THE Idiot's Guide to Kitbashing

[Rodimus VTS]

Hey guys I screwed up. I didn`t think that clear coating my kitbash with nothing covering the windsheild would hurt anything so now I need to remove the clear coat since it has frosted the windsheild. Would rubbing alcohol work on this with out messing up the clear plastic or am I pretty much screwed and needing to replace the windshield.

[BowB4Prime]

I noticed someone mentioned using a soldier iron on a project, what about those "cool heat" irons that's been recently released?

 

Anyways, I hope this isn't mentioned in here yet(I know I've seen Hobby Lobby mentioned a few times). Where can I find Styrene, specifically, where in Hobby Lobby? I went a few weeks ago to ask about it, and they looked at me like I was an alien complete with antenna on my head, so I ended up leaving with out it. (I almost considered getting the clear frame plastic though, but it looked a bit flimsy for what I had in mind.)

 

Sorry if I'm asking a question that's already been answered.

 

Aoi

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my little 2 cents...avoid the cold heat gun as much as you can...the way it works is you push down on it and it makes contact inside...it can be hard to control it and since it takes force you may push to hard and warp stuff....(known from example) plus the angle it takes its hard to use on things like pushing pins and stuff.....i have built a pen using a 9 volt and paper clip and a body with heat stuff , since the paper clip is almost the same size as the pins it works alright....

 

 

now for a question...has anyone tried using dermaclay? (sp) it comes in little beads that you boil and pull out and mold like clay...and if it doesnt get the right mold you can dip it back into the water and it will soften up again..it holds paint well and comes in many colors...though i havnt usd it in a while and have no idea where to get it from...it may also be called therma clay...but they even make it in opaque colors

[BowB4Prime]

oh yeah and for you tooth paste doubters.....you can use it to take paint off of alot of things and it is a good cleaning agent...i am with wv on that....if all else fells try it...plus it wont hurt most materials...i use it to clean up paint spills and other stuff.....

 

 

btw thank you guys...this section rawks

[Rodimus VTS]

oh yeah and for you tooth paste doubters.....you can use it to take paint off of alot of things and it is a good cleaning agent...i am with wv on that....if all else fells try it...plus it wont hurt most materials...i use it to clean up paint spills and other stuff.....

 

 

btw thank you guys...this section rawks

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Hey BB4P what do you use to apply the tooth paste? Do you just put it on a rag or do you use a tooth brush? I`m hoping this will help with my frosted windshield problem.

[BowB4Prime]

oh yeah and for you tooth paste doubters.....you can use it to take paint off of alot of things and it is a good cleaning agent...i am with wv on that....if all else fells try it...plus it wont hurt most materials...i use it to clean up paint spills and other stuff.....

 

 

btw thank you guys...this section rawks

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Hey BB4P what do you use to apply the tooth paste? Do you just put it on a rag or do you use a tooth brush? I`m hoping this will help with my frosted windshield problem.

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i used to use a washcloth (kind of rough) but now i have my dremmel so i use one of the polishing wheel things that came with it and just rub it in at the low speed...like as if you were polishing ....i went through the same problem when i was ingraving some plastics....alot of work but i did work it out....but yeah the alcihol pads or just some on a rag may help too.....or maybe if you can take the windshield off you could try dipping it in some warm water....just warm enough not to warp the plastic and then try polishing it out

[Rawhide]

Hey guys I screwed up. I didn`t think that clear coating my kitbash with nothing covering the windsheild would hurt anything so now I need to remove the clear coat since it has frosted the windsheild. Would rubbing alcohol work on this with out messing up the clear plastic or am I pretty much screwed and needing to replace the windshield.

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Clear parts should always be masked, unless you want to paint them, of course.

 

I think rubbing alcohol should work fine (just like the other chemicals to remove paint). However, be careful. Clear plastic is weaker than solid plastics, meaning they are more vulnerable and will deteriorate quicker. Also, the plastic will probably become a bit dull. So, yeah, toothpaste will be essential to make it truly clear again.

[Rodimus VTS]

Thanks Rawhide and BowB4Prime I`ll definately give it a try. What`s weird is that the clear coat did nothing to the lights but it frosted the windsheild. They both look like the exact same plastic but for some reason it affected the one and not the other. Ahwell thanks again guys.

[BowB4Prime]

a little pointer:

 

you can remove most permanent markers with a regular pencil eraser

sharpies included....i dont know how well this will help anyone but i figured id put it in here...i know it sounds funny but it works on most nonpourous materials

 

rodimus VTS i dont know what kind of clearcoat you used but i did it last night to a cd case to see if i could pull off some clear coat with various stuff....the toothpaste worked...the alcihol worked and so did the eraser

[Rawhide]

What`s weird is that the clear coat did nothing to the lights but it frosted the windsheild. They both look like the exact same plastic but for some reason it affected the one and not the other.

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I'm not so sure it's the plastic.  Let me guess, it's not the entire windshield that (evenly) frosted, but irregular parts with clear (small) patches in between? If so, then if the lights had been larger, they'd probably be frosted as well.

 

I've also had frosted effects when coating (model kits, not TF's) and that wasn't on clear parts. It has to do with the humidity/temperature while coating. If these aren't right, then the coat can give that frosted effect (Wraithverge mentions this as well somewhere on the first few pages).

 

 

BowB4Prime: I knew pencil eraser worked on permanent markers (on a smooth surface, usually best when they're a little moist) but I hadn't thought off using it on a TF. Thanks :thumb  Hopefully I'll never have to, but if the need arises I will give it a try.

[WraithVerge]

Rodimus: use toothpaste to polish the windshield.

 

Different plastics react differently to clearcoat. some of the soft clear plastics, like those used on Cybertron red alert, will frost when hit with clearcoat. Others, like clear polystyrene, will take it well. Personally, i would use futer floor acryllic as a clearcoat for most clear plastics.