making headlight lenses

[foxbat426]

hi,  the 1911 Pyro Stevens-Duryea touring car model that i purchased off ebay came with the wrong headlight lenses. What liquid can i use that will harden clear when poured into the headlight. i tried using Testors window maker liquid and it set really nice with a nice convex lens shape, but its too much when the head lamp is filled and it doesn't harden clear but instead stays white.  right now i'm trying canopy glue, but it has some time left to harden so I wont know for awhile. Was wondering what some of the pro modelers here on the forum do.

 

thanks John

[porschercr]

While I am not a pro, maybe clear resin..

[Fat Brian]

You can get a pack of various sizes of googly eyes at craft stores and cut lenses out of the curved clear plastic.

[BigTallDad]

Elmer's white glue dries clear. I've seen lots of dashboards where it was used to create clear lenses for gauges.

[TarheelRick]

Not sure if you are doing it, but I would suggest very thin layers to build up the lens if using clear glues.  Will probably take a couple days or longer to finish.

[Mark]

Should the lenses on that car be convex?  Most cars back then used flat lenses which would make your job easier.  Find some pictures of similar headlights (they were probably bought from a supplier, and were used on other cars too) and scribe the lines into some clear sheet styrene, then cut out the lenses.  Or try finding a second kit; some Pyro kits sell fir the long dollar, but not many of them.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Any kind of glue or resin is not going to give you the "rib" detail on the lens so I would suggest casting some lenses.

But either way, get yourself some "Laser Bond" or "Bondic" glue.

These are UV setting glues that will dry clear & will set in seconds with a zap of UV light.

One word of warning about filling a headlight bucket with it though.

If the glue is too thick, it will set on the surface with the UV light, but it will never solidify underneath.

That's another reason why it would be better to cast a thinner lens & glue it in.

 

Steve