Rear window defogger on an auto model

I have no disdain for people with disabilities and am sorry if anyone takes my " tongue-in-cheek" comments that way. I do however have disdain for perfectly healthy people who are to lazy to roll up their windows. And if you are perfectly healthy and cannot drive a stick shift car, shame on you.

I find it especially distasteful when someone says look at my "Corvette" or "Mustang GT" (or Porche for that matter) and you find all the power gizmos, air conditioning, and an automatic transmission. Give me a break! That is not a "Sports Car" or a "muscle car", it is just another version of a family sedan.

"More power", as Tim Allen would say, not more darned gizmos that distract the driver from the primary purpose of being behind the wheel, that is to drive, period (i.e. not talk on the phone or change CDs). Please people put the darned cell phone away and DRIVE the car.

End of rant!

Hi Rangerj!

That's a brilliant idea! I might just do that. I was thinking of putting on parking decals and staff passes anyway. So why not a handicap sign? I hope you're not showing disdain for people with disability though.

MKMT,

I have to disagree with your statement that EVERY car on the streets has a rear window defogger. There a still a few of us true sports car enthusiast that think that a sports car, or a muscle car, should not have such things as rear window defoggers, automatic transmissions, power windows, power locks, air conditioning, etc., etc. Such things should be reserved for the handicapped, the elderly, the lazy, and those who think of an automobile as something you RIDE in, and not something to be DRIVEN.

So, if you are modeling a Corvette it should not need a rear window defogger as a Corvette is supposed to be a sports car. If you are modeling a Lexis, then it should have a rear window defogger just like any other good "grocery getter" driven by a soccor mom! It is a sad commentary that with all the SUVs on the streets that the only off-road experience the drivers have is in a golf cart! Food for thought.

If you are going to add the rear window defogger be sure to hang a scale handicapped sign on the rear view mirror for scale accuracy.

Thank you, Eizzle, for your suggestion. I thought having a tinted window would make the defogger lines less noticeable, not more. So I actually thought of tinting the window as a way to avoid having to deal with the defogger. You are giving me a second thought.

if you ever tint the windows on a model car, you should really put the lines in as well, cause they stand out a lot with dark window tint.

Wow, thanks for the different ideas, guys. Any photos of the finished result?

my suggestion; a single pass with a scribe on the window; followed by a wash of smoke with a tiny bit of clear orange or red mixed in(most foggers are a dark shade of amber IME)

thatd give it the look I think; and maybe spray it on around where you want the framed part.

then dip it in future to try and smooth it all out since you dont really want any indentations from it. just the coloring.

You can find very VERY fine wire, like that used in the windings of an ABS brake sensor, and dip it in Future and apply it to the rear "glass". Finish the window by spraying a couple of coats of Future. The wire is finer than hair and is copper so the color is correct. Check with a local garage and ask them to save the old ABS sensor the next time they replace one.

Have you tried a fine hair (pussy cats ) cut to length, held in place with Future, when set dip whole window in future.

True, guess you got me thinking too.

Hi Chris!

I beg to differ for two reasons:

1. Twenty five feet is about the distance between you eyes and the rear window of a car ahead of you if there's one full car length between the two of you. That's close enough to see the defogger, at least the frame around it.

2. If you view a 1/25 model at a distance of 6" instead of 1', that translates to about 12.5' "real distance" between eyes and rear window. That's tailgating distance, and the defogger should definitely be visible at that distance.

So, I think your argument holds only if the model is not meant to be view closer than 12".

Thanks for your response though. Got me thinking.

Stand about 25 foot from a real car and see how well you can see it, that is how unnoticable it would be on a model car.

Thanks Steve, for the tip on thin paint and capillary action. I happen to be working on Revell’s Acura Integra Type R kit and want to build it as close to stock as possible. It has a plain rear window. Perhaps I can consider scribing in the lines. Both the scribing and painting sound pretty tricky and need lots of practice on scraps before actually executing though.

Most Tamiya kits will have the rear window defogger scribed in the glass. You can carefully paint the lines using very thin paint and capillary action. Once finished it looks quite realistic.

Yes, I don't think scribing is a good solution either, whether by the manufacturer or the modeller, because all you get are lines that reflect light differently than the rest of the window. I know the lines themselves are very fine in scale, but the frame around the lines is thicker and should be visible in 1/24 or 1/25. Anyways, when I see a model car with a plain rear window, something seems missing to my eyes, as every car on the street has a rear window defogger that is visible even from some distance.

I've seen some model companies have them scribed in the clear plastic rear window.
I question weather or not we would be able to really see them on a 1/25 or 1/24 scale kit.
In scale even the kit scribed lines are about 1/2 inch wide which is way out of scale.
It's a good question, do we or don't we?