mirrored cockpit glass?

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rextalon

New member
How can I make mini glass for a cockpit that has that red/gold mirror finish to it and still remains translucent enough to see through?

FYI I\'m building an Imperial Navy Thunderbolt from Forge World. I\'ve built one before but this one is special and I want to take the time to do it exactly right.
 
K

ktooloo

New member
You can try layering thinned down inks over clear plastic. If it doesn\'t already have a clear canopy already, try hobby shops that sell model planes and you may find something that fits. Or use a jeweler\'s saw to cut your own out of a CD case or similar.

Good luck : )

:beer:
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
First thing that came to my mind was colored cellophane wrapping, like one would find wrapping a gift basket. I think they come in a lot of colors, and you could probably find a translucent gold that would work.

It might be a trick getting it to glue in correct. Maybe a light layer of thinned white glue spread over either the original clear plastic or the cellophane, and then something to smooth it out.
 
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chrispasseno

New member
You can mix Future Floor Wax with a drop or two of whatever color ink you want and then dip the canopy in the mix and set it on a paper towel to dry.

If I\'m not mistaken, that\'s how Fine Scale Modelers do it. :)
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
you can dye the clear plastic styrene with rit dyes, kinda expensive for one small bit.

You might try kool-aid as a dye. It works for natural fibers.
 
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rextalon

New member
Originally posted by PegaZus
First thing that came to my mind was colored cellophane wrapping, like one would find wrapping a gift basket. I think they come in a lot of colors, and you could probably find a translucent gold that would work.

It might be a trick getting it to glue in correct. Maybe a light layer of thinned white glue spread over either the original clear plastic or the cellophane, and then something to smooth it out.
Click to expand...

See, that\'s what I thought too. I went to every party store I could find and most of the major department stores that stock party supplies, and I couldn\'t find that cellophane in the right color or in sheets. All I could find was confetti.

I\'m confident the red ink thing will work but all I can find for gold is paint, which has flakes. I don\'t know where to find a metallic that doesn\'t contain flakes. Does such a thing exist?
 
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callhan

New member
Not exactly what you\'re looking for, but you could try these:

http://www.alclad2.com/alclad-home.html

They look absolutely fantastic when done right. I haven\'t used them yet myself, but definitely will in a future forgeworld aircraft project.
 
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rextalon

New member
Not exactly what you\'re looking for, but you could try these:

http://www.alclad2.com/alclad-home.html
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I sent an email to these people and I got a message back saying my email was rejected as spam. ???

could you not use sunglasses, will be a pain to get to the right shape i know, but would be the right colour
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I haven\'t seen any cheap sunglasses in the right color. They\'re normally pretty dark or really super reflective.

how about stained glass window paints?
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Well, that\'ll make it reddish for sure, but do they make gold stained glass paint?

I\'ve been looking for a picture of what I\'m talking about but it doesn\'t seem to exist.

I worked on F-16 for the year that I was in Korea and the glass on those cockpits looks like it\'s both red and gold at the same time while still remaining fairly clear. It reminds me of a CD. I know there\'s gotta be a way of accurately reproducing that.

I\'m sure I can get the red color from inks and such, but the perfectly reflective gold with no flakes is going to be hard.

Try stage lighting gels.
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Does anyone know if these come in gold?
 
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rextalon

New member
Originally posted by Fizl
there is an irridescent red/gold and orange gold on this site


Dick Blick glass paint

worth a try?

shaz
Click to expand...


out of stock, available 7/10
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:) Looks like I\'m not the only one with this idea. That might just work. I\'ll give it a shot and let you know how it turns out. THANK YOU!

Last night a friend recommended I try watering down gold paint and supersaturating a piece of plastic. Then laying it flat so the water could evaporate and leave a smooth coating. I mixed some red ink in for good measure. I threw it on one of those blank CDs you get when you buy a spindle. It was at the bottom of the stack so I was sure it was clean.

It turned out very poorly. The paint somehow managed to dry splotchy and very uneven. The gold \"flakes/glitter\" was plainly visible.

Then he suggested that I try to go to an automotive store and purchase some window tinting. That idea might just work but that stuff is expensive. I\'ll go with this iridescent red/gold first and see what happens.
 
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rextalon

New member
Alright, so I went down to Michaels and all they had was iridescent pearl blue. Not at all what I was looking for, but I got it any way just to see if it would work.

Right away I noticed it was really thick so I watered it down a little. The paint wouldn\'t stick to the plastic. It kept rolling up on itself. Obviously I can\'t apply a primer of any sort, so I thought of another solution.

I don\'t know if any of you have ever had this problem but I\'m going to use this method from now on...
I mixed in a drop of gloss varnish and the paint stuck to the plastic! I was previously unaware that this would work. I\'m now calling it the \"Rob Method\". :)
 
Einion

Einion

New member
Originally posted by rextalon
I\'m confident the red ink thing will work but all I can find for gold is paint, which has flakes. I don\'t know where to find a metallic that doesn\'t contain flakes. Does such a thing exist?
Click to expand...
No.

If you want a \'gold\' colour then yellow is the starting point, adding a dot of red if necessary to make it a little more orange and then a tiny bit of black to dull it down just a touch.

Einion
 
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mattrock

New member
You can get stage-lightin gels in just about any color, but amber is one of the most common. They\'d probably do a decent job for you.

As to the glass paint rolling up on itself and the priming problem: There actually is a primer you can use for the glass. Check out the blick site that Shaz linked for you. There is information about the primer there on that page. It is created for exactly the reason you mentioned: it contains a bonding agent that prepares the slick surface for the adherence of the paint. Check it out again and see if you can get some of the prep material and some of the paint. I think that\'d be the best bet.

Edit: here\'s the link to the glass prep Click
 
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rextalon

New member
Originally posted by mattrock
You can get stage-lightin gels in just about any color, but amber is one of the most common. They\'d probably do a decent job for you.

As to the glass paint rolling up on itself and the priming problem: There actually is a primer you can use for the glass. Check out the blick site that Shaz linked for you. There is information about the primer there on that page. It is created for exactly the reason you mentioned: it contains a bonding agent that prepares the slick surface for the adherence of the paint. Check it out again and see if you can get some of the prep material and some of the paint. I think that\'d be the best bet.

Edit: here\'s the link to the glass prep Click
Click to expand...
I checked that stuff out in the actual store. (Nothing compares to seeing the product in person) It said on the label that it\'s for use on glass ceramic and tile. I don\'t know what it might do to plastic. I\'ve emailed the company to find out, but the gloss varnish seems to be working fine in the mean time.
 
QuietiManes

QuietiManes

New member
Have you thought about painting the underside of the cockpit with a bright gold and the top of the cockpit \"glass\" with red inks or transleucent paint? Should give a mirrored effect of sorts.

Or, the local car body shop should have kits with shiny metallic two tone colours. Where the colour shifts between 2 different colours depending on what angle you look at the surface. The two colours sort of dance with each other even if your head isn\'t moving. It sounds odd to say that, but, the paint has a life of it\'s own. Anyway, they had kits a couple years ago, for $30 or so, came with a couple spray cans of paints, can of primer and instructions, at a few shops I stopped by here when I was interested in doing some funky painting. Rather expensive, but you could do dozens upon dozens of cockpits with the amount of paint in these kits. I\'m sure you can find smaller kits, kits with thinner paints, etc, online somewhere.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
are you wanting this to remain transparent (tranlucent?)

or are you willing to go opaque?

Interference colors by Golden
Chemeleon colors by Createx
(I\'m sure there are others)
will change colors depending on the light, They can be used with other colors.

For example, thin out some red and mix in a bit of interference gold, shoot it on and watch the results. The gold to flakey for you? Try putting some gold foil under the glass then shooting the top with interference red?

Createx line get some \"auto air\", get some red/gold chemelon and put it over a red base.
start here:
http://www.dixieart.com/Auto_Air_Series_4400.html
 
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