Simulate glass

[nuno81291]

Ok guys lots of comment on the #2, anyone care to post a photo of one of these? Sounds intriguing...

[wazzou]

Ok guys lots of comment on the #2, anyone care to post a photo of one of these? Sounds intriguing...

Crap?    

Seriously though, I am curious what the pencil looks like.

[tehachapifan]

Ok guys lots of comment on the #2, anyone care to post a photo of one of these? Sounds intriguing...

Here's an N GHQ(?) Ford pickup I used the pencil technique on. It's been a long time since I did this and I can't say for sure it was a #2 pencil and/or if I applied a clear coat over afterwards. I may have also painted a base color prior to using the pencil too. Sorry for the dust....this was a quick picture grab.

[nuno81291]

Here's an N GHQ(?) Ford pickup I used the pencil technique on. It's been a long time since I did this and I can't say for sure it was a #2 pencil and/or if I applied a clear coat over afterwards. I may have also painted a base color prior to using the pencil too. Sorry for the dust....this was a quick picture grab.

Dusty or not that is quite effective. Thanks! 

[thomasjmdavis]

Here is my experimental taxi.  It is one of those old resin castings, of a 1939 Ford taxi- solid block of yellowish resin.  Have not clear coated either the windows or body yet.

Two shots- first with single light, second rotated a bit and a bounce card added to show the reflection.  Sorry, just a phone, best I can do on short notice. 


Keep in mind that those are blown up about 25 times actual size.

[cfritschle]

The photo Russ posted is the GHQ 1992-96 Ford F-150 pickup.  I used a mechanical pencil with HB lead to graphite the windows on the pickup in the photo below that was used to illustrate my collecting N scale vehicles article in the May/June 2015 issue of the N Scale Enthusiast magazine. 



While I prefer transparent windows, sometimes you just have to make do with the solid ones.  The Ford pickups in the photo below had the windows drilled out and filled with Krystal Klear.  A lot of work with results that were not all that satisfactory.



And this photo shows my final attempt to drill out the windows of a GHQ kit.  This F-350 was looking a little better than my earlier attempts, but I got in a hurry and attempted to dry the paint using a hot air gun.



Needless to say it was a painful lesson.   

 

[peteski]

And this photo shows my final attempt to drill out the windows of a GHQ kit.  This F-350 was looking a little better than my earlier attempts, but I got in a hurry and attempted to dry the paint using a hot air gun.



Needless to say it was a painful lesson.   

Especially after hollowing out the cab. Ouch!

[robert3985]

...And this photo shows my final attempt to drill out the windows of a GHQ kit.  This F-350 was looking a little better than my earlier attempts, but I got in a hurry and attempted to dry the paint using a hot air gun.



Needless to say it was a painful lesson.   
 

HAHAHA...   Sorry, I should have sympathy...but, I don't.  However, I feel your pain as I've done something similar on plastic passenger cars...but I've never melted metal!  It was something I laughed about later...but the results weren't anywhere near as disastrous as your truck! 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[glakedylan]

curious:


would not window decals be helpful?
just rectangles of black or another dark color, perhaps with some small highlights that could be used or not


i searched online, including decals for other models, there does not seem to be such a thing.
one would think there would be a market for such, even for buildings and other windows than windshields and the like?


just tossing this idea out here as i was surprised there were no results in my search


sincerely
Gary

[muktown128]

Carter,

I really like how the grilles turned out on your pick up trucks.

[cfritschle]

HAHAHA...   Sorry, I should have sympathy...but, I don't.  However, I feel your pain as I've done something similar on plastic passenger cars...but I've never melted metal!  It was something I laughed about later...but the results weren't anywhere near as disastrous as your truck! 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Bob,

I thought sure I could apply some heat to a metal model without any adverse effects.  However, after I destroyed the cab of the F-350 (the parts went every which way, and as you can see, I never found the cab roof) I told a jeweler who happens to be an N scale modeler about what I did.  He explained to me that the spin casting process traps gas bubbles or pockets in the pewter, which of course expand when heated.  He told me his paint drying technique was to place a freshly painted cast pewter model in the “exhaust” of a computer cooling fan.  That air is warm, but not so hot that it causes the gas to expand and explode the model.

[cfritschle]

curious:


would not window decals be helpful?
just rectangles of black or another dark color, perhaps with some small highlights that could be used or not


i searched online, including decals for other models, there does not seem to be such a thing.
one would think there would be a market for such, even for buildings and other windows than windshields and the like?


just tossing this idea out here as i was surprised there were no results in my search


sincerely
Gary

Gary,

James Will (Willmodels) included a decal for the windshield (and grille) in his International DuraStar kit.  The result is shown below.



I definitely think there is place for using decals to simulate glass, especially if you need to add a tinted glass sunroof/moonroof.

[cfritschle]

Carter,

I really like how the grilles turned out on your pick up trucks.

Thank you!

[peteski]

Bob,

I thought sure I could apply some heat to a metal model without any adverse effects.  However, after I destroyed the cab of the F-350 (the parts went every which way, and as you can see, I never found the cab roof) I told a jeweler who happens to be an N scale modeler about what I did.  He explained to me that the spin casting process traps gas bubbles or pockets in the pewter, which of course expand when heated.  He told me his paint drying technique was to place a freshly painted cast pewter model in the “exhaust” of a computer cooling fan.  That air is warm, but not so hot that it causes the gas to expand and explode the model.

My other (but somewhat related) hobby, I build plastic model kits (cars, bikes, trucks, etc.).  Very popular tool in those modeling circles is a food dehydrator used to speed up drying paint.  There is a range of dehydrators available out there.  I owned mine for probably around 30 years and I use it all the time.  Mine is a very simple unit (probably cost me around $20 back then). It does not have temperature adjustment or thermometer. The temperature is somewhat controllable by adjustable vents.  I simply use a baking thermometer to monitor the temperature. I keep it around 110-120 deg. F and it really speeds up the paint drying process, and curing resin parts I cast.

If you want to safely speed up the paint drying process I highly recommend getting a food dehydrator.  The simpler cheaper models will likely be more useful than the fancy expensive ones.  You might have to modify it slightly by cutting out some of the internal trays (like I did) to get more vertical clearance.  But once you start using it you will wonder how you got along without one.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I like to use an uneven gray and silver mix, followed by ultra high gloss clear coat or Testors Canopy Glue (which is much more glossy and than than Kristal Klear).






This is how they look in natural light: