imatt88 Posted January 30, 2011 Posted January 30, 2011 Hey all, Just a quick question, What are some tips to make chromed headlights look like regular headlights? I painted my '66 Bonny headlights silver and they look like ######. I'm still not sure how I'm going to fix them... The AMT '58 Corvette I'm currently working on has chromed headlights, and I'm wondering how I should go about making them look more realistic.... I thought about drilling them out, but there isn't much to work with... I am definately open for suggestions Cheers, Ian
59 Impala Posted January 30, 2011 Posted January 30, 2011 Ian, the way I did some is I used Testors clear parts glue and put one coat over the chrome, let it dry and then put on another coat over that and that gave the chrome light a lens look to it. Sometimes ya might have to use three coats of glue but it looks better than chrome. Hope this helps ya. Dan
diymirage Posted January 30, 2011 Posted January 30, 2011 depending on the year of the model put some blue or yellow paint in there, just a tiny bit to make the lens look more real
Guest Posted January 30, 2011 Posted January 30, 2011 Another method you can use and this depends on the depth of the headlights, is glue a lense over the chrome headlights with some windshield or Elmer's glue. Here's a photo of an '84 GMC grille that I glued lenses over the chrome headlights.
Foxer Posted January 30, 2011 Posted January 30, 2011 I've used white Elmer's glue over chrome headlights to give them a better look.
Draggon Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 White glue or clear parts cement sounds interesting. Way back when, I used Testors "Ed Roth Pearl White" in a bottle, and it always came out looking pretty good. Ive still got the bottle, but the paint isnt really useable anymore. Ive tried Tamiya and Testors Once Coat white pearls and they dont look very good. I will have to try the glue method.
Harold Posted January 31, 2011 Posted January 31, 2011 What I do is carve out the lights to the edge of the headlight ring. I then use baby moons for the buckets ( mounted on the back of the grille) and toss in som clear lenses. '65 Coronet '66 Buick '65 Lincoln '66 Mercury
Guest Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 I used some flat white, heavily dry brushed over the lense, then a couple of coats of clear. I will have a 63 Studebaker Avanti with this process up in a couple of days.
Againmikewins Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 I've been trying the Testors Clear/Window cement for this approach and it just isn't working. When I go through to scribe the excess out, the rest peels up. I also thinned out some white acrylic paint and tried that, it didn't look right and I scrubbed it out. I then tried mixing some clear glue with the acrylic paint on a scrap grill and it just didn't work out. It peeled off. Will Elmers white glue work better than the Testors clear glue?
BigTallDad Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 Find an image of a real headlight, re-size it, and print it on clear decal paper.Paint the existing lens white, let it dry, then apply the decal.
Againmikewins Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 Find an image of a real headlight, re-size it, and print it on clear decal paper.Paint the existing lens white, let it dry, then apply the decal.that's an interesting idea! Do you have a picture of this?
gtx6970 Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 mix some pearl white with silver and paint it that way , then some clear elmers clear glue of that ?
BigTallDad Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 that's an interesting idea! Do you have a picture of this?Sorry, I don't.
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 mix some pearl white with silver and paint it that way , then some clear elmers clear glue of that ? I've used a similar method that works ok. I use mostly clear with just a dab of white & a dab of metallic silver. Probably not the best outcome available, but not too labor intensive either if you're looking for a quick solution. I still use this method quite often for parking & backup lights. Steve
High octane Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 I sometimes use thinned gloss white over the chrome and it does look better than the chromed lenses.
Greg K Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 Find an image of a real headlight, re-size it, and print it on clear decal paper. Paint the existing lens white, let it dry, then apply the decal. i like that idea. if you have a color printer and some gloss self adhesive label stock or gloss paper, seems that it should work. maybe even a black and white printer. the only task would be to cut/punch it out.
Foxer Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 Find an image of a real headlight, re-size it, and print it on clear decal paper. Paint the existing lens white, let it dry, then apply the decal. the only task would be to cut/punch it out. I think this is a great idea too. I'll be checking brass tubes to make a punch ... or maybe I already have one.
Againmikewins Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 Looks like I'm asking Santa for a printer! I've never owned one and I'm 30 years old haha. I will try the dabs of silver, white and clear as well. My only issue with that is figuring out how to just get a little bit of each into a mixing tray without making a mess.
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 Looks like I'm asking Santa for a printer! I've never owned one and I'm 30 years old haha. I will try the dabs of silver, white and clear as well. My only issue with that is figuring out how to just get a little bit of each into a mixing tray without making a mess. I use little plastic paint storage containers I get at Hobby Lobby. They work great for mixing & storing small amounts of paint. & they're cheap so when you're done with them, you can just toss them out. Steve
Deathgoblin Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 I've done the pearl white on the lenses and cleared. It looks okay... I prefer to cast the lenses and make clear ones, then drill out the old ones. I've used those googly eyes you can buy at craft shops to make the buckets and used foil to chrome them, then just glue the new lenses in on top.
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 I've done the pearl white on the lenses and cleared. It looks okay... I prefer to cast the lenses and make clear ones, then drill out the old ones. I've used those googly eyes you can buy at craft shops to make the buckets and used foil to chrome them, then just glue the new lenses in on top. I've started doing something along those lines myself. I just grind out the chrome lenses into a bucket shape & then foil the buckets. (in the future, I will hollow them out before I have the parts rechromed) Then I've begun making my own lenses using a silicon mold & heated clear sprue. Works pretty well. Steve
fseva Posted November 19, 2015 Posted November 19, 2015 I've started doing something along those lines myself.I just grind out the chrome lenses into a bucket shape & then foil the buckets. (in the future, I will hollow them out before I have the parts rechromed)Steve, how do you keep the BMF from wrinkling in that concave space?
StevenGuthmiller Posted November 20, 2015 Posted November 20, 2015 Steve, how do you keep the BMF from wrinkling in that concave space? Actually, Now that I think of it, I painted the buckets on this '61 Ford grille with Testors "Chrome Silver".....& I used an old set of kit lenses. But I did foil the buckets on this '62 Ford. I just cut a square to cover, lightly lay it across the top without letting it really stick anywhere around the edges, & then just push it down into the bucket with a Q-tip. There may be a couple of small wrinkles, but you'll never see them once the lenses are installed. Steve
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