I've been working on my first resin part for my F-16C. I tried sanding the excess part. I'm working on my regular working area. After a while, my arms and foot got very itchy. Does it have something to do with resin? Is it really needed to wear a mask when sanding them?

Yes! Inhaling the resin dust is harmful to your health. Also prolonged contact with the dust could be harmful, I think it may irritate the skin. I'm not sure about this though. I use a casserole dish with about a centimeter of water in the bottom to sand in. It keeps the dust to a minimum. Make sure you use wet/dry sand paper (in the US it is normally black). Ensure you wash the casserole dish thoroughly before putting it back in the kitchen cabinet.

Oh my! Thanks! Good thing it was minor sanding. Any other symptoms regarding the use of resin aside from ichines?

Shonen,
I'm allergic to resin too... Sabot was absolutely correct pointing out that's harmful ti inhalate the dust originated from resin sanding. What I can add is:
- always use a mask when sanding
- try to use wet sandpaper; it helps reducing the dust in the air and to get a smoother finish too
- wear a pair of latex gloves when working on it
- sand over someting disposable like an old newspaper, in that way you can wrap within it the most of the dust from your working area
Ciao and good luck

Can I add that I always get the vacuum cleaner out and use it where I've been sanding resin immediately after, I use the hose attachment to do my clothing just to be on the safe side. I'm not sure just how much exposure to the resin dust is needed to affect one's health but I'd rather be overly cautious.

Good policy on the quick clean up with the vacuum.
I found a nice particle mask at Home Depot for airbrushing that also works great while on resin.
Also check out using a moto tool.
I had a lot of resin slag to cut when i started my current kit, for the SciFi Winter campaign.
The shavings didnt irritate me, but they were everywhere, and I'm certain an inhalation hazard.

I wish I'ld heard about this earlier. I've had no noticable effects from dealing with resin, and I really don't deal with it much, but now I know. Why don't the kit manufacturesrs post a warning about the dust on the kits?

Accurate armour kits have a warning in the instructions, as well as guidelines similar to those above about safely working with resin,

cheers

joe

Gauranteed way to bring in the lawyers at some point, maybe ???
maybe they show up if you dont warn,
maybe they show up and extort $$$, no matter what #:-)

Verlinden, Cutting Edge, Black Box, True Details companies all post warnings on the instructions. Many overseas Resin companies do not.
The compounds used in Resin production are Nuero Toxins , all HAZORDOUS to your health. There are 2 types of resin mostly used in the hobby field. they are: Polyester and Epoxy. They are not the bad ingrediant. Its the hardener thats the CULPRIT. The hardener
HAS a derivative of MEK in it. Thats why you shouldn't inhale the dust and why it makes you itch.
Always wet sand resin in a shallow cake pan with water and wear a cotton filter mask to prevent inhalation of the dust.

Thanks all! Hmmm.... instead of resin AM parts, why not change the material used to plastics?

Because the cost of the moulds for injection plastic is too high...
Ciao
(:-) (:-)

I use a razor saw to remove as much material as possible then, as mentioned earlier I have a small plastic or glass dish that I fill with water to cover the sand paper. The water traps majority of the resin dust.

I first use my motor tool to saw of the big parts.

then I go outside with my spray (gas mask) and sand it off with my motor tool on high speed then low speed I shake out my clothing and go inside and problems solved.
and yes I do go out in winter time... I DONT want resin dust in my house since I been in bed for 3 months due to paint resin etc hobby is nice so is health

Not all, but most resin manufacture is done with open, gravity fed molds, and then put in a vaccum, or presuure pot. The resin is in a liquid form ,close to honey and then becomes solid during cure.
Plastic on the other hand is not a liquid it is molten plastic, therefor must be used in Injection type molds and machinery. As said before this is very costly. Plus you cant get the details you can with resin, because of the mold structure.