Suggestions Please

[Steve Arthur]

I'm nearing the painting phase of the Apollo Astronaut I started some time back and I've been thinking about the helmet visor. I would like to make it so that you can see through it, yet have the gold tint reflective enough that you can not see into the visor unless you are looking at it closely. Do you guys think I could mist SnJ gold onto the inside of the visor light enough that it would remain reflective yet somewhat translucent? Or is this idea ill advised and you have a better one?

Hope all are happy and well and that you'll have a wonderful holiday season.


Best wishes
Steve

 

[DangerAtom]

Steve, I've got two options for you. Don't spray the SnJ. Just use the gold powder. Buff it into the clear plastic. It will work it's way into the the plastic, leaving the color and still be translucent. But try it out on a piece of clear scrap plastic first. The grain of the powder may be too big for your tastes.
Option two, look up an automotive window tint shop. Some of them carry gold and silver tint. They may even give you a piece of scrap tint that would be more than you need to get the job done.

 

[Brad S]

Steve,

I have never tried this before, but how about some diluted Tamiya clear yellow with just the smallest amout (speck) of that powder you are going to use or a speck of iridescent white or pearl white? Good Luck.

Brad Spelts

 

[Pete Wenman]

Steve hi

An aircraft modeling trick may help here.

A floor polish, Johnsons Klear (here in the UK) Future in USA, is used for a whole load of different purposes.

One is to tint aircraft canopies. Just add a small amount of you chosen colour (it needs to be an acrylic paint) to the Future and then either dip the part or airbrush. Whether this method will work with a paint brush ?

Photo shows a F16 canopy tinted with yellow coloured Future

HTH

Pete

 

[Steve Arthur]

Hey guys,

I tried the powder route on the scrap clear plastic and it left behind streaks and swirls. I used both a Q-tip the first time, which really turned out bad then cleaned the test piece off , then tried the cloth that came with the SnJ and had the same results. I don't know, maybe I did something wrong. I'll try out the other options you guys suggested and see how they work out. If all else fails, I'll see if I can round up a bit of the window tint Kevin suggested.

Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the suggestions.

Best wishes
Steve

 

[Einion]

Steve, I think if you want a metallic effect you'll have to sacrifice being able to see through it. You won't be able to use a metallic powder and get the effect you want, it's just too coarse, even at 1:1 scale you'd see individual particles because they're spread out. The original visors are produced by coating with gold atoms I think and we can't hope to try to match that One has the same problem trying to replicate the sheen of silk using iridescent paints.

I was going to suggest much the same thing as Pete did. If you want just the colour and to maintain transparency then dipping in Tamiya clear yellow (with a dot of red and blue or black added ideally) is the way to go.

If you do want the metallic effect without being able to see through it then dip as above, mask the front face with something very low tack (Parafilm would be best I would think) and then coat the inside of the visor with a good chrome metallic; you'll get an effect like a mirror with a tinted overlay and it should look excellent.

Einion

 

[Manfred]

Maybe a crazy idea:

Some candies and chocolate pralines , for example Tofifee have a plastic inlay to support the goodies.
More often than not this is transparent plastic which is gold plated like car kits bumpers are chromed. And you can see through these plated trays because ther're so thin.

It just remains to find the right brand of candy where a piece can be cut from ...