Repair Reinforcing thin Resin with UV resin? Has anyone done this?

My first thought was epoxy; I have never worked with any kind of resin before (still on my crafting to-do list! ) so I'm not sure how it would work.

I'd say I don't think it could hurt - I think the worst might be, it could possibly break or something if it's too thin, but the same could be possible with epoxy anyways... If it doesn't work out you might need to sand it off, but I don't see why that would be a big issue.
As far as the UV light, I don't really think it would be as bad as, say, leaving something in the sun all day, but you could always try putting a test piece under the light to see if anything bad happens right away?

 

If your uv resin only needs to be under a UV lamp or out in the sun for a few minutes (like 160 to 180 seconds) I don't think it will discolor the resin majorly. But I do recommend testing it on a small piece first.

I'm pretty sure I have somes spare resin bits I don't use that I could test a piece with a spot of resin and UV light on and report back to you if you wanted.

 

I've only ever used milliput or apoxie sculpt (both two-part epoxy clays) to reinforce thin/broken resin. The biggest one was a neck with a chunk broken out of it. I used super glue to put the chunk back and reinforced it all from the inside with the epoxy.

Using uv resin is an interesting idea. I'd be interested to know if it works, especially since it comes in clear, so you wouldn't have to worry about the repair showing as much.

 

Here's the part I have, it's a Soom Teenie gem forearm from my Soom Feny from like 2013-2014. I use the fantasy forearms so I'm happy to test on this piece, they've just been in a little bag in a drawer for years.
But hopefully this is close enough to the thin resin you're doing. It's not quite the same joint or shape though?

Soom Forearm by Nope McNope, on Flickr

After I finish filling orders for my Etsy I'll test a little coat of UV resin on it and report back if you think this is close enough to the joint you're looking to try it on!I'm already messing with the resin for other projects so it's no trouble at all. : D


NINJA EDIT:

Oh are you thinking about putting resin on the elbow floating joint? Or the forearm/upper arm where the elbow joint touches? Or all of them?

 

I've uploaded photos into my Instagram just because it's easier to do that from my phone.
In summary, with the kind of uv resin we use from Amazon I don't encounter any shrinking while it cures. And it cures quickly in sunlight or under a uv light and shouldn't take longer than 3 minutes which won't cause any drastic change to the resin color, it's about the same as walking outside with the parts for a few minutes!

I don't know about the type of resin you use though but. I don't see there being any problems for doing this in thin spots on resin to try and reinforce it, other than if you put too much in a joint and then stuff won't fit together as well obviously.

Nattou on Instagram: “@talkiesoundbox Here is my little test with UV resin on a Soom teenie gem forearm piece. This is the thin part where the wrist ball joint…”

 

Hoo boy, I sincerely hope some of you are still here, because I could use some advice.

I purchased a white blank Dream Valley Rita - mantis version. I love her. I am also afraid to manipulate the legs. The joints are sculpted in a scallop pattern, and if I don't pull the leg apart before trying to bend it, small pieces of white resin flake off the scallops due to pressure and friction.

I was thinking of taking the whole thing apart (a daunting and slightly terrifying task by itself), using an airbrush to paint all of the parts, and then sealing the joints with clear UV resin to protect them from further chipping/flaking.

Was the UV clear coat durable? Have you seen any color changes? Do you think I'm risking the UV resin not bonding if I paint and seal the joints first?