Resin model "Sweating" years later

[MiniPigs]

I bought a 28mm resin bunker and washed it several times in detergent. It seemed dry and thus I sprayed it with plastic primer.

Problem was, the resin continued to sweat through the primer and the primer never dried. I couldn't bring myself to throw it out and stored it. Recently, I rediscovered it but, years later, the primer is still a little wet.

Is there a way to rehabilitate this resin piece?

[eilif]

I have no specific knowledge, but I'd start by stripping off all the primer and putting it in the sun for a while.  Hopefully it won't melt, but maybe the UV will do something.

More than likely though, the Resin never set properly and unless someone else here has some sort of chemical that can complete the reaction, it may continue to sweat.

[Cacique Caribe]

If you do put it out in the Sun, make sure you only expose it for a few hours for a couple of days, at most.  I’ve had resin pieces go brittle on me.  As in, “if the fall from table height they can break” brittle.  I think most of the brittle resin casts happened to be pieces that I had kept on a shelf in front of the window.  It hasn’t happened to any of my other resin pieces.

Perhaps this problem of mine was just correlation and not causality, but I found it interesting.

Dan

[Mammoth miniatures]

the issue most likely is poorly mixed resin. This is often an issue when companies use cheaper polyester resins (which are fine if used properly) on larger things like terrain. Polyester is kind of a fussy little shit, and if you don't get the exact right ratio of resin to catalyst it will either never set, stay rubbery, or just leak chemicals as the curing reaction never finishes fully. It also stinks.

your best bet is to scrub it and try washing it in something like alcohol or even acetone if you're feeling very brave. you want to take off the chemical top surface in the hope that there's a better cured core underneath it. if that doesn't work you could always try brushing the whole model with another resin to create a shell that traps the old resin.
You could also try exposing it to heat (not too much, just stick it somewhere warm) and hoping you can kickstart the full cure.
If all else fails you could buy a little bottle of MEKP catalyst and try scrubbing it all over the model in the hope that whatever goop the resin is leaking can be cured chemically - this does rely on you knowing for sure that the resin is polyester - If it is years old as you say then this is a good bet.

[Cypher226]

A mate had this on a GW mammoth - the only solution in the end was to coat the whole area in superglue to seal it - fortunately that seems to have done the trick.  It was lucky it was on the underside of the model though, so it's not really visible (and the rough texture blends in with the fur).

[MiniPigs]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I think I need to face facts and just chuck the model in the trash.