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I want to start a Death Korps army, but I've heard the resin used for FW models is somewhat flimsy, and that's pretty disheartening. Is there any way to make resin models more sturdy? Seeing my models bend and break super easily would stress me out and piss me off so much. Solid (pun intended) advice is greatly appreciated.

Recasts break easy, Original fw not

They are not flimsy so much as something you need to take care of differently.
Where you might pluck out a metal miniature that has become snagged in your foam carry case, doing that with resin will snap a detail. So you simply have to be gentle. They're not eggshells, but if you rush, you'll pay the price.

Moving them around the table, dropping them onto a desk accidentally or bumping them together as you pick up a group, those aren't major concerns at all. In fact the weight is an advantage as a small drop is less costly to your paint job than it would be to heavy metal.

The resin is no softer than anyone else's, and it's certainly firmer than Finecast. It stands up to being used, else nobody would.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 winterwind85 wrote:
Recasts break easy, Original fw not

Not really the case at all. Recasts are sometimes more brittle, but some actually use stronger resin than GW.
In both cases it's the sculpt and detail that's vulnerable to breaks, the material is fairly irrelevant.

 winterwind85 wrote:
Recasts break easy, Original fw not

ALL resin is brittle (recasts often use the SAME kind of resin - it's usually ALL done with polyurethane resins anyway.
Recasts are no more or less fragile than the FW originals and both are less fragile than *finecrap*

The smaller and thinner the pieces, the more it will be a problem. Especially if the bits are small AND stick out at odd angles.

Don't treat them like a 3 year old treats toys and you shouldn't have any issues.

That's good to hear... but I still see a lot of bent details in FW models that I see in pictures. Most often, it's swords and stubbers. Do you think that's just because the owners roughed 'em up?

I take good care of my personal stuff, though. If they really aren't flimsy and fragile, I know I personally won't have a problem.

 Yack Maniels wrote:
That's good to hear... but I still see a lot of bent details in FW models that I see in pictures. Most often, it's swords and stubbers. Do you think that's just because the owners roughed 'em up?

I take good care of my personal stuff, though. If they really aren't flimsy and fragile, I know I personally won't have a problem.

Sounds like you're new to resin, the bent details can be straighten by holding under near boiling hot water for a few seconds, then straighten to cool. Resin also needs to be washed with soap before priming and painting otherwise the paint is hard to stick.

I don't have much experience with resin, but don't use plastic model glue for it, like the kind you get from GW. It will work, but it takes forever to dry on resin. I found that plain, old crazy glue does the trick in seconds, and is super sturdy almost immediately. Just be sure you have the model in the pose you want within like 5 seconds, or you'll have to cut it.

Also, that's a good tip about the soap. I was so frustrated watching the paint scoot around everywhere when I was painting.

Resin that isn't fully cured tends to bend more easily - and it will usually have a strong smell (it fades with the curing).

That said, FW mould release is some of the more stubborn I've faced (outside of that toughest girls in the galaxy KS lot). I had to take to them with a toothbrush and toothpaste to cut it back on occasion (toothpaste is a very mild abrasive) just to get the primer to hold.

Auto primer is recommended by FW for their stuff, btw - they don't even recommend priming with the GW spraycans ...

Oh, and superglue or epoxy adhesives for resin. Plastic (polystyrene cements) don't work on resins (as they are the wrong kind of 'plastic').

 Big Mac wrote:

 Yack Maniels wrote:
That's good to hear... but I still see a lot of bent details in FW models that I see in pictures. Most often, it's swords and stubbers. Do you think that's just because the owners roughed 'em up?

I take good care of my personal stuff, though. If they really aren't flimsy and fragile, I know I personally won't have a problem.

Sounds like you're new to resin, the bent details can be straighten by holding under near boiling hot water for a few seconds, then straighten to cool. Resin also needs to be washed with soap before priming and painting otherwise the paint is hard to stick.

I'm new to the hobby in general, haha.

How should I wash the models though? Soak them in soapy water?

I soak any resin kits in soapy water, scrub with a soft toothbrush, then rinse in clean cool water and then lay out on a towel and allow them to air dry for about 24 hours.

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/Modelling/Working_With_Resin_Models.pdf

I just finished up on my first FW resin piece and I had the same concerns before I started on it - bending, brittleness and of course the release agent. I scrubbed the crap out of it (4 times or so with toothbrush and dishsoap) and then sprayed with GW Chaos black - zero problems had there. paint adhered beautifully. I thnk maybe the resin they used in the past may have been more brittle to give rise to that concern but the model I got has already got dropped a few times (butterfingers me!!) and no damage at all - so it seems to be Jan-proof so far!! That said - don't fling the things around! The only thing I needed to bend was the hoses on the back that connect the should gun to the powerpack (it's an admech castellax automaton btw) and I did that easily enough with just the hot water from the sink's tap. As it was my first resin, I guess I overprepared somewhat but was really happy to find out that a lot of the problems I'd heard about really weren't the case or were much less a thing than I thought they'd be. FW's sculpts are gorgeous and defientely worth a flutter. Good luck with them

oh - I did pin the feet on up into the ankles but that was more for basing later and I used pins for the weapon hoses but the other parts didnt need to bother. Good ol'superglue does the trick perfectly

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, all the comments were helpful and definitely put me at ease. I definitely feel confident about starting my Death Korps now. Much appreciated.

They all lie, after all my time with so many dif resins I learnt one thing fakes are just as good as the real thing if they are given time TIME.

I had a FW greater daemon of khorne reach me that I could bend the arm in half if I liked. Put it on the shelf for nearly 2 weeks came back and it firmed up. Altho resin hardens in upto 12 hours it seems to get harder and harder with time much like concrete...and anyone who tried to tare up 20+ year old concrete knows what I am talking about lol.