Resin, acrylic, and Pro. skill

If you are interested in large scale resin figure kits(1/8 and bigger) drop me an e-mail.
That type of kits don't get all that much coverage here.

Have to disagree with the hard to correct tiny air-bubbles, I get rid of mine with one application of putty and a quick sanding step.
Larger air-bubbles might need a bit more work but they can also be taken care of.

FYI, I do a lot of large scale resin kits, and dabble for the fun of it in plastic models.

Some more on resin vs plastic
Resin needs superglue or epoxy as an adhessive. Regular plastic cement will not work since this acts to weld two pieces of plastic together.
Resin may produce models with much crisper detail than plastic and can have detail in underccut areas impossible for the injection molding process.
Resin figures have the sharpest detail among plastic and metal figures., IMHO.
There is evidence that the dust from sanding resin may have long term health risks. Care needs to be taken when cleaning up these pieces.
Resin kits are more expensive than standard plastics since they are made in limited runs and the mold has a shorter life span than the injection molds. Resin is also more brittle than regular plastic and generally requires more clean up due to its being poured into a mold. The curing process may leave many tiny, hard to correct air bubble holes.

As was mentioned, you will find resin kits and conversions the plastic manufacturers have never touched.

To your question on paints. The newest generation of acrylics, Vallejo and Andrea, may give results to rival oils in figure painting. ModelMaster and PollyScale are good for both brush and airbrush painting. I personally have no use for Tamiya and don't want to get iinto my rant on that paint here. Suffice it to say you have much better options than this.
Acrylics dry much faster than enamels, much less oils. This reduces the abiilty to blend them but smooth effects are possible. They tend to clog airbrush nozzles more quickly than enamels. That said, since they are water based, clean up is much easier and they are safer, environmentally and from a healrth persepctive since they don't use petrochemical solvents.

In short, resin kits and plastic kits are not competing for the same market but are complementary to each other. The choice of paints is a matter of prefernce.

Read through the painting and airbrushing forum the topic has been covered there multiple times.

Nearly forgot. Welcome to the Asylum ... ooops Forum.

Hi There - I was just wondering if you could elaborate on enamel vs. acrylic.
I turned to enamels a few years back and just wonder if that was the right decision.

I have been turning stuff out pretty well with enamels, but wonder if at the end of the day acrylics are a better idea.

Can you tell me what the pros and cons are for both ?

Thanks

There is quite a difference between Resin and Plastic model kits. Plastic kits are injection moulded and are mass produced by companies like Tamiya, Dragon, Italeri, etc. Resin kits are poured into moulds and use a catalyst to harden them. They are usually made by small companies (cottage industry) but play an important part in todays modelling bringing all sorts of "Aftermarket Parts" and rarely seen kits into play. Resin is usually more difficult to work with at the full kit level and precautions must be used when sanding for health reasons as the dust is very fine.

Acrylics are just fine IMHO for all aspects of modelling. I've personally used them for over 10 years.

The skill level for building a resin kit is something that I would suggest that you be a seasoned modeller before tackling one. But that does not exclude you from using After Market add ons or correction kits which are a great place to start. As far as acrylic paints go, I'd suggest them for all users at all levels.

Hope this helped a bit.