Hello all, This is the first time posting a question on the forum. I need the experts help!!! I have a project in mind, Im getting a few subway cars shells that are just that, shells. Floors and trucks i have down packed on what to do. But what can I use to create flushed windows? Ive heard of clear resin, but how? Please help… 
Thank you!!!
Alberto aka subwayxfactor
Who makes the shells?
I suspect that the manufacturers might be able to provide a window set, too.
There are products produced by several differentcompanies for for making custom windows. They are a liquid to begin with, and the idea is to “stretch” a drop or two of this stuff across the window, and then let it harden. You can probably find this at any shop where they sell plastic models and modelling supplies. (Micro Mark makes “Micro Glaze.”) I’ve used something called “Canopy Cement,” which is a clear-drying glue used to cement model airplane canopies without “crazing” the plastic. This will do a small window, like multi-paned window units in HO. The resulting window isn’t very flat, though, and it distorts the view through the window.
If these are fairly large windows the liquid approach probably won’t give satisfactory results. Most hobby shops have clear styrene or lexan that can be cut to the window shape and glued in using a water solvent glue.
You are, I believe, asking how you create glass for a flush fit inside a window opening.
There is, of course, the time honored way of cutting clear styrene to exact size and then gluing it into the window opening; assuming that the thickness of these plastic panes is the same as the thickness of the window opening itself these cut-to-size panes can be glued onto a stryrene back which is then glued to the inside of the body shell. Specimen glass - the kind used with microscopes - broken along scribed lines can be used in lieu of styrene. Both these methods will require the use of a very clear adhesive; Microscale markets a product called Kristal Kleer which dries - are you ready for this? - crystal clear and is excellent for this purpose.
I even knew one guy - a passenger car scratchbuilder - who took an oversized thickness of styrene cut to slightly longer than the length of the window strip and then very carefully sanded the hidden area leaving his “panes” raised above the styrene back. This method was very, very tedious but it required no gluing in visible areas and worked for him. Actually it was really not quite as difficult as it seems; he had cut a brass jig which enabled him to do his sanding along specific lines.
Another way is to use this Kristal Kleer by itself. Using a paint brush you daub a layer of this around your window opening, allow it to dry, and then keep repeating the process until your window opening is finally closed in. This method, of course,
I have a very easy method for putting Krystal Klear in large windows. First cut a piece of styrene or basswood slightly larger than the opening. The put a gob of the stuff on the wall wider than the window and drag the piece piece you cut quickly across the opening. It will squeggee the Krystal Klear across the whole window at one time and failry thinly. I never liked the load a toothpick and swirl it around the window method that Microscale reccomends.
FLUSH WINDOW SETS are few and far between. Sets for expensive, individual, cars are impractical for the after-market. Some have tried FUSH WINSHIELDS for the F-7 but haven’t gotten rich.
The market follows profitability.
Clear plastic strips - with or without shades - and installed by ‘modelers’ are what we are left with unless car makers supply. Example: Walthers’ forthcoming one-of-a-kind CMStP Brook Stevens’ Obs. car. Brass models have not come with Windows…
HERE is onecar that can benefit from flush glazing.
I’m getting close to “taking the plunge” and starting my water scenery, so I’ve got Envirotex on the brain. Has anyone tried using this for windows? It has a few very nice properties - it completely fills the space, it dries clear, and the cured product is pretty tough. On the other hand, it needs to be well-contained or it will leak out, and my think-outside-the-box idea could be just a big mess if the stuff gets outside the box and all over the workbench.
What can you pour Envirotex on that you could use as a backing while it cures, and then remove easily? Would styrene peel off? Or maybe something as simple as plastic wrap?
Hey, this topic is so interesting that I almost forgot to say Welcome Aboard! It’s always good to have another subway modeller along for the ride. What gauge are you working in?
Hello again,
Thank you for the welcome and all the posts!!! Has me thinking of alot of options lol
The model is HO, the nyc subway R143. but its just a shell at this time so im trying to get everything sorted out before they come lol
Ive heard bout the crystal kleer and was wondering about the same stuff used to make the water effects… keep them coming experts
Teflon? Your idea, Mr B., is intriguing and I’m going to give it some thought.
Off hand I don’t know about the availability of teflon. Don’t they make teflon-coated vinyl? or teflon-coated something besides cookware. If so one could glue the vinyl to a strip of brass sheet and clamp it to the inside of the car, lay the car on its side, clamp firmly, and then pour the Envirotex into the window opening. Care would have to be taken to insure a very precise measurement of quantity else you could wind up with plastic all over the outside of your car. Various companies market graduated measuring devices - glassware - that could be used for these very precise measurements. I suppose that one could do a by-guess-and-by golly filling and then top things off with a pipette. In the absence of anything else and if you had a means of cutting it I suppose you could get a teflon coated cookie sheet and cut it to a proper size and clamp it to the inside of your car.
The important thing is, as you said, finding a way to contain the plastic.
As I was writing this I thought of one thing: why couldn’t one fill the interior of a car with Hydrocal and after it has hardened pour our Envirotex into the
Why, of course! Teflon! The first thing I thought of was my wife’s cutting board in the kitchen, but then I remembered my plumbing supplies. I would think that teflon plumber’s joint tape might do the job. It’s very thin and would easily compress against the inside of the car, and could be sealed up from behind with something like modelling clay. Then, flip the car over and add Envirotex through a pipette from the outside.