Couple of questions.
1. I know that when you use Poly Resin, it heats up and can melt stuff...i.e. small plastic parts. I just finished my Tristar Pz 1a, and want to do a " Climbing out of the water" scene, but I am worried about the Model Kasten Tracks...they are quite fragile. Anyone have any tips?

2. As this is my first water attempt, I have no idea what I need to use to "Dam" the resin along the sides of the base. Can I use balsa coated with something?

Any help helps. Thanx.

As long as you pour the resin in sucessive layers of 1/16" to 1/8" you should be fine I think. If the layers are any deeper there is a chance that resin will crack at the edges or melt the model. I don't coat my model in anything when I use resin...just secure it to the base in the position you want and carefully pour away!

As for a dam, I've used a strip of wood nailed to the side of the base and sealed with silicone caulk on the outside bottoms and sides and I didn't coat it with anything. I've also used putty and clay as a temporary dam.

This is what I've done in the past, but I'm pretty sure other folk here have some better techniques for this....at least more experience than I have anyway. Regardless...I would recommend you get a cheap plastic model or dig around in your spares box, do a quickie paint job using the same type of paint you used your model, and do a small test if you have enough resin to spare.

Greg B.

Well from experience I will say this first - TEST TEST TEST and TEST again. It will be worth the used resin.!!!!
Test with left over spue or spare pieces of the actual plastic you are using on your kit.

Here is an image I did for Splash

This is the stuff from this article
https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/150

Here are more images
http://groups.msn.com/armorama/sloddersstuff.msnw?Page=3

Its good stuff and the only adverse thing I had a problem with was clear plastic - replace softer clear parts with Evergreens clear styrene.

As far as daming it up -I used sheet styrene and had no sticking problems what so ever. It pulled away very easily. Be sure that you have 360 degrees of 'daming'. I had a small leak and the drying/leaking created a bit of a 'pull' so the water edge has a bit of a curve to it. Nothing bad, just a curve.
No coating on the sheet styrene. If you go balsa I would wrap it 100% with aluminum foil. I have tested foil alone and it worked fine.
At corners I used 2 part epoxy resin to hold it together. At the base I used masking tape and really stuck it well to create a seal. Make sure you have a good joint between your base and the styrene so you get a good water joint with the base.

Any question leave'em here or PM me.