I am working on customizing a caboose with lighting. I am looking for a translucent material to allow light to be seen, but not allow you to see the inner wiring and light bulb. Any suggestions?
Use clear styrene. Spray the inside with Testor's Dullcote.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Hi Flagman515,
If you are in HO scale, you can buy clear window glazing kits for some Athearn and Bowser cabooses from Laser Kits. The fit is amazing. No glue required. Note that the Athearn window kits will not fit into a similar Riverossi caboose without shaving the window openings slightly. I'd also suggest that other cabooses could be modified to accept the glazing kits instead of trying to cut the glazing to fit.
http://www.laserkit.com/laserkit.htm Scroll down the page to the small 'Laser Kit' emblem towards the bottom of the page to see the glazing options.
I installed several window kits in my Athearn caboose fleet and they look great. In fact, they are so clear that they can hardly be seen:
As far as lighting the caboose goes, I don't believe that the whole interior would normally be brightly lit at night. That would ruin the crew's night vision. However, there might be a light on at the conductor's desk. To hide the rest of the interior and the wiring, I glued office walls painted light green around one window so that only that window lights up. The interior of the rest of the caboose is too dark to see anything. (I should have put an interior without a light in the cupola too. FYI, the lens in the marker lamp that is facing the camera is red. It just didn't show up properly in the picture):
I put a home made keep alive system in the cabooses (design compliments of Mark R.) so that the conductor's light and the marker lamps don't flicker. I also installed a magnetic reed switch so the lights can be turned off when the caboose is parked.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
If the windows are small enough, you can use canopy cement to create window glazing. It goes on white, but dries clear, but the surface is not flat so you can get a clear window that you can't see through because of the lens effect of the glazing.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Steven OtteUse clear styrene. Spray the inside with Testor's Dullcote.
That works! But what I've been doing with my O gauge passenger cars with clear windows that I don't care to put people in (What a PITA!) is cut strips from empty milk jugs and place the strips behind the clear glazing. Milk jug plastic's thin enough to let light through but opaque enough that it can't be seen though. Oddly enough, it also seems to brighten up the cars a bit.
Hello All,
Clear styrene and then put Scotch® tape on the inside- -the frosted type not the clear.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Dollar store sells replacement cell phone 'covers" which are just the clear, plastic, face part - not a whole wrap around. Get a pack for a $1, contains enough to do quite a few cars.
Flat, clear, ready to cut to shape. A small dab of Elmers white glue affixes them just fine to the inside of model.
For frosted windows, Testor's dullcoat works fine - BUT! - it needs to be applied in layers. Rattle cans not really recommended here as they tend to spatter. This can really be seen on clear plastic. Layering the effect kinda eleminates this.
PMR
The window glass is clear, yes, but not so clear as you can see trough the copula. Perhaps a light scuff with fine sandpaper would help.
Or maybe you could put a LION inside your caboose !
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
If you have clear plastic packaging it will work and it's free .
-bmtrainmaster
bmtrainmaster If you have clear plastic packaging it will work and it's free . -bmtrainmaster
I use the containers from Kadee couplers and cut strips out of those.
Len S
I use clear sheet styrene, available in various thicknesses, from Evergreen.I usually make painted styrene window shades to go with them, but for washrooms in passenger cars, simply rub one side of the clear plastic with fine-grit sandpaper, then cement it in-place (shiny-side facing outwards) like a frosted bathroom window in a home.
These two use the kit-included washroom windows, sanded on the inside...
(click on the photos for a larger view)
...while the washroom window near the open baggage door on the car shown below, is sanded sheet styrene
Wayne
I use clear acetate sheets to make windows on structures. I cut a slighty larger size to glue to the surrounding structure walls. You could use them for train windows also.
Many thanks to all! Lots of great ideas. I will give them a try and see which works best for me.
I'm new to posting so my apologies for this blanket reply.
I use the clear plastic from Danish pastry boxes. If you need "translucent" (lets in light but you cannot see through it), give the plastic a shot of Dullcote.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I have these sheets of plastic Called shrinkydink and they are really cheap and they come in packs of 50 or so. I get them on Amazon and craft stores.