# Are we all Clear on the Invaders UFO?



## Atlantis1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Hey guys all the parts for this kit are on 1 mold except for the little domes on the bottom. They will be in clear.

So now we have a choice, we can do the entire kit in clear or it can be in silver with clear domes.. It's one or the other.

So what do you guys think?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

O Mighty One,

(I don't care what other people say; my attitude is, you can never lay it on too thick .) My vote would be for all clear, because:


It would make lighting the model so much easier; those who don't want to light it could simply paint the parts.
The truly fanatic modeler (or an Aftermarketeer like Paragraphix or TSDS) could add "greeblies" to build the "X-Ray" version of the saucer, showing the interior workings and structure of the ship.
It would make the Atlantis edition of the model absolutely unique.
I would offer one more suggestion, but I do so with the caveat that I have no understanding of the practical aspects involved on your end whatsoever. Could the Invaders UFO kit be released in opaque _and_ transparent editions, just as some kit are issued in glow-in-the-dark versions? Ooh - GITD! Now _there's_ an idea... :hat:


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Not to appear transparent, but, clearly, the choice is to make the kit in clear.

Is that clear? Are we all clear on that? Can I be any more clear on this subject?

Clearly, you must see through this transparent attempt to persuade you to produce the kit in clear...


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Huh? Wha-?


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## Atlantis1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Trek Ace your freaking me out!

Mark we can only do this small run in one color, perhaps if we sell out we could run them in GITD or something else in the future.

I would like to let this thread run a few days before we decide what is best for production.

Pete


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## Atlantis1 (Sep 16, 2013)

This came in from the Injection molder.

Our mold manager advises that it will not run in clear. It is not designed for it. The draft angles are not correct and of course none of the cavities have been polished to clear quality. 

Perhaps a clear resin aftermarket dome or a vacu-form would work this all out.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Understood, Pete.

Well, better an opaque kit than none at all!


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Clearly not the answer I wanted!

No matter I'm still excited about this kit and have already pre ordered 1.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

*Clear!* * You hear????*

Clear, transparent, see through, not opaque...pick your adjective.

Carl-


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

*I would pay a little more to have it in clear....who's with me ?*


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

RMC, better reread Atlantis1's post #6.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Atlantis1 said:


> Our mold manager advises that it will not run in clear. It is not designed for it. The draft angles are not correct and of course none of the cavities have been polished to clear quality.


My curiosity is piqued. I know clear styrene has some unique properties, like being more brittle than regular styrene. Does tooling for clear have different draft requirements than opaque styrene, and why?

Inquiring minds want to know!


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

I can answer some of that, as I have run injection molding equipment.
And for fun have run some clear shots of parts that weren't supposed to be clear. So I kind of know what happens when you do that.

One of the most obvious issues that arises when running clear in molds not designed for it, is actually being able to see the flow pattern of the plastic.
Clear plastic sets up quicker when shooting it into a mold than opaque plastic does. So if the gate and runner system isn't adequate the plastic starts setting up while the tool is still filling. Which leads to a distorted pattern in the clear plastic. Very evident in larger parts.
This also causes problems running production, as the cavities do not want to fill properly. This causes short shots. (parts not fully formed). If you up the pressure to try to overcome that, then you start running into problems with venting and flash. You know what flash is. Venting issues cause the plastic to burn. Leaving blackened marks at the vent points. 

The polishing part would be an issue depending on your objective.
If the cavities are not polished to a mirror finish the plastic will look frosted instead of clear.

As I said at the start, I've done this with a few parts. Usually at the end of a run when I was purging out the barrel of the press anyway. I managed to get a few pieces to take home for the kids to play with. But there was no way we could have run production the way I had to do things.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I'd like to see the entire kit in clear. In my view this would be a unique selling point as if anyone wants a non clear kit they're quite easy to come by. I myself have got the non clear (except for the red globes) Tsukuda kit plus the original Aurora with the clear lid and opague lid.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

RMC said:


> *I would pay a little more to have it in clear....who's with me ?*



Same here but after reading what Atlantis said it looks like it ain't happening.

Bummer!


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

It's good to have the technical issues explained so well by Atlantis and Trevor, and it's easy to understand now why more kits aren't made will all parts in clear plastic. I got the 1994 Monogram reissue UFO, in silver plastic with clear domes and no clear lid, and it's still my favourite non-figure kit, with as far as I remember no parts-fit problems. 

The silver plastic parts had darker and lighter patches, a bit like weathering, from the molding process, and once I'd painted the kit in silver and aluminium I regretted it - the original silver plastic had looked better.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

One good thing is that the original Aurora issue with the clear top will hold its value now. I guess a cast clear top will work (I think someone did a clear resin top a few years ago). I wonder how much extra it would cost to reverse engineer an extra top and do it in clear? Not sure it would be cost effective - I'd pay the extra amount but not sure it would be a big deal for everyone to pay more. I am still excited it is getting released again though. I have a Monogram issue but would like a couple more.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Casting a clear top is not that easy. You get bubbles and its solid... so you have a very thick piece that just looks funny. Having a clear top in the reissue would have been a selling point since I have two or three of the last Monogram reissues. They are not terribly uncommon. For a while, someone had some clear plastic domes or tinted green domes, but they are long sold out.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> Casting a clear top is not that easy. You get bubbles and its solid... so you have a very thick piece that just looks funny. Having a clear top in the reissue would have been a selling point since I have two or three of the last Monogram reissues. They are not terribly uncommon. For a while, someone had some clear plastic domes or tinted green domes, but they are long sold out.



That's the thing. I've got one with a clear lid but most people haven't and it's fairly easy to pick up kits with the non clear lid, and many peole have them already anyway. So more clear parts would definitely have been a unique selling point. I didn't realise it was more complicated to mould it in clear.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I figured it wasn't a big deal to mold the lid in clear since the original kit came with it in clear. The globes actually were solid, originally.

Honestly, if you want to light up the interior, making clear resin copies of the very few and simple control panels is very easy with Alumalite Mold Putty and some Liquid Ice resin glue (comes in a tube like epoxy, flows like resin, dries crystal clear).


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

I assume everyone wants clear for lighting. If it was molded in white it could be lit just fine, LEDs show through white pretty well.


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## Atlantis1 (Sep 16, 2013)

The was a separate lid mold it was lost along the way. We are looking into ways to make an aftermarket clear dome. If i know this crowd there will be some at wonderfest. New tooling is out of the question if it was my tool I would do it.


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## wjplenge (Apr 14, 2011)

Though normally my personal preference would be colored plastic I'll buy the kit either way and actually like the option to build this particular kit with a "peek a boo" hull.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

TAY666 said:


> I can answer some of that, as I have run injection molding equipment.
> And for fun have run some clear shots of parts that weren't supposed to be clear. So I kind of know what happens when you do that.
> 
> One of the most obvious issues that arises when running clear in molds not designed for it, is actually being able to see the flow pattern of the plastic.
> ...







This is just a thought but would frosted clear parts be that bad an idea? Ok you wouldn't be able to see the interior so clearly with the lid on ....*but*.... it could still be a good thing for those that want to mask the windows off and paint the surrounding area silver as the windows would still be transparent. You can't see anything through the little windows even if they're non frosty anyway but at least the saucer could still be lit up and the same for the main engine and globes. 

It doesn't matter if they're all crystal clear or not. The only time it would matter is if you want to display the model with a crystal clear lid on. The lid's removable anyway so the interior can be seen without a crystal clear lid.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Guys,

I think Atlantis1 has said it all, that there won't be any clear parts forthcoming. I don't believe that no clear parts will affect the greater percentage of those modelers who will buy this kit; my suspicion is that the lighter-uppers will be in the minority.

These builders are very resourceful. They will likely find ways around the opaque plastic; in fact, there have already been several ideas posted above. And I'm sure the Aftermarketeers are bound to come up with something.

My problem is, how to build a diorama using only two saucers. One would be landed, with the top removable so the well-detailed interior could be displayed. The other would be in flight, with the top and legs closed up and the lighted features blazing away. But darn it, a diorama with only two elements makes for a lousy composition.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Mark McGovern said:


> Guys,
> 
> I think Atlantis1 has said it all, that there won't be any clear parts forthcoming. I don't believe that no clear parts will affect the greater percentage of those modelers who will buy this kit; my suspicion is that the lighter-uppers will be in the minority.
> 
> ...




Just putting forward some ideas. Maybe you're right but that's up to Atlantis and the mold manager.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Translucent?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

SUNGOD said:


> Just putting forward some ideas. Maybe you're right but that's up to Atlantis and the mold manager.


S.G.,

By all means, put! The last part of your quote here sums up what I was saying, that it sounds to me like Atlantis isn't going to be able to issue the kit with clear parts. But as Mr. Spock said in _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_, "There are always alternatives."


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## Atlantis1 (Sep 16, 2013)

It will have clear parts just not the dome.


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## fortress (Apr 1, 2006)

Atlantis1 said:


> It will have clear parts just not the dome.



Atlantis1, will the kit have the classic 1968 Aurora box art? I really dug 
that boxtop! Also will it include the base from the 1975 kit and additional 
figures?


fortress:thumbsup:


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Atlantis1 said:


> It will have clear parts just not the dome.


being disabled, PRE-Silver casting w/ some Clear & few parts total. 
is my lean... ALSO; a "PRE-Built/Detailed" version, like "M" does is
an attention getter....

"M"; 4 their PRE-Builds :thumbsup:
"P"; high quality..
& = 2 "P" in Quality is DEFFINATELY "Atlantis"... 
these are the ONLY MFG's I buy, 4 obvious reasons...
tried some "P.L."s.. never more... 

just an 'Ol-Senile-Cripp talking.. but maybe offering a "Limited PRE-Built" (??)

TY :thumbsup:
Bubba 123 :wave:


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