Re: [DSII] Genre

Thomas Anderson wrote:

> of course, everything GZG makes is exotic and diverse, so they only
use
> lead :-). well, except for the resins. i assume that resin is cheaper
than
> lead, but that for some reason it's no good for small minis. can
anyone
> explain this?
>

Too fiddley, really. You'd get an exceptionally high proportion of
miscasts
from a small (25mm figure / 6mm vehicle sized) mould. Plus curing time
for
resin is a factor - several hours is the norm. If you were casting your
standard models (tanks, troopers etc) you simply couldn't cast 'em quick
enough. You can't assume more than one casting per mould per day. Resin
moulds
are generally (although not always) open topped, hence 25mm vehicles are
cast
in two halves (top and bottom) which are glued together to hide to open
surface. Polyester resin is too brittle for fine pieces such as 6mm
vehicle
gun barrels unless it's reinforced by casting wire inside, which again
increases the time taken per casting.

Pluses for resin ? Well, you can get very good detail definition, better
than
metal, especially from polyurethane resins which are used by historical
AFV
manufacturers (although these do give off cyanide gas when curing, which
is I
guess one of the reasons why Jon and GZG use polyester instead).
Polyurethane
is also much more flexible then polyester - it can be carved, drilled
and cut
without shattering.

Tony