I do a lot of repairs on Lionel tinplate cars and often have a need for new window strips. It looks easy enough to fabricate them, but with what material. I've noticed that many of them, maybe all, look slightly frosted. Is there someone who has found a readily available material that comes close in appearance to the Lionel windows ?
Malcolm Laughlin
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Not sure about frosted windows, but I have replaced clear window inserts on American Flyer prewar cars with clear plastic cut from plastic bakery containers from my local grocery store.
Dullcote or sandpaper will "frost" clear plastic.
Overhead projector transparent sheets are fairly cheap.
Inkjet or laser type sheets will let you "print" passengers and seats on them with a computer printer.
But I would not run a deli or bakery container through my laser printer.
I’ve had success with taking a sheet of thin lexan and scuffing it up with a scotch brute pad. It gives you a nice frosted look.
I use plastic milk cartons for frosted windows,
Steve
mlaughlinnyc posted:I do a lot of repairs on Lionel tinplate cars and often have a need for new window strips. It looks easy enough to fabricate them, but with what material. I've noticed that many of them, maybe all, look slightly frosted. Is there someone who has found a readily available material that comes close in appearance to the Lionel windows ?
Malcolm Laughlin
Doug Peck at Portlines Hobbies stocks the perfect material for redoing prewar windows. It is sold in strips and is nominally intended to redo the windows of Gilbert sheet metal prewar Pullman Bradley ("New Haven") cars. Fair pricing.
Have fun.
Bob
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