Sources for clear 1/25 headlight lenses?

[Monty]

I'm going to start drilling out molded-in chrome headlights on some older kits and trying to make them look more realistic with clear headlight lenses over an appropriate base.  

Does anyone offer a selection of these?  I need them to have the regular striations you'd see on a 1:1 headlight, which probably precludes using products from a certain model railroad supplier.

[NOBLNG]

One possibility. I’m sure there are many kits that could donate also. I don’t know if any supplier offers a selection?

 

[kurth]

I have been experimenting with UV curing clear resin.  With a sufficiently powerful UV light I have been able to make a hard clear part. One member here posted the idea of using two part molding putty to make a mold. This works, but  I have a hard time getting the putty into the grill without distorting it. I have been thinking about making conventional RTV rubber. 

Another idea I had, and have yet to try is to apply a decal to the chrome headlight, and put UV glue on top. I found headlight decals on ebay. This idea would work for models with a recessed square headlight, like the MPC 1980s squarebody, or the 1980 volare. 

 

[SfanGoch]

Alumilite Amazing Mold Putty would work. Picks up the finest details.

Edited May 10, 2023 by SfanGoch

[Straightliner59]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

Alumilite Amazing Mold Putty would work. Picks up the finest details.

And it's fast!

[slownlow]

The parking lights here just have a drop of 5 minute epoxy over the chrome lights. I think it turned out very well and with much less work.

[peteski]

1 hour ago, slownlow said:

The parking lights here just have a drop of 5 minute epoxy over the chrome lights. I think it turned out very well and with much less work.

That looks great now, but in few years epoxy will turn amber/yellow. making the headlights look like footlights.

I got burned by this more than once. I tried about half a dozen of 5-minute epoxy brands, and they all yellow in time.  I finally learned my lesson and no longer  use it when I was a clear part.  This yellowing is pretty much exclusive to the 5-minute epoxy. Longer cure epoxies do not yellow (or yellow less drastically, and it likely takes longer time).  I highly discourage anybody from using 5-minute epoxy for parts which are to remain colorless  clear.

BTW, I'm really surprised how realistic those parking lights look. I would never have guessed that it is just a thin coating of epoxy over an opaque chromed domed lens molding.  The way lights reflects in them looks like there is concave reflector behind the lens.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The most important part of getting a realistic looking headlight lens is remembering the fact that the flutes on the real glass lenses are on the inside, and the outside convex surface is smooth.

Many kit or diecast lenses put the flutes on the outside, and this looks immediately toylike to me.

The problem with having the flutes inside the lens is that it requires a 2-part mold to capture both surfaces.

There are plenty of UV-inhibited clear casting resins that won't yellow appreciably over time.

But it's still a lot of fiddly work to make good ones...worthwhile in my opinion, as good headlights really set a build apart.

EDIT: Something else to remember is that there are only two standard sizes for US sealed beam round headlights, and only two for rectangular as well, so there aren't that many molds you'll need to make.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY

[peteski]

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

The problem with having the flutes inside the lens is that it requires a 2-part mold to capture both surfaces.

Bill, regardless of whether the fluting is on the inside, outside or no fluting at all, a 2-part mold is required to make the lens.  I'm not really sure why the fluting is often placed on the outside of the lens.  It should be just as easy to engrave the other part of the mold to place the fluting on the inner surface.

 

As far as yellowing 5-minute epoxy goes, it yellows even in dark environment. I used that epoxy to adhere some items in a sealed ligth-tight enclosure, and after several years, I fund that it yellowed.  I suspect tit is a purely chemical change.

But you are correct - there are resins out there unaffected by UV light (which often causes plastics and resin to yellow).

Edited May 10, 2023 by peteski

[Can-Con]

5 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

 

EDIT: Something else to remember is that there are only two standard sizes for US sealed beam round headlights, and only two for rectangular as well, so there aren't that many molds you'll need to make.

True Bill 5" and 7". , , BUT, you have 1/24 and 1/25 scales not to mention there's a LOT of variation in that "5" and 7"" between kits. 

I made these by pressing kitchen foil down over a headlight tightly. Usually I use a soft pencil eraser to get the details sharp and then put a couple drops of clear casting resin in them. Just enough to form a convex surface. Just trim and the foil creates the reflector and has the prism detail in it.

If you want a clear lens I just use non-stick foil and the resin pops right off. The one in the chrome bezel below was made that way.

This pic was taken 7 years ago. I'm still using these and they haven't turned yellow yet.

 

This is what they look like installed.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Can-Con

[Ace-Garageguy]

51 minutes ago, peteski said:

Bill, regardless of whether the fluting is on the inside, outside or no fluting at all, a 2-part mold is required to make the lens...

Unless you vacuum-mold them, like the googly-eyes people sometimes use for no-flute lenses. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, Can-Con said:

I made these by pressing kitchen foil down over a headlight tightly...

This pic was taken 7 years ago. I'm still using these and they haven't turned yellow yet.

Man, those look great. Nice trick there, sir.  

2 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

True Bill 5" and 7". , , BUT, you have 1/24 and 1/25 scales not to mention there's a LOT of variation in that "5" and 7"" between kits. 

Yeah, I sometimes forget how measuring-challenged many in the model-tooling biz apparently are.  

[peteski]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Unless you vacuum-mold them, like the googly-eyes people sometimes use for no-flute lenses. 

Well ok. I was of course talking about injection-molded lenses that are included in kits.

[peteski]

2 hours ago, Can-Con said:

This pic was taken 7 years ago. I'm still using these and they haven't turned yellow yet.

5-minute epoxy?  Interesting.  What brand did you use?

[SfanGoch]

It would be nice if there were aftermarket headlight lenses produced. Unfortunately, other than making them ourselves, we're stuck having to cannibalize complete kits which have them. This creates a vicious circle.

[stitchdup]

even if someone did headlight decals on clear backing we'd have an option. with clear backing we could then use those decals on easily available googly eyes and an a5 sheet of these imaginary decals should last a fair while. they wouldn't be perfect but unless you want to spend money on photo etched ones it might work for most of us.

[Chariots of Fire]

Here's what I did.  I had a 1960 Ford PU to rebuild.  I separated the grill from the front bumper first.  Then laid the grill down face up and built a dam around it.  Poured in 2 part RTV and let it sit.  When the mold was set the grill was in reverse including the headlights.  Using some 2 part clear 50/50 resin I dropped just a tiny bit into the headlight depressions.  It took a couple of days for the clear resin to cure but when It did I had 4 nice clear lenses with all of the striations and linework of the original chrome ones.  That can be done with any size lens whether the smaller ones like dual headlights or the slightly larger ones for single light.   A bit hard to see but the clear lenses took the place of the original chrome ones in this resin cast duplicate grill.

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

It would be nice if there were aftermarket headlight lenses produced. Unfortunately, other than making them ourselves, we're stuck having to cannibalize complete kits which have them. This creates a vicious circle.

Yeah, I never understood why some aftermarket maker didn't offer a sprue of 'em. Some truck kits have trees of various lenses in yellow and red, Revell used to do a bubble top and other clear stuff parts-pack, some of the parts in the AMT and Revell bumper and grille parts packs needed clear lenses to complete 'em, etc.

Looks like trees of clear fluted lenses would have been a no-brainer, especially when you look at some of the goofy parts-packs that did make it to market. Like chrome seats. Really?

[peteski]

Actually, there is an aftermarket company, MODELER'S in Japan, which made a set of lenses. Not sure  if they still make them.  I bought them several years ago. I just dug them out to take the photo.  The cost was 600 Yen (about $6US nowadays).  They feature both, smooth lenses and ones with striations (which are on the inside part of the lens).

Edited May 11, 2023 by peteski

[Can-Con]

23 hours ago, peteski said:

5-minute epoxy?  Interesting.  What brand did you use?

I used this stuff, Peter.

[peteski]

Just now, Can-Con said:

I used this stuff, Peter.

Ah ok, this is not the yellowing 5-minute epoxy.  This one takes long time to set, and will likely not yellow.  Like I mentioned, 5-minute epoxy is the bad stuff for clear lenses.

[Can-Con]

Just now, peteski said:

Ah ok, this is not the yellowing 5-minute epoxy.  This one takes long time to set, and will likely not yellow.  Like I mentioned, 5-minute epoxy is the bad stuff for clear lenses.

Yes, it takes at least over night and I don't handle them for a couple days myself just to make sure.

[Chariots of Fire]

19 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

I used this stuff, Peter.

That's what I use also.  Good stuff, even though it does take a little time to fully cure.  But that's not an issue at all.

[SfanGoch]

2 hours ago, peteski said:

Actually, there is an aftermarket company, MODELER'S in Japan, which made a set of lenses. Not sure  if they still make them. 

I checked the website. No listing for this.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sometimes there's info available on this very site:

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy