Cheap alternative to acetate

[vintagestang]

If you just cracked or broke a window on a kit and don't have the time to order the part or make one out of acetate you may have a solution in your bathroom cabinet. Clear shampoo or soap refill bottles. Just empty cut bottom and top off cut down the side and other places that prevent bending and flatten with a heavy book.

[SuperStockAndy]

I just buy a bunch of Hot Wheels, it's a win-win!

[vintagestang]

Yea.

[Deathgoblin]

2 liters work well, from what I've seen on here. Definitely gives you more surface area

[MrObsessive]

That's a good idea, but the trouble I have with making windshields out of those is they're usually not optically clear------at least to my eyes. I'm a bit compulsive about glass I guess, as I consider good glass to be as important as a good paint job.

Nice and shiny with no or very, very few flaws.

There are some kits I won't build to this day due to their glass being unacceptable to me optically.............the Lindberg '61 Impala, and the AMT '57 Chrysler 300 to name a couple.

[coopdad]

I have found that clear fruit containers, like the ones that strawberries and grapes come in, have great "glass". It is super thin (to scale) so it is easily cut and bent, and most panels on the packages are flat.

Sorry, the only photo of it I have but you can see how thin it is.

[Harry P.]

Actually a pad of acetate sheets isn't expensive at all, and has enough acetate to last you a lifetime of model building. And it comes in different thicknesses and is perfectly clear.

[vypurr59]

Get some transparency film from the Office Supply stores. Very thin, very clear, easy to cut, and can be formed by heating with a hair dryer. They also come in various thickness.

[VW Dave]

Actually a pad of acetate sheets isn't expensive at all, and has enough acetate to last you a lifetime of model building. And it comes in different thicknesses and is perfectly clear.

For about 6 bucks with their coupon from my Sunday paper, I got a huge 8-12"x11" pack from Michaels; there's enough in the pack that I've given a bunch away to friends and I'll probably still never run out in my lifetime.

[MAGNUM4342]

Actually a pad of acetate sheets isn't expensive at all, and has enough acetate to last you a lifetime of model building. And it comes in different thicknesses and is perfectly clear.

Jacen and myself both buy ours at the craft store. A 2 foot by 3 foot sheet is under five bucks, comes in several thicknesses and colors and is perfectly clear. The bulk of bottles and other packaging is not. That one 2x3 sheet does dozens of cars.

[Ramfins59]

I use the clear acetate tops from old Christmas or greeting card boxes. My wife saves all sorts of stuff for me to use in the hobby.

[sjordan2]

Just a note: I have an unused box of transparency sheets for overhead projectors and report covers, which I've had for about 5 years and has been kept covered in the house. The sheets are starting to dull out and yellow a bit, and some of my old report books with clear covers are really getting yellow. My supply of clear styrene sheet for modeling, about the same age, hasn't changed at all.

[Harry P.]

Just a note: I have an unused box of transparency sheets for overhead projectors and report covers, which I've had for about 5 years and has been kept covered in the house. The sheets are starting to dull out and yellow a bit, and some of my old report books with clear covers are really getting yellow. My supply of clear styrene sheet for modeling, about the same age, hasn't changed at all.

The stuff I use is called "Dura-Lar," made by Grafix. It's technically not acetate, they call it the "acetate alternative," it's archival quality, will not yellow, is dimensionally stable. It comes in 9x12 pads, 25 sheets per pad, in three different thicknesses (.003, .004, .005). I bought mine at Hobby Lobby, but I also found this link:

http://www.colinharbut.com/art/Dura-Lar-Clear-Acetate-Alternative/drafting-architecture/acetate/