redraif

Can we play nice boys & girls geez! Squeeks, Thanks for tanking the thread again!

I mentioned about that I have won at both Super chevy, world of wheels, and the TA nats. Well I also won at the NOPI nats in TN in the custom (wild) domestic division. As well as winning at many smaller American and import shows. So cars with an import flare can do well in either type shows.

Again its less about styling and more about how well you put it together and present it. So even though you don't like the style have some respect for the work the guy is putting into the car.

And I don't think iron2nv asked for your opinion either. He just wanted to get some lenses vacuuformed, which coincidently is what the thread is about.

admrlam:
I just wanted to give an option to the guys whose lenses are still in good shape, but have begun to separate from the plexi on the TA style. I still would love to incoorporate a clear lens or a true clear red lens w/o the amber or diffusers to update the look.

Here is my 87 with its own version of the base lens gone custom. Red paint matching the body instead of the black & the amber section is done in red!

bigals87z28

red.... you won nopi nats.. i used to think your car was cool... your no better then a hopped up civic.

BTS88IROC

edit

admrlam

sigh... i guess ill copy and paste my posts in the nex tthread, this ones about to get locked

Thanks guys

88txiroc

YEAP!!!

I already warned you guys.

RCR

This is too good of a technical topic to close. If the posts get off topic. I'll delete them.

Now, here are some bookmarks I've collected:
http://www.build-stuff.com/1001plans.htm
http://www.acrylic-designs.com/plastic_FAQ's.htm#forming
http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread.php?threadid=74962

And an article:
RC Universe! Click HERE for the Ultimate RC Forum - Buy, Sell, Trade, Discuss RC!

Text-only version: Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.


Forum: Scratch Building, Aircraft Design, 3D/CAD
Thread: Vacuum Forming Canopies
speedadict I want to build an obscure WW2 Warbird from scratch but don't know how to create the canopy. How does one make the clear canopy?
LA7flier in order to vacu-form a canopy, you'll have to make a plug or you can build the frame and glue clear sheets to it...either method is very laborious. Depending upon the plane, you can choose.. For the plug method, you need to shape a piece of balsa to the exact shape less the thickness of the canopy. You'll then want to glass the plug and sand it to a mirror like finish...this takes along time. Once done, you can pull a canopy. The frame method requires you to structurally build the frame and attach acetate sheets to the frame. The problem with this method is that vibration will loosen the sheets of acetate
speedadict Thanks LA7Flier. Tell me about your LA7! That is one of my all time favorite WW2 Warbirds and I don't see many! I love the Russian stuff but it is hard to find in RC. Heritage RC is going to be comming out with a Yak 9 soon! I want to build a .40 or .60 size Baulton Paul Defiant from scratch.
Jaymom Years ago when my son first got into R/C cars I decided that I wanted to make my own car bodys since the local Hobby Shop charged around $20 each for them.

The next body we bought for one of his cars got duplicated before it got painted ! I filled the new body with Plaster of Paris and let it harden. First attempt failed because I allowed air bubbles on the body surface. After cleaning everything out and polishing the inside of the body I filled it again. This time it came out perfectly. Now I had a mold in the exact shape of the car right down to the headlights.

I then built a box, enclosing all sides, top and bottom. On the top I drilled small holes just a little bigger than the mold itself the exact sizes I don't remember now but around 1/8" holes.
I then drilled a hole on one end of the box that was just big enough for my wife's vacuum cleaner hose to fit into. I then drove a nail in all four corners on the top of the box, cutting off the nail heads after nailing.

Then I took a 1" by 1" piece of wood and made it the same shape and size as the top of the box's outer edges. Drilled a hole in all four corners so that it would slip right over the nails. ( Holes have to be made about twice as big as the size of the nails so that the frame slips over the nails QUITE LOOSELY) Then I made another one exactly like the first.

Now drill a small hole thru both frames in both ends directly in the middle. Find 2 screws just a bit larger than the holes and set them aside for the time being.

Find yourself a piece of Lexan at your local hobby shop. Cut it just a little bit bigger than the frames you just made, place the Lexan between the frames and place your drill bit in the screw holes on the frame ends and drill thru the Lexan. Now place the screws in the holes and screw the two frames together fairly tight.

You now have a piece of Lexan securely held between the two 1x1" frames. Now drill out the four corners thru the Lexan so that the four corners will slip right over the four nails on the box QUITE LOOSELY.

Plug your vacuum cleaner in a wall outlet. Take the hose and insert the metal/plastic end in the hole you drilled in the end of the box. Place the Plaster of Paris mold on the box so that some holes can be seen all around the base of it.

Now, while your wife is gone shopping and doesn't know what you are doing to her oven......

Preheat the oven to around 400 degrees. Open the oven door and place the frame work holding the Plexan in the oven. It doesn't take long so watch it thru the oven door window. When you see the heat causing the Plexan to rise and flop around a little its ready. Open the oven door and as quickly as possible place the Lexan and frame work over the 4 nails of the box. Immediately turn on the vacuum cleaner.

You now have a perfectly formed R/C car body. Trim in out and paint it.

The time it takes to get the Plexan from the oven until the time you click on the vacuum cleaner is very important. Which is why the frame must slide down over the nails QUITE EASILY. If the Lexan cools too much before you turn on the vacuum cleaner it won't come out good at all. If this happens leave the vacuum cleaner alone and put the framework right back in the oven and heat the Lexan again.

This principal works just as good with airplane canopy's. Made a bunch of them too. If you don't have the canopy to copy then carve one out of a piece of wood and use that for the mold. I used to carve lines across them to imitate those of real canopys. Just remember that the finish on the mold will be very everdent in the finished product. Carve your initials in the mold and it comes out in the canopy.

Word of caution though......Those frames come out of the oven quite hot !

If I've forgotten anything let me know.
LA7flier Wow, where to start...I've built and flown 2 from the Don Smith plan. Both powered with a 3W 48 twin electronic ignition. The second flew at the last year's Scale Master Championships in Oregon. Unfortunately, it crashed after a massive radio failure. The first died after a midair with a trainer. The plane flew very well considering the relatively short wing span (80 inches) and a 24 pound flying weight. It was very easy to land once you understood it needed lots of speed.. I typically brought it in at half throttle to about 20 feet above the runway threshold and choped power...from there, it slowed down alot and gently touhed down on the mains...neat airplane and very unique. Both mine had functional leading edge slats that popped when the gear was extended.
speedadict Hey thanks for taking the time to type all that!
Tamecat Hey Jaymom,

Boy does that bring back memories. I remember when I made my first (and only) vac former. Made over twenty canopies with it. The only thing that I see that may be a potential problem is the heat.
I had to keep the temperture down between 275 to 350. If it gets hotter than that, I found that I got airbubbles in the plastic. As one guy told me at the Toledo show, Your not baking a cake, just trying to get the plastic a little soft
Jaymom Its been quite a while since I made a canopy myself but I do remember it being quite a lot of fun. I loved watching it take shape when I flipped that vacuum cleaner on. LOL

As for the temp. I really can't remember how high the temp was, we had an old stove with a temp. gauge that was probably way off anyway. I made my first canopy for a elec. glider of which numerous were made due to the fact I kept loosing them in flight.

But it was fun. Good memories.

RC Universe! Click HERE for the Ultimate RC Forum - Buy, Sell, Trade, Discuss RC!

Text-only version: Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

RCR

If anyone has a problem with their posts being edited, email me and I'll explain what a technical forum is to you.

redraif

:sillylol: You're funny! Actually at the TN NOPI Nats they have a local AMERICAN MUSCLE CAR CLUB judging the show called the Street Machines. Hence it being the only NOPI show not placed based on the $ amount you have spent at NOPI! My judge was a firebird/camaro nut! He loved the car!

See the Atl NOPI Nats is rigged and I refuse to show there again! I talked to my judge there (he was at Super Chevy) and he said I should have won, but he had to give his results over to the NOPI officials and from there he figures the NOPI $ you spent judged the class. Hence the more import styled cars winning!

**Anyway on topic...this topic is even helpful to some of the guys who wanted to make custom headlights like the 300s.

I'm glad RCR decided to keep it around! And thanks for the additional info on making a home vacuumforming device. I plan to try to make something like this. Luckily our oven is on its last leg and rarely gets used, so Mom will not mind. Its not like it actually hurts the oven. I'm glad you can use plaster of Paris. I worked with it a bit in my art class in high school, so I see some possiblities here! Cool thanks agian!

At first I was a bit confused about the frame for the plexi/lexan. But i think I have it know. Its like 2 picture frames that you screw together with the plexi pinched b/w. Then it holds the plexi and you place it over the object. The nails are your guides to be sure it is centered and does not slip. The vacuum pulls the hot plexi tight to the object... and with the wood frame, you can get it even & hopefully you will not get burned. Cool!

Now the sealed box... its to make the vacuum actually suck thru the holes you have drilled. I realize its platform side needs to have enough length and width to hold your object and to have holes just beyond its size. How tall does the box need to be though. I would think the shorter the better for keeping the suction at its peak pressure.

88txiroc

Just to clear things up, I only closed this thread due to it having been reported to me numerous times, though PM and email. I closed it because it was starting to get out of hand. It does have a lot of good info, but I felt it was heading in the wrong direction.

I am not one to start banning people. I also do not like to delete posts, unless I am forced to. I have no problem with RCR opening the post again, as he knows what he is doing.

Please try to keep it clean. I am sure that RCR will be keeping a very close eye on this thread, as will I.

Mathius

I want to that RCR for keeping this opened. There's too much good stuff in here. Besides which, if people want to break the rules, I don't see where a good post should be shut down because of it, punish them, not us.

Back on topic.... I don't know a thing about vacuum forming. It seems to me that you guys are going that route to avoid having to come up with a prototype? Is that right? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the process...

But anyways, I do know of an alternative method that you could look into. There's a plastic forming agent called Alumilite that is very easy to work with. The hard part is, you have to develope the prototype, and then you can mold the part. It's very simliar to how fiberglassing is done, except instead of glassing the mold, you're going to fill the mold with liquid. It's a 2 part compound, very similar to the way epoxy works.

I've never had a chance to use this stuff, but they use it in Hobby applications. However, this is very limited use of what this stuff can do. Check out this site: http://www.miniaturemolds.com/alumilit.htm . This outlines the basics of the process. However, if you check the main site, you can see that there are unlimited uses for this product.

Alumilite can be used in all of the following applications:

Architectural

Car Restoration

Model Cars

Doll

Craft

Rapid Prototyping

Fishing Lures

Medical

Action Figures

Model Railroad

Sign

War Gaming

Rock Climbing

Picture Frames

Metallic Powders

RC Armored Vehicles


If you stop by your local Hobby Town, they carry this stuff in a trial package. You can use it to test the stuff out first, maybe even make a small part (dash bezel or something). Then order enough to do a taillight mold. In Iroc2nv's situation, it wouldn't be hard for him to make a taillight cover out of wood for a prototype and then mold it in alumilite. You can order in bulk, straight from the company, and they carry clear as well as different dye's.

The main site is http://www.alumilite.com/


Hope that helps!

Mathius

Mathius

Oh, and looks like they added a forum since I last checked the site, so take advantage of that too.

BTW: I found this link on the site that is very specific to what you're all looking for:

http://www.alumilite.com/application...tion=view&ID=4

Mathius

BTS88IROC

I too am glad this thread is kept open, and I must apologize for anything I said earlier that warranted being deleted.

CrazyHawaiian

True that, but I plan to keep the stock housings, I just want to change some of the reflector colors. I figgured since some of you guys know how to make new housings, I might get lucky and get some reflector info hehehe. I can make them different colors by painting, but I cant figgure out how to make them clear reflectors if they came colored from the factory. I even broke a piece in half and saw it was red the whole way through. I wonder if its possible to make my own reflector pieces? Thanks for any info you guys might have.

Oh and a thanks to the moderators to cleaning this thread up and reopening it.

RCR

The problem with Alumilite is that it is not clear. Wouldn't work well as a lens cover Looks interesting for other apps. I'll have to bookmark it.


As a side note: Sorry if I stepped on any toes (88aziroc) but this was too good a topic to close. Much better than the " will 4'th gen ___ fit in my ___" topics. This topic is helpful to myself, as I have recently looked into vacu-forming lense covers for the car I'm planning on building.

Mathius

I'm not sure I understand here. Are you saying you've worked with it, and it isn't clear enough? 'Cuz they do make a clear cast alumilite. It's right there on the main product page.

http://www.alumilite.com/line.cfm

It's the 4th one down. And actually, if you check out the forums, they state that all the color dyes actually are transparent dyes, they said even if you use enough to make it seem opaque, it will still show some light through when you hold it up to the light. So you can definately make a clear cast, or you could use the dye for your inner reflective pieces.

Mathius

okfoz

IF you want a clear castable Resin, look for PS30...

That is what Companies like Cessna & Beechcraft use on some of their small clear plastic componants that go on Aircraft windows...

John

Nightcruzer

Here is a site that shows you how to build your own vacuum forming table, as well as the vacuum forming process. In addition it shows how to create molds for all your pieces. The second link shows the same knowledge but in much less detail applied to cars.

http://www.studiocreations.com/stormtrooper/main.shtml

http://home.nycap.rr.com/wwilliams/Scoops.html

RCR

MY bad. I didn't look close enough to see that they had different formulas.

RCR

Anybody have results to show?

89_305TransAm

Im not really into the whole clear tailight idea, but the vac forming really caught my attention.

So what i understand is if you do this vac form first, it takes a cast of the orig tail light..so its bigger then the exact peice and it fits over the orig? Well..if you added some kind of coloring agent to the plastic..black lets say..you could kind of make your own black outs..true?

Or if you made replica lenses like your all trying to do..but with a black additive..then you could have perm. black outs too..right?

That is if its possible at all to add color..im going to read up on this some more..a good topic, cant wait to see the results!

Mathius

You can still make a mold of the original just like fiberglassing with alumilite, but I just thought it would be better to have a smooth finish to the outer tail light, rather than the grid finish it currently has.

Mathius

SinthetikIroc

iTrader: (1)

once you have the shape in mold form. you can always smooth it out. the making of the overall mold that holds the actual shape of the taillight would be hardest part. altering how the finished look will be as far as the grid would be easy.

but thats what i think via commen sense.

anyone wanna comment?

admrlam

Im hoping for this week..... Im almost done with my school **** this semester, just two more finals.......

Mathius

<shrug> I suppose it would work ok, obviously the lowered part of the lamp (where the grid lines are) is thick enough, but it's certainly going to weaken the light some, maybe not enough to make a difference.

Mathius

okfoz

One thing to keep in mind when using the original tailight as a mold, you have to heat up the material to make it "formable." Unfortunately since you are using a similar material as the tailight you might possibly melt the two plastics together. OR you might distort the original tailight from the heat...

IF YOU USE THE TAILIGHT AS A MOLD
All I have to say is
1) Make sure you take time for your tailight to cool before using the tailight a second time as a mold.
2) You might want to consider some way to keep heated plastic coming in contact with plastic. Some sort of release agent for example.
3) I would consider getting a junkyard tailight to use as a mold.
4) be patient...

John

RCR

ttt

D M N

its been 2 months since the last post has anyone ever make the tailights

Z28guy83

easier to get another lense and bleach the color out of it classic industries sell the peices separately so you can just buy a lense
just my .02

D M N

is that possible?? to bleach a lence?? what would you use??

HamsterOnaMission

Hey guys, just want to let you know what's going on.

The process is being held up by major kitchen renovations inside (I havn't had an oven hooked up for the past 2 months) the general restoration of the car they'll be put on (currently gutted and being sandblasted. next comes chasis work, next comes body work, etc etc.), as well as work(yippee), and competing with my bands

I'm not going to get back to the lights untill the body and chasiswork is done.

When i finally do get back on it though, i'll keep you guys up to date

I don't think it's possible to bleach the colour out of a lense. The acrylic will only be bleached on the surface, and the lenses i took of my car are coloured all the way through.

D M N

Thats what i thought hey could you make a mold of the lence with the plaster of paris stuff and then fill the mold with acrlic stuff you get at a hobby shop.

D M N

so whats your respond z28

D M N

Has anyone tried this yet??

87IROCZ350TPI

Unless the plastic is "Microwave safe" it will heat up.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Wow....Replying to a FIVE YEAR OLD THREAD!

But....Yes, plastic can be heated, just not evenly enough for good vacuforming to take place.

FYRCHKN

True, but it can be heated to hand form nicely over a template.

okfoz

Fyrchkn,
Your tail lights look to have the Honeycomb look to them in your sig... What is that all about?

Is there a thread about them?

John

FYRCHKN

They're pretty similar to the honeycombs.

Here's the thread:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...tml?highlight=