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So im curious, im reading about a bunch of different kinds of models and a recurring theme is that people like pewter, resin or plastic models.

I started playing in 6th and own a mostly plastic army but was told that my spirit seers and far seer were made of resin not plastic so thats why they are hard to glue.

Whats the difference i work in the plastics industry and plastic is made from resin. My company keeps on hand like 6-8 different types of resin pellets for different products. At the end of the day it all plastic to me though.

Resin and plastic, in the wargaming and modelling industry are two different things:

Plastic is the dark grey you see in most models, most if not all new models from GW are made with plastic. Plastic glue works by melting the two pieces and fusing them together.

Resin is a light grey, and plastic glue doesn't work since resin doesn't melt, instead you need super glue.

Usually, when makers talk of "plastic" models, they are referring to what the industry refers to as "High Impact Polystyrene" (HIPS) that is pelletised, melted and injected into steel dies in a machine. The "glue" for these chemically welds the two parts together by means of the solvent.

PVC and ABS plastics are ALSO used in the injection moulded plastics world, though (and likewise require different solvent based "glues" to stick them together ).

Quite often, "resin" products are made from a 2-part polyurethane resin. Quite often poured by hand, as they often exhibit non-newtonian fluid dynamics when you try to push them into things (resisting harder the more you push).
Glues for these are usually either an epoxy adhesive, or a cyanoacrylate (superglue) adhesive.

 Matthew wrote:

Resin is a light grey,...

Not always. And a lot of HIPS models are light grey... The shade just depends on how much dye is added, as it starts out white.

Different resins are different colours. I've seen Forgeworld models in various shades of grey and beige.

In TableTop, Resin refers to Poly-Urethane and Plastic to Poly-Styrene (also called HIPS for HighImpactPolyStyrene)

Both are transparent by default but different colours can be mixed in.

The Problem is that some companies sell different kinds of resin or different kinds of plastics in general but don't want to tell what exactly it is.

So we have plastic, premium plastic, premium resin, resin, finecast, boardgame plastic, restic etc

I make cast film and we use different types of what we call resin to extrude through a die and cast while stretching to produce a film that looks much like saran wrap.

Because we call all of our plastic resin in the raw form i see all plastic as made from resin, just different mixtures of many types.

Searching for polystrene led me to a site that mentioned thermosetting plastics which is like two part epoxies i think(like chromodog mentioned). So they dont require the massive amounts of heat and pressure to push into a mold like extruded plastics.

Now i wonder why "resin" was so much more expensive to purchase because it doesnt have near the overhead that "plastic" does.

If I recall correctly, the resin used by FW and a lot of other model companies are also mildly toxic if you breath it in, while the plastic is less so.

I always wear a mask if I have to sand or saw resin of any kind but is a lot more loose around GW plastic.

vaurapung wrote:

Now i wonder why "resin" was so much more expensive to purchase because it doesnt have near the overhead that "plastic" does.

Resin is much more labour-intensive to cast, as HIPS is cast in pressure-injection machines which are largely automated (the most time-consuming part of the process is swapping the mould out for a different one) whereas resin is usually cast by hand. So HIPS offers less overhead by cast, so long as you expect to sell enough of them to offset the cost of making the mould (which has decreased significantly in recent years thanks to technology advances) while resin is cheaper to set up but more time-consuming and costly for each cast.


GW did experiment with machine casting with resin (their now defunct 'Finecast' range) to replace their metal range, which was an absolute disaster. I think that was spincast, and the quality was ... variable, to be polite.

The resins used for casting miniatures is a lot more expensive than the plastic used in injection molding. Resin is (I think?) cheaper than metal, but casting in metal is quicker and easier and the molds last longer, so for smaller stuff metal is the economical choice for casting companies - the cost difference is basically negligible.

Once you get to bigger stuff, though, the cost of metal becomes more prohibitive, so the extra time casting in resin becomes worth it, and it keeps big models from being solid bricks of pewter.

GW seems to want to get entirely away from metal casting (probably for the main reason that metal minis are the easiest to strip and re-sell or re-paint, cutting into their sales), so they're using resin on the smaller pieces until they get to the point where they can injection mold cast everything.

 MechaEmperor7000 wrote:
If I recall correctly, the resin used by FW and a lot of other model companies are also mildly toxic if you breath it in, while the plastic is less so.

I always wear a mask if I have to sand or saw resin of any kind but is a lot more loose around GW plastic.

No, you don't recall correctly.

Two part resins are frequently unpleasant in their raw, liquid form, but they're inert, and therefore non toxic, once they're mixed and cured.

There can be scope for a resin not to cure correctly, retaining some toxicity, and any fine particulate can cause issues with the respiratory system if inhaled in sufficient quantity, this isn't specific to resin and plastic would be equally problematic if you were handling it in a way that produced dust, this is just much less likely for a hobbyist.

Even the oft touted toxic resin allegedly used by recasters has no actual evidence to support this idea, in fact one Dakka user went so far to have it laboratory tested, and it was just as (non) toxic as Forgeworld in any meaningful sense.

 John Prins wrote:

GW seems to want to get entirely away from metal casting (probably for the main reason that metal minis are the easiest to strip and re-sell or re-paint, cutting into their sales), so they're using resin on the smaller pieces until they get to the point where they can injection mold cast everything.

I don't think it was anything to do with resales, but simple economics.

The price of tin shot up a few years ago, and has always been variable, which made resin a more attractive option. Resin is also lighter, which makes shipping it around the world cheaper.

From a modelling perspective, resin is also a lot easier to work with than metal.

The only things that let 'Fine'cast down were that GW trumpeted that they were switching to a less expensive material and accompanied that with a massive price hike... And their quality control was seriously lacking. Aside from its heat sensitivity, well-cast 'Fine'cast was great. But too many had casts were making it onto store shelves.

Two part resins are frequently unpleasant in their raw, liquid form, but they're inert, and therefore non toxic, once they're mixed and cured.

It's not toxic per se but it's hazardous because resin particles are basically jagged and breathing those in will do mechanical damage to the lungs. The same way asbestos doesn't chemically interact with the body but does damage just by being spiky.

So it's still a great idea to wear a mask, wash your hands etc when sanding resin.

Most plastic resins average a dollar a pound in their raw pellet form and the price of plastic pellets inflates and deflates along with oil/fuel prices (about a month or two before gas prices fluctuate). So resin is very cheap but molds in a quick search can still run from 20 to 80 thousand dollars then the extruder which heats to 300-500 degrees with hoppers and mixers plus screen changers that have to withstand over 5000psi gets real costly up front. Also start up and shut down procedures for extrusion typically are more costly than running time.

So to get new models could take years of sales to finance the new mold and equipment that has worn down and boy it wears out faster than imaginable.

Thats why i thought epoxy based resins seemed more cost effective after i found out that it was a cold two part epoxy not plastic resin. Molds are cheap and you can churn out new models with every new sculpt rather than new models only every few years.