Is there a good way to paint molded-in lights?

[mr moto]

Probably everybody is familiar with headlights that are molded as part of a chrome grille. Not done much anymore on new toolings but that's how it was done for a long time. I know they can be drilled out and replaced with aftermarket or spare lenses but when I don't want to go that far, is there a painting technique that will make them look realistic?

I've painted them flat white or flat aluminum before just to make them stand out from the surrounding chrome and it's okay but not very real looking. Has anybody found something that really looks good?

I guess another question would be; if there's not a good way to paint them, is there a good source for aftermarket headlight lenses?

[Chuck Most]

Sometimes doing a wash on them with thinned silver or pearl white helps- you want to water it down somewhat to it collects more around the outside edges. I've tried painting them entirely flat and/or semigloss silver and have never been too thrilled with the results.

For molded in taillamps (like on the Revell Jeep J-10) your best bet is transparent Stop Light Red over BMF, same as for a one-piece, chromed taillight.

[Foxer]

I like using Elmer's Glue watered down and painted over chrome headlights to make them look more realistic. It dries clear, of course, but tones down the chrome and has some depth to it like a lens.

Edited June 26, 2009 by Foxer

[dwc43]

If it's an old school car you can use the amber turn signal paint and give it that yellowish tint, or thin it down to make it look like old worn out head lights.

[coopdad]

I had pretty good luck printing out real headlights and sticking them into the headlight holes...

Good luck,

John

[Foxer]

I had pretty good luck printing out real headlights and sticking them into the headlight holes...

Good luck,

John

Dang ... those DO look good!

[mr moto]

Great suggestions, guys! Printing out real lights is kind of brilliant!

[caine440]

Wow

The printed head lights look great. Can I ask how you did that? Did you print them on to decal paper?

Simply a great idea.

Caine 440

[coopdad]

Wow

The printed head lights look great. Can I ask how you did that? Did you print them on to decal paper?

Simply a great idea.

Caine 440

Caine and others,

I originally did print them onto decal paper but because it is so thin I just left them on the paper. You could probably print them on any paper but would think the best detail would come fom that glossy, high end photo paper.

I found the photo of the lights in Google images.

John

[mr moto]

I plan to try doing some as decals. It'll probably be a while before I get around to it but when I do I'll post some photos. It's surprising how many styles of headlights you can find on the net and that's just plain round ones. I've built up a little library of headlight images to choose from: modern singles, old Ford, quads, Cibie, etc. This is a great tip! I really appreciate it!

[Jon Cole]

I tried to print out standard headlights, but they just didn't look right. I think it can be done (obviously! The Ford pickup headlights up above look great!) but I need to experiment some more. If I had a better printer may help, and a higher DPI.

The ones below were scanned from a picture of a cars front end. I wonder if a photo (close-up) of an actual headlight may look better?

I too have also done the different colored washes over the chrome light. The only difference is I went around the inner edge of the trim ring with an fine tip drafting type pen. It gives the headlight some depth.