MV lense substitute ?

[propmeup1]

I’ve been away awhile from the site.  I’m sure this has been covered.   What are we using these days for a MV Lense substitute ?  .093 clear.   Thank you.

[mu26aeh]

AK Interactive has lenses if you can find someone that carries them.

https://ak-interactive.com/product-category/tools-accesories/lenses/

[Chris333]

I tried to post about the AK lenses, but it told me a needed to wait since I just posted elsewhere. I keep getting that.

[carlso]

Here is an image of 5 1mm that I got about a year ago:


At the time Amazon was handling these along with several USA shops. Burbank's House of Hobbies has them or did.
Google AK Interactive !

[ATSF_Ron]

I checked Amazon and the selection is very limited.

What about  Vallejo’s transparent paints? I would think a small drop would look good. I saw an add for an N scale semaphore signal using those paints for the lights.  The photo looked convincing. At least in the red, green, and amber colors. I’m not sure how that would work for headlights.

[Mike C]

Ron if I remember correctly the MV product looked kind of similar to a rhinestone . You should be able to pick up more than you can ever use for less than 10 bucks from Amazon . They have many sizes available .    Mike

[peteski]

I checked Amazon and the selection is very limited.

What about  Vallejo’s transparent paints? I would think a small drop would look good. I saw an add for an N scale semaphore signal using those paints for the lights.  The photo looked convincing. At least in the red, green, and amber colors. I’m not sure how that would work for headlights.

On the semaphore arm you just need to represent a colored glass  filter. Paint will stretch inside the opening creating a thin colored "glass" film.

Headlights need to be thicker, with slightly domed lens, and with some sort of metallic reflector at the back.  Paint will not have enough body to build up that thick.

[nickelplate759]

Ron if I remember correctly the MV product looked kind of similar to a rhinestone . You should be able to pick up more than you can ever use for less than 10 bucks from Amazon . They have many sizes available .    Mike

Just remember that the most common rhinestones are faceted, and that's not usually the look we are going for.  MV lenses are smooth on both sides, more like a circular cabochon, but with a quasi-parabolic rather than flat back.

[Chris333]

AK lenses are smooth. AK and MV were drops of epoxy with chrome foil on the back of it.

[robert3985]

For very small lights, such as marker lamps, class lamps, I've used paint...to paint the color (red, bluish green, or champagne silver...a warmish silver metallic for "extra" class lamps), then mixed up some 10 minute clear epoxy, and with a round toothpick, carefully applied a small blob of uncured epoxy over the paint that I've colored the small indentation where I used to attach a tiny MV lens.

This doesn't give a reflective quality like MV lenses, with which, if the ambient light is right, look like they're actually illuminated, it DOES give a quite realistic look to marker lamps & class lamps...probably more realistic than the highly reflective MV lenses...although not as pleasing or obvious.

Although I haven't used this technique for headlights since my headlights are lit, and I use heat-flared fiber-optic strands for lenses and light pipes for headlights on old brass models that have brass castings for double headlights with small headlight lens openings that are just holes, the epoxy method should work okay for unlit headlights...even larger ones...if you paint the inside of the hole with shiny chrome silver paint.  But, if you don't plan on lighting them, I'd fill the hole with a Styrene rod first and paint it chrome silver to make a "reflector".

Although the potential is there to really mess up a model if you miss or overfill a hole or indentation with epoxy, so far, I haven't had that problem and I've done quite a few N-scale marker lamps for various brass & kitbashed cabooses, and fewer brass models steam engines' class lamps.

I have a stash of MV lenses, and I buy the sizes I use whenever I see them for sale...but, they are getting rare, and for the models I'm planning on selling, I use the epoxy lens method.  For models I intend to keep and run on my layout, I use my MV lenses.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[tehachapifan]

MV lenses was one of those things I took for granted and thought would be around forever. Same with Sunrise Enterprises and NJ International.

[mu26aeh]

Precision Scale and Custom Finishing also have lenses, just seen them at the shop while looking for other items