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Flush Glazing - Alternatives


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Good afternoon all,

 

I`ve quite a few Mk2 & Mk3 coaches that i want to flush glaze, If i buy kits from SE finecast or EE Lazerglaze it will get expensive in a hurry.

 

Does anyone have a any suggestions of alternative materials that i can have a bash myself ?

 

Thanks in advance,

John

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Materials wise you would just need the correct thickness of clear acrylic sheet. Make a template and keep producing them.

The other option is to make the drawings yourself in a free CAD program (lots of suggestions in laser cutting forum I imagine) then get a hack space or RM web laser cutter or silhouette cutter to make you a bulk batch.

It’s a trade off, cheap will cost you time to do, or you buy from someone who has done all the hard work already. Depends on how much you value your time.

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I have in my time cut out small pieces of clear plastic material, trimmed them to window size, and fitted them within the window frame, thus achieving the flush finish you're after. It took a long time, but thankfully I only had one coach to do and the effect is very good.

 

DT

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I watched a demo at the York Model Rail Show at Easter and he used microscope slide covers cut with a diamond tipped glass cutter. I just purchased 100 super-thin slide covers from Ebay for a couple of quid to give it a try. 

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I watched a demo at the York Model Rail Show at Easter and he used microscope slide covers cut with a diamond tipped glass cutter. I just purchased 100 super-thin slide covers from Ebay for a couple of quid to give it a try.

 

How did the demonstrator fix the glazing to his models?

 

TIA,

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

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I have in my time cut out small pieces of clear plastic material, trimmed them to window size, and fitted them within the window frame, thus achieving the flush finish you're after. It took a long time, but thankfully I only had one coach to do and the effect is very good.

 

DT

I agree, this is probably the cheapest method to use and avoids any prism effect which vac formed windows can suffer from. A little Acrylic varnish applied around the window frame to secure it has worked well for me. If doing a lot of windows one of the various chopping tools may be a good investment to aid consistency. I have used the SEF products too which save a lot of time; as others have said it helps to paint around the window frame (or the outside of the glazing itself) a dark grey or black colour to help disguise the depth and the prism effect, especially on lighter colour finishes (eg on blue/grey livery).

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How did the demonstrator fix the glazing to his models?

 

TIA,

 

Tim T

Modelling Cwm Cynon in EM

I cant be certain but I believe he used something similar to PVA - Krystal Clear or Glue 'n' Glaze would probably do the trick. Glass may not be affected by CA unlike plastic/acrylic. I will let you know what works when I experiment.

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I watched a demo at the York Model Rail Show at Easter and he used microscope slide covers cut with a diamond tipped glass cutter. I just purchased 100 super-thin slide covers from Ebay for a couple of quid to give it a try. 

 

I shall be very interested to know how you get on - I've never been able to successfully cut the wretched things.  If you're managing it, please let me know what method and cutting tool you're using!

 

DT

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I've filed up individual panes from the glazing that came out of a number of coaches. CD cases work well too. Good results, but it's a VERY time consuming process.

 

It took me two evenings just to do the toplights for a Chivers LNER 4-wheeled pigeon van...….

 

John

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I shall be very interested to know how you get on - I've never been able to successfully cut the wretched things.  If you're managing it, please let me know what method and cutting tool you're using!

 

DT

Will do - i have ordered a diamond tipped scriber and I have a glass cutter. If it becomes a chore, or doesnt work the loss of £2 on the glass and £3 on the scriber is a hit I can afford to take!

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I agree, this is probably the cheapest method to use and avoids any prism effect which vac formed windows can suffer from. A little Acrylic varnish applied around the window frame to secure it has worked well for me. If doing a lot of windows one of the various chopping tools may be a good investment to aid consistency. I have used the SEF products too which save a lot of time; as others have said it helps to paint around the window frame (or the outside of the glazing itself) a dark grey or black colour to help disguise the depth and the prism effect, especially on lighter colour finishes (eg on blue/grey livery).

I've tried the chopping tool idea with CD case acrylic and it quite often caused crazing. Only reliable method is to scribe with a scrawker and snap to produce panes close to the required size and finish off with a file.

 

Personally, I feel life's too short unless there's no commercial alternative or I only have one or two vehicles to do.

 

John

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Good afternoon all,

 

I`ve quite a few Mk2 & Mk3 coaches that i want to flush glaze, If i buy kits from SE finecast or EE Lazerglaze it will get expensive in a hurry.

 

 

John,

 

I've used quite a few SE Finecast glazing kits (locos and coaches). The prices seem quite keen (especially if you order direct from them), and each kit does include a fair few 'spares'. After a while you tend to have enough to do 'extra' coaches at no additional cost - a bit more of a saving.

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