Clear "plastic" what to use?

[Yuri]

Hi all,

I need to replace all the windows of a railcar (yeah.... I drifted also to railroad modelling).

Anyway... I need some clear plastic thick enough so I can put the windows on with some bonding surface for the glue, but that can be cut easily enough.

I discarted plexiglass.... too difficult and brittle to cut, I think something good could be something like the old (discontinued) squadron thermoform, but perhaps a little thicker.... something like 1mm thick.... but that can be cut with a sharp blade... what can I use? What about Vivak? Is it soft enough?

[ikar]

I have clear laminated plastic scraps left over after doing a lamination job at work. The thinnest I use is two layers of 3mm heat sealed over a paper object up to 10mm & 10mm. I cut off the excess and sometimes keep some of the scrap if I have a project to work on.

I also have some Squadron clear sheets from when they sold packs of plastic for scratch building.

You could try buying a report folder with a clear cover. They can be bought in a office supply store or maybe some other stores around you.

You might also check out things you buy with clear formed packages.

[flyfort17]

I think plastruct and Evergreen make clear sheets of different thickness'

[chukw]

K&S sells three thicknesses of clear sheet- look in the RC section of your hobby shop. Great stuff- easy to cut, cheap and vacuformable, too.

[Fellow Hobbyist]

Hi all,

I need to replace all the windows of a railcar (yeah.... I drifted also to railroad modelling).

Anyway... I need some clear plastic thick enough so I can put the windows on with some bonding surface for the glue, but that can be cut easily enough.

I discarted plexiglass.... too difficult and brittle to cut, I think something good could be something like the old (discontinued) squadron thermoform, but perhaps a little thicker.... something like 1mm thick.... but that can be cut with a sharp blade... what can I use? What about Vivak? Is it soft enough?

Depending on the size of the windows; you might be able to use products like Testors window glazing to make the windows. The surface tension would hold the glazing within the window framing and dries clear. I recall a fellow club member demonstrating the product at a meeting last year and I was impressed by the results.

[Yuri]

Evergreen is a bit too brittle, very much like plexiglass.... I was looking for something a little more soft and forgiving, like the old thermoform.... that maybe was PETG or Vivak.... Haven't tried plastruct.

[MikeDassele]

Clear clamshell material is very useful and pretty much free. Food containers and that sort of thing.

[Rory]

Try looking around your local supermarket. A lot of products have clear vacformed packaging trays to hold the product on the shelf. I have used this to make canopies and windows.

[kenlilly106]

Clamshell packaging plastic is largely PETG. Though I haven't seen much that was 1mm thick, if I did the math right 1mm is about 0.040", most of the clear packing I've seen is 1/2 that thickness at the most. I think it would be strong enough in this application though.

Ken