Modeling vinyl kits

Built a Ray Harryhausen critter using RogueJ's basic information. That seems to be the standard for vinyl. Be really careful with your adhesives, gang! -Ed

I've been building vinyl kits for sometime now. I recommend using a hair dryer to warm the parts and then to trim off the flash with your Xacto as close as possible to ensure a good fit. Careful use caution, the vinyl will be very soft and the knife is very sharp. You could miscut or harm yourself. Maintain control of the knife. Sometimes it is better to trim off a large amount of flash while the kit is warm and then fine trim after it firms up for better control. Some people prefer using warm water to soften their kits also. After trimming test fit and trim as needed. Use super glues such as "Zap-a-gap" to attach parts. I would suggest filling the legs with plaster paris to add weight and stability. I also stuff newspaper or strips of plastic bags to add support and structure to the kit. Some use foam fillers like "Mountains in Minutes". Doing this can keep a kit from collasping in on itself. With ANY kit you should always wash the parts to remove mold release agents. I would suggest priming the kit before painting ( I use Krylon Sandable Grey Primer), then paint using acrylic paints (Tamiya, Poly S, Badger's Freak Flex). I would not recommend using enamels of vinyl. Don't give up on vinyl, there are plenty of great kits out there. As mentioned earlier, there is plenty of information available at the Gremlins in the Garage website and in a magazine called "Amazing Figure Modeler".

Good luck
Rogue

I forgot to mention, David Fisher has a series of tapes (vol 1-4 so far) known as Model Mania which contain a wealth of building and painting information for vinyl and resin figures. I recommend checking them out. You can find them through the Amazing Figure Modeler magazine, AFM's website and possibly through Amazon.com. I'm not certain about Amazon though.

I had seen a site with some information specific to that kit, unfortunately the address escapes me at the moment.

A ccording to that site, regular liquid cement, such as Testors, could be used, so thats what I did use for the most part. and that where the melting occured. no discernable melting happened where I used CA glue.

Hope you have better luck with it than I did. The seams are a pain to clean up and you have to work VERY slowly with the sanding stick to avoid layers of whatever the kit is made from peeling back off of each other like onion skin.

Upnorth - Thanks for passing that on. I bought that same kit around Christmas, looked inside and thought - "Yup. That's a nasty lookin' critter." and put it back in the box. I never noticed it was vinyl. What adhesives did you use?

I love this site!

O.K.

The kit, sadly, became a write-off.

It was a Zerg Hydralisk from the Starcraft computer game. If I recall correctly it came out under the Academy Korea label.

Its main parts were VERY soft and pliable, more like rubber than what you'd expect to find in a vinyl kit.

I used tips I found on the internet sites about vinyl kit building and used the recomended adhesives. All I ended up with was a shapeless pool of goo.

So I really can no longer say for certain if the kit was vinyl, but if you come across it in a hobby shop, thats what you'll get for your money.

Just so other folks won't be surprised like you were, what kit was it?

Hi,

vinyl has its tricks, you can bond with superglue, to get a best fit warm the elements with a hair blower (vinyl gets soft when heated)

To trim pars soft them in hot water, so you could use your hobby knife easier.

To fill gaps you can use superglue for the smaller ones and epoxy putty for larger ones.

Before painting, you must wash the surface to get rid offthe release agent they put on the molds. Then its highly recommended to prime the kit, it will help the paint to set in.

You must use acrilics or another water based paint. You can use enamels ONLY if you use them in a very small areas and over a painted surface.

If you use enamels over vinyl it wont dry and become sticky FOREVER!!!!

upnorth - eh?,

Get on the 'Net and go to Gremins in the Garage - lots of tips for vinyl figures.

http://www.gremlins.com/index.html