Working with Resin

So your order has arrived and cool looking models are strewn over your workspace.

What next? 3D prints are very similar to other materials, but if it's your first time assembling resin models, there are a couple of steps to bear in mind.

Preparing the models

First off, take a look over each piece looking for any leftovers from the printing process.
Although we take every care to remove supports, small bits of flash may remain. These can be flicked off with a sharp craft knife blade, they should fall off with a tiny bit of pressure. While you are checking for this, keep an eye out for any small pits left over from the support removal process. Any of these blemishes can be filled in using a very small amount of milliput, green stuff or similar modelling putty, just place a tiny amount in the pit and smooth it out with a wet sculpting tool or the flat of a knife blade.

Curved lances?

Occasionally you may find that thin weapons such as lances, spears and slender swords may be slightly curved. This doesn't happen often, but when it does there is a quick and easy fix. Resin is thermoreactive and it softens when heated.

The simplest way to deal with this is to get a cup of warm water from the hot tap, submerge the part until it becomes pliable, bring it out and gently move it into the desired postion and hold it in place until it cools.

Putting it all together

So all your parts are ready to go, but what glue to use? We strongly recommend superglue (cyanoacrylate) to assemble your new miniatures. For larger joins, it can be beneficial to gently score the contact points with a sharp knife to give the glue a surface to "grip" on to, and (although not needed) super glue activator can speed up the assembly process.

Getting ready to paint

Now the miniature is assembled, it's time to get some paint on it! Our prints go straight from ultrasonic cleaners, into curing chambers and then are bagged up straight away, so cleaning the miniature shouldn't be neccessary but if you do want to wash at this step then gently brush the models with a soft bristled toothbrush in some warm but not hot soapy water, rinse in clean cool water and leave them to dry.

All models, regardless of material will benefit greatly from undercoating with an appropriate primer. This can be done with spray primers (I recommend and use either Citadel or Colour Forge spray primers, but any made for miniatures will do the job), airbrush, or brush on primer. This will ensure that your paint adheres to the model properly, and will help to minimize any chipping.