Hi guys,

I think it is great to have resin kits available, or the combination multimedia ones ones becasue they increase realism.
The injection moulding companies investigate and choose subjects that will be sold by thousands all over the world; they make the kit as complex and detailed as they want to attract interest.
Usually the more expensive or larger kits come with hundreds of small parts, Dragon is one of them.....I like those kits because I like preparing and gluing them together since a small boy.
But I also like other media like wood, resin, metal and paper or in combination.

Resin kits are made for a smaller market and models are chosen that are rare or improvements of old plastic ones; there are lots of planes, cars, trucks, soldiers etc that were never made available as a plastic kit or only very simplistic or too course to some liking....several decades ago.
The resin manufacturer decides to make a kit to a certain detail and quality within their abilities because it is not easy as a small company to invest and gamble for a succes.
Therefor I agree that it is handy to check the net about a kit prior to buying it: pick one you can start with or take the challenge and try a "bad" one and see what you learn, practise makes perfect.
The magazines are also handy to see what will be or what is on the market.

Several kits come as multi media kits with a combination of plastic, resin and PE, use this as a start (PE is also fiddly enough....how to bend and get the very small piece where you want it without glueing your fingers or tweezers to it....it is fun though).
Resin kits can be rather expensive compared to other kits (small production, so higher costs per item).
Resin kits have fewer parts because a lot of detail can be cast per part, this also saves very small resin parts to prepare and glue with a possible poorer result than plastic. (some like building with many pieces others like the result regardless of the pieces).

Resin can have a very high detail because what the artists carves in the mould is what you get thanks to the greater hardness, it comes easy enough out of the mould.
Resin is harder than the soft plastic and therefore easier to break when it bends a bit (brittle), repairing a break in resin or plastic is always hard and needs a lot of pre and post work.
Plastic has no bubbles due to the injection pressure: bubbles are compressed and kneeded out of the "dough" by the augers before injection; there will be shrinkage marks and pin marks.
Resin has pores/bubbles internally/externally which can be seen by eye or not, bubbles make resin also brittler. High quality means less bubbles and higher price. The resin mixture quality is important: right ratio of parts, right temperature, careful but well mixing, slow casting, good mould design so the bubbles can rise to surface and dissappear in the air or in the casting blocks; all important to increase quality. The more labour and time spent the higher the production costs and retail price.

Resin models have a solid feel because there is more material used, injection mouldings have more external cavities in parts (tank suspension arms) and need to be filled...two reasons: 1. it saves plastic and weight, 2. a thick part cools a lot slower so it will create more shrink and also a different internal structure: the part becomes brittle at the inside and will not bend as much as expected and might break)
The casting block is needed during the casting process but not removed: it keeps multiple parts on one block together, it gives a handle to hold while you improve the piece but we have to remove it ourselves carefully. The manufacturer does this only for their samples to see if things work, we have to cut or sand it off.
A fine razor saw, best to have several types, is needed here to keep control: grab it somewhere where you don't damage the piece or your fingers and go slow to keep control of the blad. A blade can get stuck and bent and cause something to break off. Do a lot of this in stages to keep focussed.
Sanding sticks or homemade ones or little files are also needed.

All cutting, sawing and sanding cause dust which is harmful; ANY dust (resin, plastic, wood, mdf, metal, paper) is harmful for our lungs, eyes and/or blood in one way or another so keep it away from you by doing it outside if possible (keeps bench area clean too) but also by using a dustmask and glasses, a simple mask will do. (Not your airbrush mask because that is for vapour and may get clogged very soon and useless).
We as modellers use a lot of harmful media and should protect ourselves against their effects because we use these on a regular basis and could therefore develop allergies or reactions: dusts, standard and specialised thinners, standard and specialised paint cleaners, glues and their solvents (bonding cement, epoxy, CA, sprayglue, PVA a bit), fillers, paints from pot, airbrush and spraycans (solvents, alcohol, oils, pigments, lacquers....acrylics are less harmful but still may contain alcohol and will create more spraydust due to fast drying overspray) and whatever else you like to use from household to industrial stuff.
These things affect our skin (dryness, cracking, itching, spots, redness), lungs (like smoking it reduces its function), eyes (tears, irritating, lesser sight)...most people can stand this for a long term some people will be affected very soon or right away so mind your family and pets.

I think that all extra work on a resin kit gives great satisfaction during and after the build, it is sometimes a great challenge to start such a kit.
If the review states that it is hard or a poor fit then some people will not and some people will just do it for that reason.
A poor fit can be improved by planning it well, maybe modifying the parts a bit.
Filling is unavoidable but reducing this is a help: all filler needs to be sanded again so use little but one that sands well....try the possibilities: CA, CA + soda powder or other filler, epoxy, plastic powder and epoxy, one component model filler, two component model filler, car filler etc.
When you think all is done and well, wash/degrease and then prime in a light colour and you will see shadows where they shouldn't be from edges, pores etc...decide whether they will be seen after painting or not and re-fill and re-prep where required and re-prime locally or all over again.
Then it is finally ready for painting, decalling, weathering, washing etc.

It is recommendable to also prime the plastic models because this will also show up irregularities, seams and pores in filler or glue.
Primers and paints will react while drying on any substrate so if you see swirl marks on the large plastic parts (shells, wings, bodies, roofs etc) caused by the injection flow and solidifying crystalisation it is possible that this will be seen on the painted surface as well, depending on paint type, brand, layer thickness and colour. If it shows on the paint it may ruin the appearance, so a prime coat will prevent this.

Sorry for the long talk and I don't want to sound as a teacher I have just a lot to say but also a lot to hear.
I like sharing these things and just started the forum.
I buy my kits within a certain size to be able to put them somewhere "SAVE"....I bought the big Revell Ju88 on pre-order and loved it but gave it to my father in Holland to build because of the size.
It gives satisfaction to look at the parts in detail too.
So I have a lot of unstarted kits.....like someone else put "I collect both models and kits in boxes"