Tinting Polycarbonate?

[misterfusion]

Hey cats,

So I'm making a Captain Avenger costume for the upcoming Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois.

The most challenging element is the visor.

I started off with a polycarbonate face shield from Home Depot like this:

And after using a couple of cutting wheels with my Dremel, some wet sandpaper and cooking in the over at 325 degrees a couple minutes at a time till I could bend it to fit, I've got it down to this:

Now the challenge is turning it blue.

I got some blue window tint film from an auto shop, but the curve is just too much and there's no way to get the film flat w/o major bubbles & wrinkles.

I've been pointed in the direction of Tamiya translucent spray paint, but has anyone ever used this, and will it give me the look I'm going for?

Or does anyone have any other suggestions???

Thanks!

Steve

 

[Mr.Engineer]

I have seen people tinting their cars using this method:

1) Clean the surface (duh)
2) Spray the surface with soap/water mixture
3) Apply the tint to the soapy surface
4) Use a squeegee to press out the bubbles (might be difficult due to soapy surface) when it is a bit more dry and the adhesive in the tint starts to stick to the surface
5) Use a heatgun to "shrink" the tint and evaporate the soapy water (definitely a no-no here)

 

[zorg]

personally i would have sorced some blue acylic and formmed it.

it looks like what they uised in that screen cap.

i would not recommend the tamiya paint.it would probably flake off if the visor was flexed. ive used this paint a number of times and its not great. it dries brittle.

you might get away with the tinting film if you take your time.

z

 

[Gigatron]

Most craft stores carry stained glass paint. It's designed exclusively for tinting glass. Now whether or not that glass retains optical clarity, I'm not completely sure.

-Fred

 

[CustomCreations]

Ive been trying something the same for my Dredd/Minty helmet, no luck there either, as I need both clear and tint in the same visor.Mine is a compound curve too!
Soapy water and time with the tint film should work.
I havent used tamiya tints- BUT any tint is only 'clear' if its well sprayed ( dusty /dry spray will blur your vision) and its very hard to keep the tint uniform as heay coats of paint will make visible darker bands in the shade.

Nice job on the visor, btw

 

[zorg]

what about tamiya polycarbonate paint in spray tins?

im not sure which colours they carry but im sure this paint would stick better than the usual acrylic pots.(i would have thought)

z

 

[zorg]

found these, not sure if these were the clear blue you refered to in your original post. just tell me to shut up if it is.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=86039

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=86038

at least these paints would flex

z

 

[misterfusion]

Thanks everybody

When I went to the window tint shop, the guy was nice enough to give me a big enough piece of tint off the roll for a couple of tries, but when I asked him how much he'd charge to put it on for me, he actually got kind of a scared look on his face and said he'd rather not try. :eek

When I got home, I hit up our old pal YouTube and found a couple of videos showing you how to install tint film, and I spent an hour (seriously, an hour) chasing wrinkles and bubbles around, fighting with the film to try and get it to lay properly, but it just refused. The combination of the curve plus the flexibility of the plastic really makes it impossible...

Even though I've got a laser guy in my back pocket and plastic shops around, I went with the visor because it was quick, cheap and I figured the window tint film would be an easy step...okay...I'm a dumbass...

I only used 1/2 of the original face shield to make the visor, so I think I'll try the Tamiya spray on a section and see how it works. I may not end up with the perfect effect, but hopefully it'll be good enough to get me through the initial event. I may see about making a replacement out of the right material down the road, but now, I'm on a time and money crunch...

Thanks again, and by all means, if there's any other suggestions, let me know!

Steve

 

[8 perf]

I have used this method b4 in tinting plastic model pieces before. Try some clear "future" floor polish with blue dye or maybe even blue acrylic paint mixed in. Due to the size of the piece, you may have to mix up quite a big batch. Dip the visor in it and pull it straight out. let it dry, and repeat as necessary. You should be able to polish it up clear enough to see out of a=when all is said and done. Seems to work well on small pieces, don't know if it will do the trick or not. Just my .02 cents.

 

[Hangar18Studios]

I've had reasonably good luck tinting clear plastics such as PET-G using Rit Dye. You've got to boil the plastic in very HOT water first to open up the molecular surface, and then dip the plastic into the vat of dye (which should also be extremely hot). I actually just leave it in the dye for quite a while. Mix a bit of salt into the water with the dye in it before dipping, it seems to help.

I'm not sure how well polycarb will accept the dye.

Another trick would be to apply your window film on the outside curve of the plastic. I do it all the time, it's MUCH easier.

Scott

 

[kalimac]

Look for some RC Car paint. It is meant for the Flexing and putting up with heat and such. It is meant for Lexan but might work for the face mask. The stuff I got about 10 years ago at a Hobby shop that sould RC Car's (Gas powered ones....) It is sold for use in the windows of the Lexan bodies. The windows outlasted the rest of the body, many crashes and the windows never chipped.I think it was from Pactra it was one of the "candy" colors that you needed to put on light, then put another color on to back it to get the full color but worked fine in the window I am not sure if you could get it light enough for what you need but it might be something to try.