Apr 12, 2011
Now, I know what you are thinking. Playing tabletop war games, I am sure we have all had the pleasure of entering a gaming store, and being greeted with the funk and musk that comes with such a bizarre conglomeration of aberrant humanity. In January, during my last game at the Conflict GT, a player standing behind me let fly with one of the worst smelling diarrhea spray-farts I have ever tasted, which prompted me to give an impromptu lecture on the courtesy of stepping outside to shake a pant-leg. Regardless, I am not here today to discuss with you all the virtues of proper bodily-function etiquette, but rather the importance of owning a proper respirator.
I spent this past Sunday hard at work on my Skaven/Dark Eldar army. With only three or four vehicles left to convert, my painting-fingers are getting itchy. In converting two Chinnork models into Skaven-piloted Ravagers, I had some serious grinding to do. The cockpit component of the kit has an Ork pilot modeled in place, so I needed to fire up my Dremel and get to work. Perhaps you can see where this is going.
In case you didn’t know, breathing in resin is a bad idea. While I typically am not too scared of clipping or razor-cleaning mold-lines in my studio, I am very cautious about filing or grinding the product. Back in 1995, I sanded a few Armorcast Tyranid models in my bedroom, and didn’t understand why I was ill for three months after.
This time, I was smart enough to take my work outside to the driveway. I was also smart enough to wear my respirator. What I was not smart enough to do, was to bring a wet towel outside to help contain and clean-up the errant resin that was soon to cover me from waist to brow. Here is a pic from my perspective:
While it may just look like I was conducting culinary surgery on a Hostess Sno-Ball, I was in fact covered in shaved resin. This stuff is not good to breath. The respirator kept (what I hoped was) the vast majority of the shavings from entering my lungs, but the jeans and sweater I wore were not so lucky. After some laundry, some model scrubbing, and a healthy dose of pressurized air, I retired to my studio to continue my work. Unfortunately, I must have slipped-up somewhere, as I spent that night with a bloody nose, which I can only attribute to inhaled resin. Alas.
Anyway, let this be a cautionary tale. While not every resin kit I have purchased has required grinding, those that have, are memorable in their scope of danger and adventure. I think my major mistake in this case, was in the respirator not having a perfect seal around my mouth and nose. The respirator I own is a few years old, and I had it hanging on a hook in my studio: perhaps the elastic straps stretched a bit over time, which may have allowed a small breach in the seal somewhere. Regardless, I thought this pic was a good example of just why you should invest in some sort of filter if you plan on working with resin.
I leave you now, to scrub mold-release from hundreds of tiny resin bits. This is exactly how I wanted to spend my Spring Break.
pathtyphon
TastyTaste
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badtaste
Actually, your bloody nose was more likely due to the super-dried air you were breathing through the respirator. That happens to me sometimes as well. The first time I magnetized titan parts, I severely underestimated the mess level I would see and made the mistake of grinding it in my office… big mistake. I had to pretty much empty it of all the furniture to get it vacuumed properly. I was still finding resin flakes when I moved out.
Great advice. I try to keep anything beyond scraping with a knife outdoors with working with resin. That said, I will be cranking up the band saw to knock off a couple of huge channels on my Warhounds later this week. But I can grab an extension cord and do that just outside the garage as well.
Bushido Red Panda: That is an excellent point! I had not considered the dry air coming through the filters. I wonder how professional painters, who may have to wear such filters for long periods of time, keep from getting similar results…
The Inner Geek: Even pinning resin can make some dust as well. A friend of mine suggests keeping a moist towel on your workbench, to catch and immobilize such dust. I am with you though, as far as working outside. Luckily, with warm months just around the corner, this is easy!
The Dremel is possibly the worst tool for working with resin because of the mess and dust it makes; I use it only as a last resort after knives, clippers and shears have failed to get the job done.
This article gave me flashbacks back to my second job working as a resin caster in closed environments…
I feel for you about the farting. Back when I had plenty of gaming time I went to Kublacon and was playing my opponent when it smelled like a sewage leak. Ill probably be bringing bottles of febreeze to the Bay Open 64+ people in a hall is gonna get grimy.
RealGenius: I agree, I only use my Dremel as a last resort. However, when you need some tricky-to-get-to resin utterly destroyed, a Dremel is the way to go.
TastyTaste: I hope that job gave you health insurance.
Defeatmyarmy: In retrospect, I probably could have made my point without discussing farting. Probably.
i was the one who did the fart.
proof!
http://theworstfuckingwargameblogevernoshit.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-ass-youve-ever-had.html
whatever.