Sorry this was posted by Oberst and I accidently deleted the wrong topic.

I was wondering if anyone knew how to make clear replacements for headlights. The kit that I need them for is the new Tristar Panzer 1 A which has one large and two small headlights without covers. I would like these to have clear dics in the open spots to replicate the real headlight. Please help.

Oberst

"Where the tank leads, victory follows"
Col. General. Heinz Guderian

How big are the headlights? If they are small enough, just paint the hole silver and put a drop of superglue into the hole. Let it set so the surface is horizontal. That's how I did the tiny 1/72 scale Abrams headlights.

Microscale Kristal Klear works well for headlights (up to 1/4"). Using a toothpick, you make the Kristal Klear form a bubble over the opening of the light, so you are not filling anything, you are just giving a thin clear layer of "glass" to the headlight.

Nic

Found these at Great Models Web Store, not sure they're still available as they're marked "out of production".



I'm sure another firm makes a similar product. Not to sure of the name though, could be MV lenses?

Yes, MV lenses are made for railroad modelers, but have their uses in military scale modeling. I've got a few that I've picked up from various train oriented hobby shops. Most come is a small bag of 4, all the same size. Most stores have a drawer with a huge variety of sizes and colors (clear, red, amber, green). They run about $2.50-$4 for a pack based on the size, # of lenses, etc.

You'll find several brands of lenses in clear plastic. Small lenses can be made with a drop of Kristal Clear or glue. Larger lenses can be made with two-component clear PU or two component clear Epoxy resins.
ALWAYS make sure to either paint the back part of the lens silver, or (even better) place a bit of metal foil behind it. That adds to the reflection of the lights, so they look more "real".

Not sure what they're called, but those crazy doll eyes with the black movable disc inside make great headlight lenses. Take them apart, discard the black disc, sand to the desired diameter.

I also use the Krystal Kleer method for smaller lights... tail lights etc.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

Thanks for all of the responses. The light is probably too large for the use of Micro Kristal Klear so I will probably use a railroad lens.
Thanks again,
Andrew

Gunnie turned me on the some clear epoxy that works much better than crystal clear from my experience. It is completely clear, no clouding at all. If you want to see how it works you can check out some of his stuff which is much better than mine, or mine at the link below. I also added clear blue and clear red to make the lights that are used at night (should have added more red). The same thing was also used on the visors with black.

http://members.tripod.com/andrewsmodels/M41%20Walker%20Bulldog.htm

I carry Grief headlight lenses in various sizes. Check them out at my website.