Home

Prepping Seams on resin horses:

I like to start with the seam along the back of the horse because it is rather simple and takes care of a large area. Starting with my exacto knife I begin by scraping the resin on the high side of the seam to near level. Be careful not to take off too much material as it is easier to smooth the resin down than to have to fill areas where you removed too much resin. As you get close to evening out the seem switch over to a medium fine grade of sandpaper to give yourself more control. Finish the seam by smoothing with fine sand paper. I like to use sanding sponges to give my seam a nice smooth finish because they conform the surface of the horse really well.

TIP: A dull exacto knife is great for scraping seams. I snap a tiny bit of the tip off of the blade with pliers and then I sand it using fine sandpaper to really dull it and round off the tip. A sharp blade catches and gouges too easily in my experience. A carbide scraper also tends to catch on the surface of the resin unless a light pressure is used.

Sometimes the seam has a depression that will need to be filled.

In this case if there is a depression in the resin horse and it is rather shallow you might make the decision to just sand it smooth, but if the depression is deeper you will want to fill it with a bit of Apoxie Sculpt. After the Apoxie Sculpt has set you can sand it smooth.

Smoothing the seams in the mane and tail is not that difficult.

Starting with the mane I take my exacto knife and work on making sure the texture and flow of the mane is continuous. Where the mane doesn't meet evenly you may have to cut with your tool to even things out. Carefully scrape the seam away and finish by sanding. Little pieces of sand paper can be folded and worked in between the texture to finish. If you need to, go back and add in any lost texture with your carving tool.

Pinholes and bubbles

Pinholes are caused by air bubbles trapped during the casting process. Solid cast resin horses are mainly cast upside down with the resin poured into a sprue in the belly and the air escapes through the legs and through vents added by the caster at the highest points like the muzzle. Turn your horse upside down and imagine where the air bubbles would rise to and get trapped. Sometimes a hollow cast horse will have an area with bubbles that can occur anywhere in the surface of the casting. I haven't encountered tiny pinholes in a hollow casting, but a few bubbles are sometimes there. Knowing the type of casting you are working on can help you find the places where you need to look for bubbles.

If your resin has only a few pinholes the solution is pretty straight forward and easy. Use your exacto to open them up,  if needed, so that your filler goes in more easily. Then just fill with Apoxie or a mixture of super glue + baking soda. Any excess material can be sanded off. Don't use a heavy application of primer to try and eliminated small pinholes.

To use the super glue + baking soda method:

Just add a drop of super glue to the area and then sprinkle on a pinch of the baking soda. The mixture will set up immediately and you may start sanding right away. It's a good idea to use a little less super glue than you think you will need. Make multiple applications if needed. If you apply too much you are going to create more sanding for yourself than is necessary. Another thing to watch out for us using too much super glue in a larger void. When you apply the baking soda it will harden only some of the super glue leaving unset glue in the deeper areas. Work in stages to avoid this. Some simple experimentation will quickly have you applying this filler like a pro.

The problem with pinholes is that they can be hard to see because they are so small. Use a magnifying glass to help find them. Another problem is that some of these would be pinholes are just under the surface of the resin horse leaving a tiny weak area of the surface. These hidden bubbles need to be found opened up and filled. So take your time to examine your resin especially in the belly region for these pinholes and bubbles. The bubbles under the surface appear as little darker circles and if you run your finger over it you may notice it has a texture. One way that helps to reveal hidden bubbles is to apply some heat. The bubbles close to the surface will start to protrude a little and you can spot them easier.

NEXT PAGE

BACK

Unpainted Musetta Resin