# Frosted Clear Plastic



## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

On the refit studio model there are a number of places that have a transparent/frosted white color.

The openings to the sensors and on the impulse engine are not clear but allow a lot of light through.

Does anyone know of any modeling product that has that consistency?


Plastruct has .003 and .006 "transparent white" acrylic but I don't know what it looks like.


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## omnimodel (Oct 9, 2004)

There are number of routes you can go to get the frosted look. This is purely speculation, but I'd imagine on the original model they used the gels camera people use for diffusing light in the studio.

For flat surfaces, there are a few easy choices that can be done with household items.

1) Frosted Scotch tape folded in half and attached with white glue from inside.

2) Put tape over the opening and fill with white glue.

If your model has clear styrene pieces already, you can frost them using any of the following methods. I've listed them from the least to most coarse final texture:

3) Clear styrene sprayed with Krylon matte.

4) Clear styrene brushed with super glue

5) clear styrene brushed with acetone (caution: will destroy the part if too much is used)

Since most things listed here can usually be found in the house (or local supermarket), you can experiment with spare parts and decide which will yield the effect you are going for.


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## The-Nightsky (May 10, 2005)

Testors Dullcoat over clear plastic works very vell


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

krylon also makes a "glass frosting" spray paint.


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## DX-SFX (Jan 24, 2004)

You can also scour the plastic sheet with very fine wet and dry and/or add a piece of tracing paper behind the plastic. White acrylic sheets comes in various densities allowing light through but the thinnest you'll find it is 1/8th thick. You could also investigate plastic light covers at a DIY store.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

I usually just sand the heck out of it wit a fine grit paper. Unless I need a big, even area. then I default to a matte spray


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

For large, flat areas I scavenge the test films I've bought for doing my backlit transparencies (there's only one film that actually works worth a d**m no matter what all the web sites say). Smaller and/or curved areas get layers of dullcote and/or the spraypaint they sell for simulating etched glass windows.


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## falcon49xxxx (Aug 4, 2008)

Velum or tracing paper.


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

Smooth-On makes a very good non-yellowing resin that goes by the name of Crystal Clear. You can add a drop(A SINGLE DROP - I'm not exaggerating) of their White resin dye to create translucent white parts.

Here's a link to their resins:

http://www.smooth-on.com/specs_list.php?type=1


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## JadesDarkHeart (Dec 8, 2003)

razorwyre1 said:


> krylon also makes a "glass frosting" spray paint.


This is what I use and it works great


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

The problem is that I have some areas that need depth to the frosted plastic.


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

Try a cheap hair spray like White Rain.

You can add coats to get the look you need and if your unhappy with the results you can wash it off with water.

It's also good for setting pastels used for weathering.


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## omnimodel (Oct 9, 2004)

swhite228 said:


> Try a cheap hair spray like White Rain.
> 
> You can add coats to get the look you need and if your unhappy with the results you can wash it off with water.
> 
> It's also good for setting pastels used for weathering.



I'm going a bit off topic here, but can the hairspray be set with a topcoat? I've been looking for an easier way to do weathering for WWII desert camouflage and it sounds like hairspray might give just the right chalky look.


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## omnimodel (Oct 9, 2004)

bigjimslade said:


> The problem is that I have some areas that need depth to the frosted plastic.


Can you post a pic of the areas? If we could see the parts you're working on we may be able to come up with some different options.


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## bigjimslade (Oct 9, 2005)

The impulse engine of the Refit. The trapazoid pattern in the grills appears to be the result of a cutout in a frosted pattern. However, there needs to be depth to that pattern.


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## omnimodel (Oct 9, 2004)

After examining this pic:
http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/STMPEnterprise/ColorPhotos/cSTMPent30.jpg
I see what you're going for. 

Here's a couple of suggestions (experiments) that you can try. Unsure if they'll work or not, but I be interested to find out.

1) If you are building the PL Refit, you could use the kit part. From what I remember it's so thick you can mask / paint the trapezoid cutout on the inside of the engine part and scribe the grill lines on the outside. Then, douse with dullcoat.

2) If you're scratchbuilding, you can use my favorite kind of junk mail: AMEX and Discover offers. Usually they come with a clear styrene pretend card... use wet/dry sandpaper to remove the markings and you have a nice piece of plastic with a look somewhere between frosted and smoky. From there, you can make an inner and outer panel to go in the impulse engine housing. As above, paint the inner, scribe the outer, and space them about 1/8" apart in the housing.


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## swhite228 (Dec 31, 2003)

omnimodel said:


> I'm going a bit off topic here, but can the hairspray be set with a topcoat? I've been looking for an easier way to do weathering for WWII desert camouflage and it sounds like hairspray might give just the right chalky look.


The hairspray acts as a matt/ dull top coat, and doesn't need a final coat to set it...unless the model is going to be handled a lot or stored in a damp/ wet enviroment, so a r/c Seaview is not a good place for hairspray.

I've used hairspray for pastel and chalk drawings to keep them from smudging in art classes at school, also for outside work( it's much cheaper than a can of dull coat). I've also used it and seen others use it on film and video shoots to kill the reflections on chrome and gloss surfaces. It's easy to use and when everything is done it's easy to clean off if you need to. 

I would suggest trying it out on a scrap piece of plastic that you've weathered to get an idea of the look.

Oh.... spray it in light coats as it is alcohol based and might mess up some paints or decals ( I've never had a problem but you never know), and don't use it around flames.


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## CaliOkie (Dec 31, 2007)

Fine sanding of clear parts works well if you get it even. This technique does not block much light, just defuses it -- it also doesn't yellow as flat coat can.

Years ago I built an 18" AMT TOS Enterprise and carefully cut out windows for LED lighting. I wanted the clear part of the windows to be flush with the outer surface of the model, so I took decal paper, sprayed the clear acrylic over it without printing anything on it. This I cut, as you would normal decals, to fit over each window, and later put a light flat coat over them. They blended perfectly with the surface of the model. Mix a little silver with your acrylic and you have an easy way to do Aztec patterns by cutting the decal in the pattern. Advantage: you mess up a section, you take the decal off and cut a new one. Overlapping them gives you double the darkness.


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