Has anyone ever used Microscale Kristal Klear?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I remember seeing Cody Grivno use this for making windows. The description on their website says it can be used" to form very real looking small windows up to about 1/4 in size". Has anyone ever used it to make slightly larger windows?

2

I have used both Microscale Kristal Klear and Testors Window Maker, both work very easy for me up to ¼”. Anything larger than ⅜” gets really tough. If you have patience you could probably go larger but I’m very limited in the patience department.

The larger the window the more frail the window becomes. I tried to add a second layer after a window had dried over night and it merged with the original and broke. To give my windows more strength I masked them off and give them several coats of clear Krylon. Even the smaller windows can crack over time without the Krylon.

Mel

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

My Model Railroad

3

I have made much bigger windows. I think the instructions tell you to use it on a toothpick and keep drawing it to the center before pulling out the toothpick. My method was to use a scrap piece of plastic or wood as a squeegee. I put a large amount above the window and drew the squeegee through the material leaving a thin film in the opening. As I recall I made the squeegee about 1/4" bigger on both sides. I did some fairly large windows this way.

4

I have used it in the past, but out of necessity I tried ‘Weld Bond’, which to me made better looking windows. The windows on this N-Scale DL-202, are made using Weld Bond.

Cheers
Steve
NZ

5

Hi Marlon:

I used it on one building with window panes about 1/4" square. I won’t use it again. The reason is that it does not dry flat. The pane it forms is thin in the center and much thicker towards the outside edges. The result is a very distorted view through the window. I suppose that if I were not detailing the interiors that wouldn’t matter too much, but I detail my interiors. I know that doesn’t really answer your question. Maybe it would look better when used on a larger window, but I would be concerned about how fragile it would be.

There are a couple of options. One is clear styrene. You can get it in .005", .010", or .015" thicknesses from Evergreen. Wear latex gloves when handling it so you don’t leave fingerprints.

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Sheets.htm#Clear Sheets

Another is real glass which is available in microscope slide sized sheets from Ngineering. I have tried it but I haven’t had any success with cutting it to size. I bought a scriber but that didn’t help much (best viewed in Firefox):

http://ngineering.com/other_detail_stuff.htm

Another is to use Tichy windows which now come with glazing included. I have not seen the glazing so I don’t know how clear it is but it might be worth exploring.

https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Home.aspx

Dave

6

Dave I found a way to improve the window glass sag in the middle, after slopping the window maker in the window frame turn the window upside down to dry. The liquid will sag down and as it dries it sucks up in the center to appear flat, then the slightly concave window glass is on the inside with very little distortion.

Several light coats of either Clear Gloss Krylon or Testors Clear Gloss can increase the strength and the realistic look of glass. I just mask off the window and do it to it with very light coats so it won’t melt the glass.

Thanks for the links Dave.

7

Not quite the same topic, but I completed several small detail kits where I really couldn’t get inside for my usual glazing method (clear styrene + canopy cement) because of the way the kits go together (for the record, these are HO brass newspaper vending machine kits, can’t remember manufacturer).

I had so of planned this a year ago, and purchased some Micro-Mark Micro-Glaze. They come in 2 packs, and I hadn’t opened the bottles before yesterday. So I open the bottles of Micro-Glaze, and all that was in there was some brown sticky goop, about 1/4 of the bottle volume. I am guessing the medium was water, which evaporated over the past year (even without opening the bottles).
– Has anyone seen this before with this product?
– If so, has anyone revived it by adding water?
– For that matter has anyone even used this product - from the catalog page: "This item has been discontinued and is no longer available. "…so, maybe not. (I am not going to say it was discountinued because it stank because then someone will say “Polly-S paints”)

8

This has been my experience as well. The windows look bad to my eye in close up photos of the models. I find clear styrene gives me better results. Just one opinion, Mel’s methods might work for you…

Guy

9

Hey Mel:

I’m guessing that by “upside down” you mean to put the window ‘face down’ to dry. I will give that a try.

Thanks,

Dave

10

You got it.

Testors Window Maker takes a couple of days to fully dry where it’s thick around the edges. I had one set of E7A windshields take almost a week to dry fully clear. The Krystal Klear dries clear much faster than Testors.

Don’t forget to apply some Clear Coat to give the super thin window glass some added strength. Don’t go overboard, several thin coats give the windows some needed strength. I’ve had windows crack a year later just sitting on my layout without the Clear Coat.

Mel