The Ship Model Forum

I'm giving thought to some diorama ideas involving a styrene kit embedded in "polyester casting resin" (I take it that's the same as acrylic?). One line I've come across is "Castin' Craft" by Environmental Technology Inc. (eti-usa.com). Their online instruction sheet states, "Embedding plastic pieces requires experimentation as the heat generated during casting may cause some plastics to distort. For example... acrylic, polyethylene and polypropylene plastic pieces seem to be more heat-resistant than those made of vinyl or styrene-based plastic" [emphasis added]. There's some further discussion on sealing the object to avoid or minimize distorting the object. Does anyone know if this is major problem? Does it matter what brand or type of casting resin one uses, or are they pretty much generic? Your experience appreciated.

I have seen a styrene sub embedded in resin water and it totally melted from the generated heat. Maybe a resin model in resin water.

Ooo , perhaps too much battle damage than I want to convey! Thanks.

Polyester resins are not the same as acrylic resins. The monomers of polyester and acrylic resins are good solvents for polystyrene. That's one problem. The other problem is that the process of polymerisation (this applies to both polyester and acrylics) is what is called 'exo-thermic', meaning that it releases large quantities of heat. Thus it is only possible to embed heat-resistant objects, as was indeed stated in the instruction sheet you quoted.

I would use a thick slab of Plexiglas/Perspex for a sea, if you really want to go that route, and cut out the space for the model as closely as possible. The gap between the model and the acrylic glass can be filled with artists acrylic gel, which has a similar refractive index as acrylic glass and, therefore, provides a good transition between the model and the 'sea'.

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Eberhard

Former chairman Arbeitskreis historischer Schiffbau e.V. (German Association for Shipbuilding History)

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Wefalck- Thank you, you've given me another way to approach this that might yield the same desired results, absent the drama...