Hey guys, Im working on scratchbuilding a Canadian figure from Bosnia and I noticed they are always wearing Aviator sunglasses.
Does anyone know how to make some in this scale? I know there are PE sunglasses but I can only find them from like Russia for really high prices.
So if anyone has any idea on how to make some please let me know!
I made one for my SF Operator from acetate sheet, like those for aircraft instrument panels. You can tint it, best if you find already tinted acetate one. You can use punch for rounded shape and then adjust with sharp blade. The frame could be done with small brass rod.
Hope it helps
Check out Aber set 35A124 :
Some of the glasses variants may fit your needs (and the price is quite reasonable)…
H.P.
Use a punch set on some sheet plastic (blister pack acetate works). File each “lens” to shape. Water based translucent paint with clear gloss over that to create a convex outer surface. Paint the frame around the lenses. Glue onto figure. Add frame connector nose piece and ear pieces.
I’ve also pre-bent the entire frame from wire before affixing to the figure. Clear or tinted coating to build up the lenses.
Quick sunglasses on my GRU officer
Use 0.2mm brass rod, bent as frame, then with black acetate sheet, cut the glasses (punch is best). Glue the two pieces to the frame. You can use clear one and tint it
Cheers!
Find a rod or tube the right diameter and wrap a length of copper (or any soft) wire around it to make a spiral,or spring. Remove and cut down it’s length and they will fall apart in little circles. Straighten them, brush with tinted Micro Scale Krystal Clear (or similar) for the lenses, and add bits of wire or stretched sprue for the temples (if needed). That’s really cheap, but the PE ones are more convenient!
I may be using @ Biggles50’s technique from here on but what I’ve done in the past for glasses is:
Get the finest malleable copper fuse wire and wrap it around the solid end of a drill bit the appropriate size for your purpose.
Cut two of the loops and glue a straight ‘top frame’ piece from the fuse wire to keep them together.
Use “Kristal Kleer” or white glue for the lenses. This can be darkened later with paint or you could add some coloring to it.
Add the ear pieces after attaching the glasses to the figure, normally the ear pieces will only go to the figures hairline right above the ear.
Cheers,
C.
Oh, the glasses will be round like the drill bit but you can finesse the wire into an aviator type shape fairly easily.
Thanks everyone for all the help!
I will post my WIP pics when I start them.
Get a length of sprue and shape the end to resemble the lens frame shape. Use copper wire. Put a length on some tape, then press the lens shape on it and bend the wire up and over to do one side. Repeat for the other side making sure the sprue is far enough away from the already bent shape so you have clearance for the nose when you do the second shape.
Dip the end of two new pieces of wire in cyano. Build that up for plastics that go over and behind the ear. Bend to shape then cut to the right length for the face of your figure. Blu tack the glass frame in place on the face and measure the arms of the glassses to that.
Glue the arms on, then when set, prime and paint the frames.
Use Humbrol Clear fix to create the lens. dip a toothpick in the clear and wipe it across the lends frame to trap the glue in the hole.
When the clear fix is dry, tint with thinned Tamiya clear colours - smoke is good for this.
For the gold tinge aviators, paint the lens in thinned gold or brass, like a filter then apply clear yellow.
This is a set of WW2 Army issue reading glasses I made this way - certainly not fashion items with those huge curl around ear sections, but what did they expect for free!:
I just stumbled on this thread. There are other options.
Make top frame and earpieces from flattened armature wire. Glue along the top.
This is the technique I remember from an article years ago in Model Railroader magazine, using a clear glue stretched across window frames for small-scale glass where a structure kit didn’t contain any glazing for the windows.
It doesn’t even have to be clear. Use Elmer’s.