Clear Acrylic Sheets

[Mike 1017]

I am looking for the thinnest clear acrylic sheets that be used for windshields.

Thanks

Mike

[stitchdup]

is there a phone repair shop near you? ask them for their old screen packaging. its 0.5m thick and the android packaging is crystal clear, the apple stuff has a little distortion and is a little more flexible. chances are they'll just give you it. Its a little tougher to cut but works well. My friend works in a repair shop so i get as much as i need

[peteski]

I think most modelers do not use acrylic.  Stuff they colloquially call "acetate" is likely PET or PETG plastic. You should be able to find sheets out there that are 0.010" thin.  Polystyrene (like the range of sheets from Evergreen) also come in clear, down to 0.005" thick.  But that material scratches rather easily, so it is not an ideal windshield material.

[Rick L]

The thinnest acrylic available is 1/32. 

[Bugatti Fan]

Often you can obtain very thin clear distortion free plastic sheet from vacuum formed packaging material that is big enough for flat pieces to be cut out from.

Edited March 8, 2024 by Bugatti Fan

[Mike 1017]

Thanks for the info. I need something that is flexible enough to fit into this Corvette windshield.

Mike

[bobss396]

Hobby Lobby has a decent .015" thick plastic that I use. 

[Rick L]

You don’t want thin acrylic for flexibility. Too brittle.

[NOBLNG]

These are the sheets that I have gotten locally. The evergreen is red, but they must have it clear too I would think?

 
The 0.010” is what I used for this ‘53 Corvette.

Edited March 9, 2024 by NOBLNG

[peteski]

The K&S sheets were very handy but it looks like they are discontinued.
https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/k+s/k+s1307.htm
https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/k+s/k+s1308.htm

Looking at the K&S website it appears they no longer offer any plastic for sale - just metal.

Edited March 9, 2024 by peteski

[StevenGuthmiller]

Don't know if it will help you or not, but I usually use a product called "Lay Film".

It's a rigid, clear vinyl, (PVC) sheet used for overlays and such.

 

The product that I use is Grafix .007 Lay Film.

Even a product this thin will not work well if your glass has any compound curves, but I find that it works well for most applications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Rick L]

If you’re heat forming, the plastics mentioned will work fine. Avoid polycarbonate films. They’re too tough to work with. 

[Skip]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:42 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

Don't know if it will help you or not, but I usually use a product called "Lay Film".

It's a rigid, clear vinyl, (PVC) sheet used for overlays and such.

 

The product that I use is Grafix .007 Lay Film.

Even a product this thin will not work well if your glass has any compound curves, but I find that it works well for most applications.

 

Same here Steve, I remember trying to replace a 1/12 scale ‘57 Chevy, with flat material, it just wouldn’t stretch around enough to make both curvy ends line up, it would make one but not the other I’d get it in and glued and it would just suck right back it again and again! (Most exasperating!)

I finally ended up creating a buck out of the old windshield, balsa and bondo, then vacuforming a new windshield with the same material. The original break did “bleed” through to the inside f the windshield, which I ended up polishing and finally dipping in Future. I could tell where the defect was but no one else did, sooo I guess it worked out after all. The car now belongs to someone else, I look every time I see the model, it’s still stable and doesn’t show.

On 3/7/2024 at 6:10 PM, Rick L said:

The thinnest acrylic available is 1/32. 

Thats pretty thick, 1/32 = 1 / 32 = 003125 say 0.030 thick, the stuff that Revell used to use for their flat windshields was 0.010 thick, I never measured the camera film a lot of us used to use for windshield material but it felt like it was thinner than the Revell stuff. (Anyone have any exposed camera film they can measure?)

Although back when I was vacuforming aircraft canopies we didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to what the exact material was. First it had to be clear, then thin enough (0.010 in - 0.020 in) to heat and form quickly so I’m sure we used a whole lot of stuff that wasn’t supposed o work, but did! LoL!!

BTW -  0.010 in - 0.020 in white Evergreen sheet styrene vacuforms into a really nice Hobby Stocker hood, providing a realistic droop like an old hood with all its internal bracing removed, trunk and door skins too…