Making a clear piece translucent?

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zachlee
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Making a clear piece translucent?

Post by zachlee »

I've got a crystal clear part that I want to light behind, but want to diffuse the light rather than have the lights sources visible.

But I do need to tint the piece.

Any suggestions? Please?
- :zb:
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DennisH
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Post by DennisH »

You could give it a once over with fine wet sanding sandpaper or fine grade steel wool to "frost" it.

RIT (sp?) fabric dye for colors?

Fine sand/bead blasting?


What is the part?




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rpauly
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Post by rpauly »

Tamiya makes several acrylic tints, or you could simply use a few drops of food coloring or ink in some Future...
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zachlee
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Post by zachlee »

Yeah, the tinting is easy, it's the translucency I can't figure out....

Maybe a light airbrush with white?
- :zb:
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Post by Zen-Builder »

IMO, even with frosting etc, you will still have a hot-spot from the LED.
How about EL-Sheeting?
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Post by TREKKRIFFIC »

If you have enough room try mounting the LED to the side of the opening facing sideways rather than directly behind the clear piece. This should eliminate the hot spot.
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TER-OR
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Post by TER-OR »

Several options:

Dullcoat the clear bit, that will make it frosted. If dullcoated inside, it will appear translucent if outside, frosted.
Steel wool as noted above - very fine grade.
Glass wool or synthetic batting (pillow stuffing) in front of the LED to diffuse light.

A small amount of Gunze or Tamiya Flat Base in your transparent paint will also do this. You can tint Future with India Ink, too. I did that and dispersed green pearl powder to get the canopy effect here:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/tm_exyamato.htm
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zachlee
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Post by zachlee »

Some minor hot spots aren't too much of a problem, it's for the nacelles in the old 1701. The bubbles I've started with were vacuform clear, and I added Tamiya tint first, so the exterior looks bright and orangey.

I've got the VoodooFX LED chasers inside, so seeing a bit of the source will look OK....
- :zb:
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Post by TER-OR »

I've dullcoated the clear bits on my TOS stuff. I don't know if you like the look of a clear translucent cover over colored interior, but with lighting it would look a lot better, I'm sure.
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Post by seam-filler »

Place the part in a box or cabinet suspended over a dish with a pool of CA (superglue). The CA vapors cloud the clear plastic.
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zachlee
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Post by zachlee »

sprayed the outside of the domes with dullcote. couple of coats.

Tamiya transparent orange inside. Couple of coats.

Perfect. I could sit and watch the flashy lights for hours. :D

Thanks for the suggestions.
- :zb:
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kitty
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Post by kitty »

seam-filler wrote:Place the part in a box or cabinet suspended over a dish with a pool of CA (superglue). The CA vapors cloud the clear plastic.
just make sure the part is void of fats and acids (like fingerprints), because using the vapors from CA glue is the same method they use for taking fingerprints of surfaces that have a texture, fingerprints will become visible :)
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Post by Newbie Doobie »

Just spray it with flat clearcoat a couple of times to dull it,but leave it translucent enough to see light through without colouring it.
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