings

[NeilCFord]

I've got a small number of resin sci-fi buildings that I want to work on and have realised that I've never actually worked with any before! So am looking for advice on a couple of things.

What are the best tools for working with resin? As can be seen in the photo below, some of the buildings have raised areas on the underside, which means they don't sit flat. What is the best way of treating that? Sanding? Grinding with a rotary tool?



The outer surfaces of the models are rough, which hopefully means paint should adhere okay, but does resin need any special prep?

Thanks in advance for all advice and help.

- Neil.

[Leman]

Resin should always be washed thoroughly in detergent  and thoroughly rinsed and left to dry before painting, otherwise paint adheres very badly owing to loosening agent.

[Fenton]

I would first give it a really good wash to make sure you get all the release compound off

On the shiney bits I use fine sandpaper just to rough it up

Then just prime and paint as normal

Any air bubbles I usually just use a plastic putty to fill them in. You can sometimes use the resin dust you have sanded off to mix in with the putty


Any really raised bits underneath I use the dremel

[petercooman]

Probably wear a mask when you sand it!

[Steve J]

Yep, wash well and then sand the base flat if possible. Alternately you can add a bit of filler to the base and sit it flat so that it's level as it dries.

[Steeleye]

Definitely wear a mask if you're using power tools to sand down raised areas!

[Orcs]

Scrub them thouroughly to get rid of the loosening agent.

Place them in relatively hot water with some washing  up liquid to soak for a few moments.
Take a realatively soft brush ( I use a cheap tothbrushes from the supermarket) put a tiny mount of washing up liquid on the brush and scrub it gently all over.
Rinse thouroughly and allow to dry

If this is for Dystopian wars stuff you will need to repeat the above

With thin models ie fences and walls if the water is too hot they will become soft. They will harden when they cool.

To flatten the base put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and rub the model across the sandpaper. 

[NeilCFord]

Thanks all. Washing up liquid, face mask and sanding tools are now at the ready. If it would just stop raining I could get them spray primed as well!

- Neil.