| Why
are resin models so hard to find?
I
get a lot of emails for people looking for specific resin models.
Usually cars, but it could be any kind of kit, from an airplane
to a figure.
I
don't think people understand why it's so hard to find resin kits
so I thought I would cover some of the reasons here.
Almost
all resin products are HAND MADE, one at a time. They are
very labor intensive to produce.
It
starts out as a process.
1.
First you have to come up with a product you want to replicate.
For a car model a caster will do some serious modifications to
an existing car kit or create one all of their own. Either way
there is a lot of putty, sanding and modifications that need to
be done. This takes many hours and is labor intensive. Any flaws
in the original work will be replicated into the cast product
- so it has to be perfect.
Here
you see a body that has been heavily modified
by hand (by Kazua JJ). While he won't be replicating this
body
you can see how a lot of labor is involved in making a
product to reproduce. |
2.
Once that is done, a mold has to be made to replicate the desired
model. A mold is typically made from silicone. Resin is poured
into the mold to cast the part.
Molds
are labor intensive to make and add even more man hours to the
entire process to recreate a model. Good resin casters then use
a large "pressure pot" to force air bubbles out of the
resin so that the end product is smooth and bubble free. The pressure
pots cost hundreds of dollars and can be a considerable business
cost.
 |
This
is an example of a pressure pot. The size needed depends
on how many molds you want to put in the pot at one time,
or how large of a model you want to create.
Larger
pots can hold several molds at one time to increase model
producton. |
3.
Once the resin has cured, the model must be removed carefully
from the mold. The silicone mold on a typical resin model can
produce around 30 or 40 products. That's if the mold does not
break or has degraded to a point to where it can no longer be
used.
Now
that you know how a resin model is produced you can see why they
cost more than a typical plastic model. But more important, you
can see why so few examples are made or exist.
If
you see a resin model you are interested in, your best move
is to buy it as soon as possible.
There
is no way to know how many of the resin product will be produced
(unless the manufacturer specifically uses serial numbers or sequential
numbers on them). Once the mold "blows out" - or goes
bad - that's it. No more products of that subject will be made.
Now
if the product is extremely popular, and the caster is making
good money from the product, they can make another mold and produce
more kits. But that rarely happens. Most never bother to
make another mold and move on to new products.
Often
times people are looking for resin models that have been out of
production for decades. There are just to few of them that exist.
There are 7 Billion people on the planet and finding a resin model
where maybe only 40 were made is a daunting task.
Again,
if you see a new resin model you are interested in, your best
move is to buy it as soon as possible.
If
you want to look for a resin model that's out of production then
you have a few options:
- You
can try ebay.
- If
there is a local model show / event near you, vendors there
will often have rare kits and models. You might get lucky and
find one.
- Facebook
- someone may be selling the model you want on in a Group board,
or you can post there what you're looking for to see if someone
is willing to sell their kit.
But
don't be disappointed if you can't find a resin kit that was produced
at one time in small numbers. As with any hand made object they
are often rare, and sometimes expensive, and resin kits are no
different.
Click
Here - to see a list of companies that resin cast car model
bodies and parts.
Click
Here for companies that make resin figures and scifi models
|
