Working with Resin

Resin is the best material for high quality miniatures as it allows far more detail than plastic or metal. If you are unfamiliar with resin miniatures, we recommend you take some time to read this guide.

Most Important

  • Our products do not usually need to be washed before use if you are using a good quality spray primer, but it is good practice just in case.
  • Please be extremely careful when working with knives, saws, files, Pin Vices etc
  • Take extra care if you are unused to the material, as its physical properties are a little different from plastic/metal.
  • Breathing in small particles is potentially hazardous. If you need to sand or file Anvil Industry products, please work in a well ventilated area and wear a dust mask.
  • Test fit first before assembly, and always use good quality super glue.

Material properties

Our high-quality resin is durable, slightly flexible, and easy to work with using most hobby tools. It is not as strong as injection moulded plastic/metal so consider how you will store your miniatures.

If you’ve not worked with resin before, we recommend you practice using various tools on a piece of sprue or unimportant/invisible bit of a part. Experiment with cutting into it, it's always best to shave off small amounts, don’t try and cut massive chunks.

Resin will soften in heat. This is great because it allows you to bend and shape flexible components, but you do need to be careful to store your miniatures at approx room temperature. Do not leave them somewhere hot e.g a car boot on a sunny day.

 

Painting

As we do not use large quantities of mould release spray (which can cause trouble with other kits) our Miniatures and parts will usually take primer spray and paints with no problem at all. A good quality matt primer spray is recommend. As you are investing in premium quality resin models, get a premium quality spray paint to get a good coverage with out obscuring the detail.

You can also hand undercoat with a brush or use an airbrush with very good results. Vallejo's "model air" range adheres excellently to resin.  Hand undercoating takes longer but can sometimes get better results.


If you have any further questions about any part of the process we will be happy to help you get the most out of your purchase.