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Caring For Your Resins

Answering some common questions:

 

Unpainted resin facts:

The unpainted resin (typically white but may be dyed) is intended to be painted. 

  • The majority of my products are unpainted resin and are intended to be painted. 

  • Paintwork will be of higher quality if the models are first prepped.

  • Take care to treat these models gently. I try my very best to craft these in a way what are durable, but there can still be breaks in thin areas (such as ears) if the models are dropped, knocked, or crushed. 

 

Clear resin facts:

Clear resin is occasionally used in my products for special events. These horses can be painted (and customised) if required or desired, but be aware that as special models these aren’t intended to be fully painted. Here are some tips or recommendations for working with it:

  • This resin is a bit gummy in comparison to the standard white resin most people are used to working with. Although not identical, it behaves a bit more like the plastics used in Schleich and similar types of models. As such, there are more difficult to sand smoothly, and thus Apoxie work may be difficult though not impossible.

  • This resin also tends to be quite slippery with little tooth, so paint will most likely not stick particularly well. As such I would highly recommend sanding and priming before painting (see below). 

  • Standard Primer will knock out the translucent quality of this resin. As an alternative, I would suggest priming with a clear gesso or similar product if you are looking to maintain translucency. This tends to be brushed on, so you can put it on large areas of the horse, or even small areas like eyes, hooves, etc. 

  • Want to detail your model, hide a flaw, or make make your model unique? I would recommend painting eyes, hooves, etc. You may also do more to the model, but keep as much of the clear resin showing as possible for your design please! These are difficult and expensive to make, so it is a shame to completely paint over them. I fully endorse light to moderate paintwork and customization on these though. And please share your final results! I would love to see. 

  • Is there a glittery sheen to your model? See the next segment: 

 

Pigment coated resins: 

If your mode has any sparkles/glittery/pearlescent sheen to them, they are been cast with pigment powder. This means the powder is imbedded in the resin. It is not painted on! These may be done with dyed white resin or clear resin. 

  • For surface sparkle/glitter/pearl models, this was made with pigment brushed into the mould by hand, and as such, each one will be different. 

  • Removal of the glitter is not possible with any solvents. The only way to remove it is by scraping or sanding, to which you risk damaging the model (but you could put the effort in to polish it back up to look smooth again). 

  • Any scratches or sanded spots (such as seams etc) can be touched up using Testor’s Dullcote and the matching PearlEx pigment powder. Please contact me if you need assistance in matching the pigment powder (I tend to keep records of what I use). 

  • Want to detail your model, hide a flaw, or put your mark on the model? I would recommend painting eyes, hooves, etc. You may also do more to the model, but keep as much of the sparkle/glitter/pearl pigment work showing as possible for your design please! These are difficult and expensive to make, so it is a shame to completely paint over them. I fully endorse light to moderate paintwork and customization on these though. And please share your final results! I would love to see. 

  • The exception to this is if the model is made of clear resin and it looks like there is sparkle/glitter/pearl powder mixed throughout the resin. These are exactly that! Pigment was mixed into the resin before curing and it cannot be removed. See the above section for info on making modifications on these models.

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