Detailed rear view mirror

[Olle F]

Rear view mirrors are usually molded with a totally flat "mirror" surface, which makes them look kinda ugly and toy like sometimes. While I was finishing up my '65 Impala, I happened to find some photoetched rings in my box of "might come in handy one day" stuff. I bought them about 15 years ago, and last night they finally came in handy (I just knew they would... ). I picked a ring that fit the mirror, and tacked it on with some Crystal Clear. Looks way better than a totally flat mirror, IMO. Of course, they can only be used on round mirrors, so other shapes might be something for the aftermarket manufacturers to include in their kit specific PE sets. But then again, it would certainly be better if the kit manufacturers molded them like this in the first place...

[MrObsessive]

Great tip Ollie!

Norm Veber of Replicas and Miniatures used to sell a set of "Wizard O's" that came in a variety of sizes. I'm not sure if he still carries them, but they would work great for the detail you've shown!

[ubermodel]

Speaking of mirrors, I'd like to add a little tip: sometimes the kits' mirrors do come molded with a little lip around the edge, but the center of the mirror will have a small sink mark in the plastic. Or in the case of a body-color side view mirror, they have a small chromed plastic insert that usually doesn't fit very well.

What I've been doing is taking a small piece of chrome mylar film, cutting it down to correct size and gluing it over the existing mirror. The mylar I have is perfectly flat and looks much more like a mirrored surface than a chromed piece of plastic.

[Olle F]

Great tip Ollie!

Norm Veber of Replicas and Miniatures used to sell a set of "Wizard O's" that came in a variety of sizes. I'm not sure if he still carries them, but they would work great for the detail you've shown!

That's funny... The ones I have are also called "Wizard's O's", but are from Performance Detail Products. I don't know if that company still exists though.

Speaking of mirrors, I'd like to add a little tip: sometimes the kits' mirrors do come molded with a little lip around the edge, but the center of the mirror will have a small sink mark in the plastic. Or in the case of a body-color side view mirror, they have a small chromed plastic insert that usually doesn't fit very well.

What I've been doing is taking a small piece of chrome mylar film, cutting it down to correct size and gluing it over the existing mirror. The mylar I have is perfectly flat and looks much more like a mirrored surface than a chromed piece of plastic.

Yeah, those sink marks are extremely annoying! I was thinking about adding something like the mylar on my mirrors too, but wasn't sure if it was gonna look good layered with the rings. Still, the O-rings seem to hide the imperfections in the "mirrors" (or maybe they just draw the attention off of them), so the sink marks are not as noticeable as I thought they would be.

[Randy Kern]

Speaking of mirrors, I'd like to add a little tip: sometimes the kits' mirrors do come molded with a little lip around the edge, but the center of the mirror will have a small sink mark in the plastic. Or in the case of a body-color side view mirror, they have a small chromed plastic insert that usually doesn't fit very well.

What I've been doing is taking a small piece of chrome mylar film, cutting it down to correct size and gluing it over the existing mirror. The mylar I have is perfectly flat and looks much more like a mirrored surface than a chromed piece of plastic.

I've also found that those 'AAA' stickers you get every so often in the mail also work nice on mirrors, with an adhesive back and mirror chrome surface. They have just the right thickness, too.

[ubermodel]

I've also found that those 'AAA' stickers you get every so often in the mail also work nice on mirrors, with an adhesive back and mirror chrome surface. They have just the right thickness, too.

Yup, there you go, basically the same as the stuff I use. And isn't it nice of them to mail it to you for free? Maybe next they'll start mailing out photoetched parts and polishing kits if we're lucky!