Well, this is the bit I haven't been looking forward to - making the clear plastic windscreens for my truck. This is the first time I have done this, though apparently I will have to get used to it as even some premium models - like my recently purchased Wespe kits - don't come with fitted window parts, just small sheets of transparent plastic. So, how to accurately cut out my windscreens?
In short I did the sensible thing - I asked more experienced modellers how to do it. I posted a question up on the Airfix Tribute Forum and quickly got several suggestion which solved quandary. The procedure goes like this...
First of all you cut some small strips of masking tape and stick them onto the inside of your vehicles windows...
Then you use a fine pen to trace the shape of the window onto the masking tape...
Remove the tracings and stick them onto the back of your transparent plastic sheets...
You can cut out your windows - I cut outside the line to make my windows a tiny bit bigger than the tracing. I then dry fitted the windows, sanding the edges down until they fitted...
Windscreens ready! However I don't glue them in yet, another couple of tips from the Airfix Tribute Forum were the suggestions that I should only glue the windows in after I had sprayed the base coat of paint on my vehicle and that I should use a special clear glue.
The glue I was recommended to use was a special 'canopy glue', intended specifically for plastic model canopies and windscreens. This glue is something akin to that white woodworking PVA glue you buy for DIY, and it dries completely clear and does not melt the plastic that you are gluing (it also should not - I am told - melt your paintwork).
(There are several makes of this sort of glue, I bought the Pacer Formula '560' canopy glue. Though there is some opinion out there that seems to think that canopy glue is actually nothing more than ordinary PVA‽)
SO...We shall see, once I have sprayed my base layer on my truck I shall install my finished windscreens. Fingers crossed.
I am deeply imressed with the amount of work (and presumably time) you are putting into this one vehicle. It makes me realise how lazy my own approach is!
ReplyDeleteCheers Tim, that means a lot. I don't think I will ever really make a good wargame modeller - can you imagine how long it would take me to make an army! LOL
Delete...But, using the wargame army idea as a theme for my building projects has been hugely entertaining as I love history anyway.
The building of stuff gives me a lot of pleasure, but I tend to get a little too fixated on little things, but I look forward to the day when I have a few models together on a table as I find the photos of little armies - like the ones on blogs like your - look really smart...
Maybe next Christmas I'll have a squad - or even a platoon - of vehicles ready! :)