Headlight lens manufacturing. Special effects How to make headlights on a model

I guess I'm not exaggerating when I say that every BTT modeler was unhappy with the plastic imitation headlights offered by the kit makers.

What to do with such headlights? Glue as it is on the model? But such optics looks, to put it mildly, implausible. Trying to paint somehow is useless. Anyway, upon closer examination, such a headlight will look like something similar to a headlamp painted with silver. Replacing such a headlight with an aftermarket product is a good way out. But there are several significant points: such headlights are not always available in real stores; not every person, for various reasons, can afford to buy headlights in online stores or at numerous flea markets of model forums; not every modeler wants and can spend money on purchasing additional sets.
When I was working on I ran into similar problems nose to nose. I found a way out pretty quickly. At the same time, I used materials within walking distance in the finalization of the headlights.

To begin with, I picked up a drill that matched the diameter of the headlamp lens. I resharpened the drill shank into a sphere:

I took food-grade transparent plastic, warmed it over a candle and pulled it over the prepared spherical shank of the same drill:

Made an imitation of a light bulb from a drawn transparent sprue:

From the hood I cut out the glass of the headlights, cut off the imitation of light bulbs from the drawn sprue:

I glued all the details on the acrylic lacquer:

That's all the revision. Simple but tasteful

Alexander Vergin (B! GSeXy)

December 31, 2019 Happy New Year to all our friends and colleagues! We wish you success and new wonderful models.

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How to make believable headlight reflectors

If you look at some truck models, you get the feeling that the headlights are "blind". This happens when there is flat plastic under the glass of the headlight instead of a reflector, like on a real headlight. Sometimes the through holes on the model (on the bumpers) are covered with headlamp glasses, which also does not improve perception.
For self-production of reflectors, we need:
- a piece of the sprue (slightly larger than the diameter of the headlight);
- sheet polystyrene (the thinner the better);
- model knife;
- drills 0.8 - 1mm and large diameter;
- conical and (or) dental drill;
- drill;
- skin;
- model foil or Alclad II chrome

Note: Alclad II chrome is a 30 ml vial of chrome paint that can only be airbrushed in a couple of light coats. Beforehand, the surface must be painted with black glossy enamel. In fact, Alclad II chrome is a nitro varnish diluted under an airbrush with a metallized pigment of very fine grain.
First, cut out the excess plastic, if any.

Let's say the headlight is round. Then we take a sprue of a suitable diameter (thick sprues are often found in AMT whales), carefully clamp the drill into the chuck and round its end with sandpaper, like on a lathe.
For convenience, I stick the skin on a plastic card.

Let's make a small (0.8 - 1mm) through hole in the center. It will serve as a guide and come in handy to simulate a light bulb. By the way, it is better to drill by hand. Drills and burs have too much speed and the drill can melt the plastic.

We cut the tube lengthwise, we get 2 rear walls of the reflector. Sew the sidewalls at an angle. It remains to add to the rear walls - the side ones, cut out of sheet polystyrene and make a "mirror" in an accessible way.
Note: If you need a larger or smaller diameter tubing, look around. You will surely find something suitable (cocktail tubes, shoe inserts). After all, Evergreen, Plastruct and Tamiya sell plastic profiles and tubes of various sizes.
If you use foil, it is advisable to paste over the blanks with it now. Note that a glued "pot" is more difficult to glue over than its individual components.

I prefer to use Alclad, so I form a "mirror" on the already assembled "pot". Carefully, so that the glue does not get on the foil, we glue our headlight. If gaps appear, close them with putty.
Now you can drill a hole for the light bulb. Light bulbs can be simulated using a stretched transparent sprue or LED (the latter is more suitable for trucks, since the minimum diameter of suitable diodes is 3 mm, and in 1/25 scale it is 7.5 cm).

Trucks are not the only ones suffering from the "blind headlights" effect. The rear lights of passenger cars are also rarely equipped with reflectors. However, making "pots" of reflectors for each light bulb is laborious and impractical here. You can make pots in pants plastic.
We trace the plastic under the diffuser glass along the same boundaries as on the glass. In the center of each square we drill an imitation of a light bulb (although this is not necessary). We arm ourselves with a dental drill and make reflector holes. Be careful when cutting corners. Do not climb with a drill on the borders of the "pots". If you have removed more plastic than necessary, use a putty. And finally, we make the "mirror" an accessible way for you.
The following photos show the difference between a headlamp with and without a reflector:

Another raw material for the manufacture of headlight reflectors can be blister packs from tablets. We need:
- blister tablet packaging,
- household decorative foil on an adhesive basis (or BMF, ordinary foil, silver paint, finally),
- cotton swab.
First of all, we choose a package of tablets of the right size. For example, take a Porsche 944 Turbo (see the title photo) in which I needed to revive the headlights in the front bumper - they did not have reflectors. Porsche has doubles, so I cut a piece of the blister from under two pills at once.

Then everything is very simple. We put a piece of household decorative foil into the depression from the tablet (or, say, glue in ordinary foil) and smooth it with a cotton swab. I only have such a foil (bought in the OBI store), it is not plastic at all and after gluing it in the recess it puffs up:
It's good if the headlamp glass itself has a special pattern, which neutralizes this drawback (and even turns it from a drawback into an advantage - the light shimmers on the foil folds). If there is no pattern, and the headlight is 100% transparent, all flaws in the foil gluing can be visible. In any case, as a backup option, our improvised reflector can be painted with silver - the headlight will eventually become dimmer, but more accurate.
At this point, our reflector is ready and can be glued. You can see the end result using the blister and foil on the model in the title of the article (headlights in the bumper).
By the way, I also put foil into the headlights, which have a kind of reflectors.

And finally, one more detail. The design of standard or homemade headlight reflectors can be complicated by making bulbs. For this we need a piece of transparent plastic sprue. We stretch it over the heat source (gas burner, lighter, match) to make it thin.

Then we cut the resulting part in half and melt one of the resulting thin ends, holding a piece of the sprue vertically under the heat source (otherwise it will melt to the side, but should like a candle towards itself), in this case matches will be the most convenient. It should look something like the photo.

Next, we cut off the melted end of the sprue - this is our light bulb. It remains only to make a hole in the reflector and glue a light bulb there. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that such "bulbs" can be painted with "transparent" paints for headlights and, for example, inserted into the dashboard as control lamps.

On this, perhaps, everything. In any case, before you start making a reflector using one method or another, carefully examine the design of the headlight of the original car, the headlight components you have from the whale, and the place where you plan to insert the homemade reflector. The above methods should replenish your arsenal and possibly lead to your own, most correct in each case decisions.

Many models are usually old, and what can I say, and new ones are equipped with plastic headlight lenses, which, of course, spoil the appearance of the model.
Of course, the problem can be solved if you purchase ready-made headlights from third-party manufacturers, but what to do if this is not possible.
While surfing the Internet, I found several ways to solve this problem. We will now consider one of the ways.
We need: a frame from a transparent sprue, a candle and a little patience. For the subject, I took a model from Trumpeter. This is a model of the Japanese reconnaissance vehicle Type 87?, Where the manufacturer gives transparent parts only triplex glass, and even then only in the form of a film
To begin with, we heat the sprue stick so that it does not melt, but sags, as it were. Next, we stretch the sprue to the desired diameter of the lens we need. We wait a little until it cools down, and cut it in half. Next, we bring the tip of one workpiece to the candle, make sure that the workpiece does not catch fire, slightly twist the tube with our fingers. Under the temperature, the tip melts and takes on the shape of a lens.
Next, let the slices cool off the extra leg from the workpiece. If desired, on the reverse side, you can simulate a light bulb by drilling a recess with a small diameter drill. You can also paint over the inner side with silver.
We drill a plastic imitation of the headlight into the model and mount our homemade product.
Such headlights significantly improve the appearance of the model.

An easy way to get the metal effect around the edges of the tank is with a graphite pencil. You just need to run the pencil around the edges a few times until you achieve a realistic effect. In order to create a metal effect in hard-to-reach areas and cracks in some hatches, you can sharpen a pencil. It is not recommended to create this effect on all parts of the tank, use it only where there is a high likelihood of erosion or wear due to operation. Different types of graphite pencils can be used to achieve different shades of shiny metallic surfaces, (photo: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5))

(All pictures are clickable)

Metal using dyes

Dyes are still a great way to achieve a metal effect on large surfaces, such as tracks, along the edges of tank armor, and on some weapons. Remember that not all types of colorants are created equal. Try to find the one that works best. The ones I did before were too coarse and the effect they produced was not realistic enough. The new metallic pigment from AK Interactive is very good and has more realistic colors (photos: (1), (2))

You can apply metallic pigment directly with your finger to the parts you want to give a steel sheen. You can also use a cotton swab for more precision, (photo: (3), (4))

Metal by other means

We can also create a metallic effect with many other media such as enamel paints and acrylics in metallic colors such as steel, aluminum, etc., which are ideal for painting small parts and accessories with a brush. On the other hand, the Czech brand AGAMA has a special product for creating metal effects using friction. Using a piece of cloth or a cotton swab, we apply a small amount of the product to the surface, and then rub until we achieve the desired shine and until the product dries, (photo: (1), (2), (3), (4), ( 5), (6))

Fallen leaves

One of the last details that can make our model more realistic is adding some natural elements that have fallen on the model, such as small tree branches, leaves, vegetation and soil. These elements fall on the tank as a result of nearby explosions or even when the tank passes through forest thickets. These elements, although they are almost invisible in black and white photographs, are very common and are easy to see on modern models about which there is more information and documentation, (photo: (1), (2), (3), (4), ( 5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12))

The FIBA \u200b\u200band PLUS MODEL brands offer a wide variety of leaves, in all sizes and colors. Although these products are very expensive, they are well worth buying given the level of realism they give the model. They can be applied sheet by sheet by gluing to the model surface with a small amount of matt acrylic varnish. Place the leaf with tweezers and leave to dry. To glue on a bunch of small branches, apply a coat of matte varnish, slightly diluted with water, and stack vegetation, soil, or a bunch of leaves, whatever, on top. After drying, remove excess material that was not glued correctly with a soft, thick brush. If there are any traces of the varnish after drying, you can soften them with small strokes of dyes of earthy and dusty colors, (photo: (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18 ))

How to apply dry decals

The rules for using dry decals are explained in detail in many publications and even in the instructions for the product itself. This is no longer a mystery, as it was 10 years ago. Nowadays, almost the whole world knows how to do this. Despite all this, I will explain the procedure again in case some modeler is still new and does not know how to use them. Of course, I always recommend using dry decals and not regular wet decals. Wet decals are difficult to apply and you need to work hard to make them look perfect. On the other hand, dry decals almost always look great and are very easy to apply (photos: (1), (2))

If you want to add camouflage later, you can protect the dry transfer with a little Blue tac, a special clay similar to plasticine that you can stick on and remove. Paint camouflage on top of it and then remove the Blue tac you used as a mask (photos: (10), (11), (12))

Headlights

The simplest and most realistic way to make car headlights is with lenses specifically designed for modeling. AK Interactive offers a large catalog of lenses of various colors and diameters for all types of vehicles. You just need to take the lens with tweezers and fix it with a little PVA glue or Tamiya varnish, stick in the desired place. Once it's dry, be sure to apply a light layer of dust to the lenses to blend in with the model.

If you are using lenses made of clear plastic, which can be found in many commercial kits, after gluing them on, use a brush to coat them with Tamiya varnish to give them a glass look. If your model's headlights are made of opaque plastic or resin, first coat them with silver paint. Then, using Tamiya's clear paints, give them the color you want, like red, orange, etc ... (photos: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5))

Number plates

The Czech brand EDUARD produces highly realistic, pre-painted metal license plates that are ready to use. You just need to cut out the desired plate and glue it to your model with super glue. It is necessary to age and dirty license plates so that they are in harmony with the rest of the vehicle, (photo: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5))

Quick Wheel masks

One of the most recent and most interesting inventions I have seen in the modeling world is the Quick Wheel Patterns / Masks for Coloring the Wheel, designed by Greg Ross. This simple tool allows you to paint tires on multiple wheels at once, effortlessly and with high precision. It consists of masks of two different thicknesses, into which the wheels can be placed for their further painting, (photo: (1))

First, we paint the wheels with dark gray or black paint, this will be the color of the tire. We paint the wheels completely. Then place the Quick Wheel mask on all wheels. Now paint in the same color as the car and then remove the mask. That's all! Fast and easy. Sometimes painting the wheels of a tank can take an entire day and the end result may be unsatisfactory. But in this way, we can paint all the wheels in a couple of minutes. It's worth it (photo: (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12) )

The second stage is powering the brake lights

We gut the second servo, get the circuit out of there and unsolder the motor. We connect the servo in parallel with the receiver's 2nd channel. After connecting, it is necessary to turn the servo wheel to catch the moment when power is not supplied to the wires from the motor. I just soldered the trimmers and tuned them with it. I cannot illustrate this process, because everything is already wired and packaged in place.

The initial connection diagram was as follows:

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Those. power to the head light is supplied from the battery from the iPhone (stage 1) while the taillight is lit at full heat. When the brake is pressed, 4V is applied to the taillight and lights up brighter.

By the way, the lantern is made of my first wheel and eight parallel-connected LEDs.

The very first night ride revealed a very serious drawback of such a connection scheme. In the dark, a fadedly burning taillight is not given to feel the dimensions of the buggy, which means that it is very difficult to catch a model that is trying to slip into a skid or is in a skid.

I decided to install real side lights on the spoiler. Thus, the dimensions of the model are now felt from either side, and the connection diagram has been simplified. The need to use diodes has disappeared, because the lamp now serves only as a brake light.

The headlight LEDs have been embedded in the front bumper. To get the reflectors, the remains of this one were sawn. Pieces of Lexan are used as glasses.

In the photo there are already enough wartime headlights, as you can see, they are still in place.

Cooling is required with this LED. I found a heatsink for the memory of a video card in the bins, which came with some kind of cooler in the kit and poked them.

This design is very good at removing heat from high-power LEDs.

It's all arranged in a waterproof box - the only thing I bought in an offline construction store.

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