Frenchman River Model Works Frequenty Asked Questions About Our Resin Kits
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are your kits made out of?
- The main pieces in our kits are made of
polyurethane resin. We use a very durable odor free and safe
product in the production of our kits. Many kits also
include pewter pieces. Our pewter is a high quality,
lead-free pewter sometimes referred to as Britannia
metal.
- Resin? Isn't that hard to work with?
- The resin parts in our kits are very user friendly
and do not usually require anything but minimal cleanup
of very small parting lines and occasionally very thin
"flash". Most of our kit parts come out of the box ready
to be assembled. Our resin parts can be sanded, drilled,
cut and easily modified for kit bashing or customization
of your model. If a part happens to become warped (long,
thin parts can occasionally warp if not evenly supported
over a long period of time) you can straighten it by
heating it in hot water and straightening it by hand.
Most of the time the hot water straight out of the tap
is sufficient.
-
I've heard bad stories about resin kits. How are yours different?
- Unlike most resin kit manufacturers, we strive to produce the
thinnest, cleanest and most accurate
parts so that you, the customer, can assemble and paint
your kit with the least amount of hand work and the
least amount of clean up possible. Many manufacturers of resin kits cast
their parts in a way that leaves the customer with hours
of sanding and shaping before they can begin assembly. Not so with Frenchman River Model Works. Each of our kits are engineered with our philosophy in mind,
when we say "Quick Assembly Time! Great Results!" we
really do mean it.
- What kind of glue do you use?
- When assembling our kits we recommend a good quality cyanoacrylic adhesive
(CA glue). CA is basically "super glue". The type we
recommend is usually sold through hobby shops and is
offered in several different thicknesses or viscosities.
We like using the thin CA as it will easily flow into
tight joints using capillary action giving great holding
power without telltale residue. Frenchman River offers
for sale the exact type of glue we use here in the shop.
Pair it with the Accelerator for instant curing which
dramatically reduces build time. Please note that
regular model cement used for plastic model kits will
not work on resin kits.
- I've never used CA glue before. Is it hard?
- If you're not used to
working with CA glue we do offer a kit that contains
everything including instructions and tips as well as an
application tool to get you
started. Be sure to also order the Accelerator and the
UN-CURE for those occasional misalignments and
finger-gluing. CA is quite easy, once you get the
hang of it, to work with. You simply hold the pieces to
be glued together, pick up a drop of glue with the
applicator tool and run it along the joint to be made.
The capillary action sucks the glue from the tool into
the joint. Mist lightly with the accelerator and the
glue cures instantly.
- What kind of paint can be used on resin kits?
- The resin we use can be painted with any type of paint that you prefer using.
We do recommend scrubbing all of our resin parts
thoroughly before applying any paint. The resin casting
process uses mold release which also has a nasty habit
of releasing paint. We like to scrub resin parts with
liquid dish detergent and an old toothbrush under warm
tap water. Once the part is rinsed and dried we
recommend a light coat of automotive primer (in a spray
can) to insure good paint adhesion. If you have a resin
part that is having a problem with paint sticking to it,
you might try a quick wipe down with acetone to remove
any stubborn mold release. As a side note, the resin
that we use is naturally resistant to most solvents. Once your resin parts are
primed and dry, you may paint them with any paint you
would like such as spray paint, acrylic craft paint,
enamel hobby paint, as well as any painting method you
would like such as brush, spray or airbrush. Jim prefers
to spray paint everything with spray cans while Anna
prefers to brush on acrylic craft paints.
-
Boats and Trains...how did you get into this business?
- Jim has always had a passion for trains and ships and boats and decided to combine them and produce boat kits for model railroaders.
- Where can I buy your kits?
- We sell online from this website. We also do accept
phone orders as well as orders by mail with checks. Some hobby shops carry our kits. If you would like your local hobby shop to carry our products, please mention us to them.
We do offer dealer terms.
- Do you sell to dealers?
- Absolutely. Please contact us for dealer terms.
- What ages are your products for?
- According to our insurance company, our products are not intended for children under age 14, however they are simple enough that
our children down age 8 have assembled and had great
results with our kits.
-
I'm hesitant to try your kits since I've never seen them in person. Do you have a return policy?
- We certainly understand the risk taken in buying "sight unseen". That is why we have tried to give good details as to what to expect with our kits
on this website including many close up photos of kit
parts and products. We are sure you'll be happy
with your purchase, however if you are not happy we do
offer a return policy. If within 10 days you are not
satisfied with your purchase you may return it in
resalable condition with a note explaining what you found
unsatisfactory (so we can address issues for future
customers) and we will happily refund the purchase
price. Please note that shipping and handling fees are
non refundable. We cannot offer a refund on partially
assembled kits or products that have been in your
possession for more than 10 days.
- What about N Scale?
- We do not currently have any products in N Scale, but do have plans to expand soon.
If you would like to be included in new product
announcements shoot us an
email and ask us to add you to the list.
