Favorite methods to create (non-functional) headlights/flood light lenses?

[chutton01]

I have several Kibri construction equipment model kits that I wish to finish. These kits come with shallow hemispherical depressions located on the fenders, cabs, forklift frames etc. to represent headlights/work lights. It's easy enough to paint the depressions with silver market to represent the light reflectors, now I am wondering what is the best method to simulate the headlight lenses. Not needing these lights to be functional, nor wanting to buy MV lenses (which I have used for other models - they seem an unneeded expense for these models), I am wondering what the current state of the art is to model nice transparent convex lenses.

Reviewing the small number of posts/threads I found about this subject on this forum about this topic from years back, suggestions were gel CA (I tried this on a test piece - seems self leveling now), white glue (meh), and Microscale Krystal Klear (this I have not tried yet), and good old fashioned epoxy.

I am wondering if new techniques and substances have come about in the past 4 or so years - can anyone alert me to some, or mention their favorite techniques?

Thanks

[Mark R.]

I take a small square of chrome Baremetal Foil and press it into the recess. smooth it out with the end of a Q-Tip. When burnished smooth in the recess, use an x-axto blade to scrape off the excess.

For the lense, I use five minute epoxy. Place a blob in the cavity - use enough so it forms a convex lense. When finished looks exactly like an MV Products lens at a fraction of the cost - plus it's a perfect fit !

Mark. 

[mlehman]

Easy, quick and cheap would be to use a drop of canopy glue with the area turned horizontal so it can sit for a few minutes to skin over. That should dry into a clear, domed lens shape.

[hon30critter]

I vote for "good old fashioned" epoxy, especially if you already have it on hand and you want to save some money.

Dave

[Mark R.]

I've tried the canopy glue / white glue / Krystal Kleer approach as well and none of them were as clear as good old 5-minute epoxy.

I even use the epoxy when I need "working" lenses. Take a small amount on the tip of a toothpick and run it around the inside lip of the opening. Use enough so you can draw a thin film across the opening and let it cure, then add some more to form the convex lens. If you try to use more right at the start, it will sag and run into the opening and you either won't get your light in the hole, or if it's already installed, it will glue it solidly in place - which you don't really want.

Mark.

 

[ndbprr]

Or MV Products lenses.

[chutton01]

OK, the test results are in (all 4 of them), and the overwhelming winner is 2-part epoxy.
2-part epoxy produced a nice, clear domed lens-like droplet in the test depression with just one application using a toothpick.
Canopy Glue was next, kinda leveled flat, but I believe a second application would correct that and leave a good lens-like drop. However, the less applications, the less chances for me to get the yips and smear the liquid onto a fender or other finished surface instead of the headlight dimple.
White Glue was so-so, not really a dome-shape, not sure if it would keep leveling out.
The CA representation was not Gel, but instead Thick Insta-Cure CA (I use thick CA for most purposes as there is a good chance it will go in the joint as desired, instead of thin CA which seems to prefer going all over fingers or painted surfaces - anywhere but the desired joint in fact.  It leveled out all over the place, so no good.
I don't have Krystal Kleer, so I couldn't test that.
So while it's a bit of a bummer that nobody has any cutting edge tips after all these years, I guess if epoxy works that well, maybe that's the reason.
Thanks, everyone

ndbprr

Or MV Products lenses.

I thought for sure I specifically typed "Not needing these lights to be functional, nor wanting to buy MV lenses" in my OP, but I guess that was another mistake of mine.
Seriously these will be mid-distance models, not contest entries, so while MV lenses are great (and I have used them on other models), they would be way overkill, especially make-it-look-decent detailing like this.

[doctorwayne]

While epoxy does a good job, it does yellow over time, as do the MV lenses.
I use the latter for my locomotives, as I'm not a fan of working ones (no night operations), but the class lights were done with epoxy:

Wayne

 

[BroadwayLion]

Here is contribution of LION:

The headlamp added to this Rivarossi car when it was modified for push-pull service, was purchased and isntalled 'as is" , though maybe I painted the inside with some gold metalic paint. There is no lense, as I liked the effect that I achieved without it.

ROAR

[chutton01]

doctorwayne

While epoxy does a good job, it does yellow over time, as do the MV lenses

While I realize the epoxy will probably yellow some, hopefully it won't be too bad. That's one reason I was hoping for "high-tech" solutions (maybe coat it with a drop of Future floor wax or equivalent?).
I did NOT know that MV lenses yellow. I have some over a decade old that have remained clear, perhaps it's the luck of the manufacturing batch run?

Br. Elias, that is one rather small image, which does not seem to expand on my Browser.  I will take your word for it that you painted the depression for the lamp in the headlight casting gold and that you are satisfied with the look, but to me if it doesn't have some sort of convex lens in it, it just looks wrong at closer-in viewing angles even with just a metallic coating. Heck, IIRC one of Cody Grivno's Office Tips involved this, painting I think Krystal Clear onto the silvered headlights and turn signals of a Trident model Pickup (w/ color mixed in for the turn signals)..

[Mark R.]

MV Lenses are a crap shoot as to whether they will yellow or not. Depends on the batch of resin he used. I've had some that were starting to yellow in the package when I got them (in the mail). Others I've had mounted on engines for years and still look good.

I think the 5-minute epoxy might be in the same category. I use Devcon 5-minute epoxy and have never had a yellowing issue as both parts are clear. The Lepages 5-minute epoxy's hardener is already a golden color which may contribute to the yellowing over time. I had some really old Lepages in that syringe contraption and the hardener part had really turned dark in the dispenser - this was after years of non-use in the tube.

Mark.

[bogp40]

If you can't find the sized lense from MV, you could do as one club member does for odd sized lenses. Use fiber optic strand and heat w/ a match or lighter. Some experimenting for the size and your method of "heating/ mushrooming" the material. He makes some rather impressive lenses for class, ditch lights etc, and will light them w/ a common LED. In your case for unlightd, just clip off and drill a mounting hole.

[doctorwayne]

I'd forgotten about fibre optics as lenses.  The headlights here are MV lenses, while the class lights are fibre optics. 

I use a soldering iron to create the lense - with a little practice, it's easy to make them a uniform size by keeping the distance from the iron the same for each.  If you need a larger lense, either hold it in place longer or closer to the iron (but don't let it touch). For your autos' headlights, some silver paint or, even better, the metallic tape. then glue the lenses in place.  The backs are somewhat conical in shape, so they should fit nicely into the concave moulding of the headlight.  You'll need to drill a hole to accept the unaltered stub of the fibre.

Wayne

[chutton01]

Well, some follow up - I eventually used the Epoxy-over-silver paint method, and I think it turned out pretty well, as evidenced by the following:

The near side flood light really turned out well - the far side light turned out pretty good too, but not as much of a dome (which is possibly more prototypical). These two were extreme cases - the other lights had shallow depressions to represent lights, which I also colored with a silver sharpie and added enough epoxy to come up more or less level with the headlight bezel using a toothpick.
A bit nerve wracking, as the headlight surface to fill must be absolutely horizontal or the epoxy will run  (2-part epoxy takes after it's cousin Envirotex in that manner). After it sets (after 30 minutes, you can breath again, but I leave the vehicle alone in the horizontal position for 24 hours (my decalling foam cradle got lots of use).
Looks like I need to clean that packer some more before dullcoating - when dullcoating I cover the entire headlight frame with low-tack model masking tape so I don't lose the sheen of the epoxy. BTW, the rear facing floodlights are good old MV lenses that I cemented on over a decade ago - a lot of projects got put on the shelf around the turn of the century, and now I'm taking them off the shelve and completing them...

[hon30critter]

Looks good!

Dave

[chutton01]

hon30critter

Looks good!Dave

Thanks Dude. The epoxy "bulb" looks really good in person - it reflects light great. Perhaps I could have done the same with a silver undercoat with a gloss clear coat brush painted over it (Spoiler: I did this with the headlights on the Kibri Fox Digger, and the result was pretty good, although not quite as cool as with the epoxy).
The real key is to start with a silver underpaint as a base (I use a silver Sharpie a  lot, but chrome silver paint works) - not my idea, not sure where I read it (but it must have been years ago, well before Cody's Office existed), but that really makes a difference for both clear headlights and red taillights (and amber turn signals) - I use Model Master Stop Light Red and Turn Signal Amber Metalllics for those. Again, a bit nerve wracking depending on how fine pointed the brush is (5/0's get raggedy no matter how well I take care of them).