why is it when i read something like on a review or someone got a resin kit and they say "hardly an bubbles, but has some flash" like flash is a bad thing???? flash IS a byproduct of the casting process, there will always be some sort of flash in one form or another. Flash happens when casting under extreme pressure and during the pressure casting process that resin seeps into the mold seams where air was once present (actually the air is still there, just compressed) and resin fills the voids creating mold flash, totally unavoidable and totally part of the process.
I can understand flash being 1/4" thick an issue but with pressure cast parts the flash should be minimal, but there will always be some flash thats just the way it is.
modelrealms wrote:[...] "hardly an bubbles, but has some flash" like flash is a bad thing????
Tain't a good thing, for one. It's like saying "she has very few stretch marks, but has a slight mustache". It's not a bad thing per se but that fuzz still has to be shaved away before you can enjoy your model (nudge nudge, wink wink, knowwhatImean?).
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None - self explanatory
Little - a few small places of thin translucent flash, easily knocks off by hand
Some - all of the parts have thin flash on them
Heavy - thick flash on every part, looks like the parts were cast in open face molds, time to break out the belt sander
There's also an issue with flash when the kit parts are thin, sometimes you don't know where the kit part stops and the flash starts.
I have seen models with TERRIBLE flash. Some of the old AMT Star Wars kits were really bad. These were usually accompanied by mis-aligned mold seams. Also a big problem. These problems have become less frequent in the past few years, and companies like Bandai seem to have pretty much eliminated these issues from their molding process - course, they also mold different color plastics onto the same sprue which just blows my mind!
I couldn't possibly care less about flash. Yeah, it's some additional step that I have to take, but if I didn't like the building process I wouldn't build models in the first place...
But misaligned seams are pretty annoying, especially when it occurrs where a panel line is, meaning that now it's not about cleaning up the model, which I consider moving forward, but redoing something that should have been done right in the first place, which is going backward.
thanks for the response, I can understand plastic injection kits should not have heavy flash, but I should have explained myself better. I was referring to pressure cast parts but I do understand that open face molds can have some serious flash thats not fun to deal with.
tyring to get some input, I don't have an issue of heavy flash on my kits (I dont think ) only released one so far but just wanted to get some input here from potential buyers. feedback is important to kit producers and this is what I wanted to find out. Thanks!
When you've got a resin kit and the flash on the thin parts is as thick as the part, there's a problem. Thin, tissue paper thin, flash isn't a problem but when you got a massive thick web between 2 arms of a part, it's an issue. As a note, the few Japanese cast resin kits I've had, had absolutely no flash. So either they know something about casting that we don't or they're removing the excess flash before packaging.
Now that I think about it, the couple of kits I've gotten that were Blap! or CED cast have had minimal or nonexistent flash.
A lot of folks who produce resin kits actually take the time to knock off
some or all of the flash, when possible, before kits are packed up for sale.
I consider that extra attention to detail a customer service thing. They
certainly don't have to do that.
I assume that some flash is unavoidable. However, minimal (or no) flash on
a kit is a sign of higher production quality in my opinion.
Pat A.
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Flash doesn't bother me that much. I'd rather have that than air-bubbles.
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I am with Kywell on this. Paper thin flash is just fine. inb fact if you are going to be shipping a kit with small fine parts the flash will help protect the small parts.
Cheers,
Mark
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It's just honest reporting. When I do kit reviews, I want to describe exactly what the hobbyist will find when he or she opens the box and pulls out the parts. That's all it is. "For the record, this is what I found." I've received kits with paper thin flash, or no flash, like nearly everything I got from Atomic City or Timeslip Creations, to other kits with moderate to heavy flash, bubbles, warped parts, mold lines to mold mismatches--if that's how I get a kit, then that's how I write it up. Broken or missing parts, get written up too, as well as follow ups like how a vendor rectifies any problems.
flash IS a byproduct of the casting process, there will always be some sort of flash in one form or another. Flash happens when casting under extreme pressure and during the pressure casting process that resin seeps into the mold seams where air was once present (actually the air is still there, just compressed) and resin fills the voids creating mold flash, totally unavoidable and totally part of the process.
) only released one so far but just wanted to get some input here from potential buyers. feedback is important to kit producers and this is what I wanted to find out. Thanks!
