I was wondering if there is any way thats easy to make windos from scrach because I’m up to the chalange and don’t want to buy them.
Glaze with overhead transparency films or the clear plastic that comes as packaging material for so many different items. Some used dryer fabric softener sheets inside simulates lace curtains. Paper can simulate blinds half drawn. Strip styrene for window frames.
gchenier’s got it ! I’ll just add that masking tape cut into fine strips and laid in a cross pattern on the film or plastic sheets gives you large areas of industrial building window quickly.
- Snags with this are control in laying the strips.
- You have to paint the tape to match the colour of the window frame you’re using (as you do with gchenier’s styrene sttrips). The paint has a tendency to flake off if you’ve put it on a bit thick (less is more again [:)]
- In N the strips of tape would be thin. I’ve ony tried this in HO
Don’t forget to add a bottom sill to the window frame. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference.
Krystal Klear
I use among other things overhead projector transparancy film for inkjet printers. I scan the wall and export the print to paintshop. This gives me the exact window sizes. I then draw in cross frames and curtains or binds or have even pasted in pictures of people. I then print, cut, n glue. For dirty dusty windows use plastic milk cartons. They look great in factories and feedmills with clear xmas tree bulbs run at low voltage to give yellow cast to light. Also a really cheap source of windows is the plastic of display packages from store. All these plastics work best glue with gel superglue (ca). I am building a really big building now (10 story hotel) out of acrylic window glase from the hardware store and then adding scribed lines for panes. I am adding facia and balconies out of styrene and floors and walls inside from foamcore.
You could try thin strips of balsa wood for the frames and clear film for the windows. Scratch a window or two up with a sharp pointed x-acto knife to simulate a broken window or if in a larger scale a spider web. Even try cutting out a couple little chunks of a broken window and lay them on the ground outside the building like they fell out after the window was broken by some punks on a rampage! [}:)]
Javern: What is the largest window you have been able to produce from Kristal Klear? I find it OK for things like Loco and vehicle windows, but for buildings??? Also, I find Kristal Klear dries with an uneven look, being thicker at the frame than in the centre. Thisis because it is a liquid going on, and has a meniscus that dries thicker.
flea307: " All these plastics work best glue with gel superglue (ca)."
Don’t you find the ca causes the plastic to fog up? If so, have you found a way to de-fog it?
The jel doesn’t fog if you cut the windows oversize and use a dot in 2 diagonal corners and don’t use accelerator. I use Ross ultra superglue gel which is 2 tubes for a $1 at Dollar General Stores. I have only had fog problems with the thin stuff, using accelerator, or too much jel. Also, apply the gel to the building helps.
[quote]
Originally posted by der5997
Javern: What is the largest window you have been able to produce from Kristal Klear? I find it OK for things like Loco and vehicle windows, but for buildings??? Also, I find Kristal Klear dries with an uneven look, being thicker at the frame than in the centre. Thisis because it is a liquid going on, and has a meniscus that dries thicker.
]
with some practice I have used it on Walthers building kits such as the backshop. I think some of the uneveness that occurs looks good in my real old buildings, like in my house ( old house ) the old windows are kinda wavy and uneven. However if one has a lot of building windows to make perhaps the Kristal Klear is not the best
To see my windows www.trainweb.org/zmtshortline/ at bottom of page
wow they look really nice flee
Nice site the ZMT, flea. To answer your question about “What’s the school bus doing at the Whistle Stop Bar?”, may I suggest “wetting it’s whistle”. (Another Brit expression, sorry. [:o]
That’s what the sign on the bar says… WHISTLE STOP BAR
WET YOUR WHISTLE… Wish I had a better camera.
Coming soon Sam n Ella’s Resturant…
If Kristal Klear is the Microscale product I have made some pretty big windows but not following their directions. I think the biggest I made was about 1/2" x 3/4" which is what, about 4’ by 7’ in HO. Just put a big glob on the back of the wall on the narrowest side of the window. Then take a piece of wood or plastic wider than the window and in one quick move drag the whole mass to the other end. It leaves a nice film behind that doesn’t build up at the edges. Still not as good as the real thing but acceptable.
Tips for Plastic windows and tone down shine on plastics.
Mostly all Factory windows in kits are clear like glass.
To make my windows more lifelike in appearance, I use a
CLEAR ACRYLIC SEALER (Matte) SPRAY. Cost under 5 bucks.
It is ideal for use on wood and metal products, painted surfaces,
ceramics, plaster, Preserve maps, documents, prints, etc.
Can be found in crafts and decorative departments of stores,
such as Wal-Mart.
When sprayed on the inside of clear plastic windows, It will
leave a layer of acrylic that will frost the window. Before assembly
I spray my windows and let dry for 10 minutes then if more frosting
effect is needed I spray again. Use the spray/dry routine until your
desired effect is reached. Do not spray to much at one time, and
watch for unwanted running and drips caused by heavy over sprays.
I also use the clear (matte) acrylic to tone down the shine of plastic
in kits. I suggest you use the spray on a spare piece first and spray
using directions on the spray can. You must shake can as directed.
DO NOT Touch Plastic if acrylic is on finger or work is not dry.
If you touch the anything before it dries YOU WILL leave fingerprints.
I Use acetone/in nail polish remover to keep my fingers clean.
DO NOT use acrylic spray on model house windows, Store front windows
or any windows that must remain clear.
Hope you like the results as much as I do.
Modeloldtimer
I use projector transparancy film for laser printers. I draw the window frame, then print it on the film. easy, quick and almost costless.
I have read where some have used microscope slide covers to glaze windows in model buildings.
I plan to recycle some of the clear plastic used in packaging for windows in my buildings.
Thanks,
Dale B.
I will one day figure out how to do it, but I face this same dilemma for my N-scale layout. As an architect, I have as a goal to not only scratchbuild but also design every building on the layout; as a procrastinator I have yet to build the first one, of course. I need to figure out how to make arched windows with a unique head trim, shaped like an oxbow. I am wondering now if it might be smart to use an ogee shaped molding, perhaps produced with a router, which I then cut thin slabs off, perpendicular, so that the profile is the shape I’m looking for. This would give me grain in the wrong direction, unless I routed it across the grain. So, maybe it will work, if I can get my hands on a tight-grained wood which will hold together after being cut out to N-scale sizes…
One thing I did for an architectural model once, in terms of modeling fine mullions, was to score my clear glazing using a knife and straightedge, with two very close parallel score marks. Then, I painted in between them; the scores form ridges which hold a thin paint between them. For really fine mullions, you could do a single score, but it would be difficult (not impossible) to fill it in with paint. Of course, scoring the clear material means that it must be thick enough to not be cut all the way through! At the time, I used a heavy acetate clear film which was being sold as a book report cover material, though heavy sheet styrene could be used as well.
Definition of an ‘architect’…someone who doesn’t believe in the concept of 4X8.
The best way to make windows I’ve found is to make a brass jig in the dimensions you want. Yes it takes time, but once its right it remains right. Over time I’ve built up a collection of several which I can mix and match to need.
As to mullions. Have you tried scribing them in and then tracing over the line with a very fine tip artist color pen, followed with a wipe with a soft lint free cloth?
Randy
I have built double hung, outside frame windows in a brass jig and it takes quite a while.
For inside frame windows i usually build them in the wall openning with the wall on a mirror. Mirrors are useful for this as you can see the back of what you are doing as well as the front which gives you more informaion on how well you are doing.
i would be a lot easier to buy grandt line ones. I wish i could find someone in the UK that would sell them so i don’t need to pay Walthers 20% shipping and then 17.5% V.A.T. when it gets to the UK.
neil