Has anybody ever done something like this? I know how to make smashed/cracked glasss like that found in buildings, but for a car wreck, I want that intricate crumbled pattern of smashed safety glass. There was an article in FSM about a year ago on making a wreck which looks like it has something like this, but the article didn’t cover how the broken glass parts were done. Any ideas?
“Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing baby…”
I’d try finding a few pieces of broken safety glass, automotive glass for headlights, or soda/beer/whiskey bottles (I always see the stuff in parking lots) and whacking them with a hammer…
Hm. That might model the little bits well, but I’m thinking more full panes that have been smashed, but because of the safety film, are holding their shape. Like…
I tried scratching the pattern onto the clear plastic windows, but I can’t get it fine enough for that effect at 1/35 scale. I may just have to abandon the idea, but I thought I’d at least see if anyone had tried it before.
That’s an intringuing idea, and something I’d like to see modeled too! Modeling something to replicate those tiny spiderwork patterns could be a challenge.
What comes to mind first is using a very fine point of, say a sewing pin to scratch and scribe the interior side of the glass, attempting to make the patterns as small as possible. I guess you could keep going over them to make the details finer and more intricate. Follow that with a white wash, then wipe so the paint stays in the grooves and scratches you created.
Another idea might be to make a decal of what you want, and apply that to the inside of the window. The advantage would be its much faster and less labor intensive, plus you could use an actual photo of smashed safety glass reduced to the scale you need.
Maybe try crazing clear styrene with a thin coat of lacquer thinner or a lacquer based clear coat? That might give you a reasonable effect. Just a wild idea, so if you’re game try it first on a discarded piece of plastic.
Don
The spiderwebbed pane would be tricky, but I’ve seen folks use coarse grains of salt to simulate the broken bits. Sugar would work, too, but you’d have to worry about ants, etc.
You might try using microscope cover slides – be extra careful, though, since they’re really glass and are very thin.
Matt @ FSM
One thing you might try, which I’m considering myself for a Firebird model I’m working on, is putting a transparent adhesive behind the pane of glass and smashing it with a hammer or whatever. This would function almost the same way as the real thing (in theory any way) The plastic would crack and break but the adhesive would hold it in place. (seems like a sound theory to me) When I think of possible adhesives, a few things come to mind. You could try that clear film that is used to cover text books. Or clear tape I suppose could work as well. Of course the difficulty with this scheme is to make sure you don’t smash it too much that you can’t glue the windshield in place…
Whether it’ll work or not is another question. Like I said, I’m going to give it a try once I reach that step in my build. If you’ve not attempted it by then, I’ll let you know how it goes!
-Jon
I doubt plastic would crumble the right way. Even if you could get it to shatter just by hitting it. However, combining that idea with microscope slide glass might be just the thing, if you can get the glass to break fine enough without shredding up the film. Certainly worth a shot.
What about using Future to “glue” the microscope slide cover to a piece of appropriately cut Saran Wrap? Then smash accordingly. Might be worth a try.
I remember that FSM article/tip–what they did was to cover a piece of Saran Wrap–i.e., “clingy” plastic wrap–with glue of some sort (thin super glue?) and then sprinkle salt on the surface of it and then superglue the piece to the frame after cutting it to shape. It looked fairly convincing.
I wouldn’t go fooling around with real glass. There would be microscopic pieces that could very well work their way into your skin.
You might also go to a craft store and look under the “beads” section, or “decorative sprinkles” area. Tell a sales associatewhat you’re looking for–“Shiny sprinkles to simulate broken glass”, and I"ll bet they could come up with something. It seems like they invent new stuff everyday in these craft stores. I’ll go in there and look around and I always wind up saying “Huh! Look at this!”
Hm. That might be worth a try. I’d probably try the sprinkles first, though. I don’t like to use materials that dissolve when they get wet. It might be fine, but if I decide to add a wash or something somewhere down the line, I’d hate to see my work melt away.
Moreover, I don’t know that the real thing would scale down well enough. I don’t think I could get bits fine enough without them just turning into a whitish powder.
I don’t know if they were using regular fine, iodized table salt. It might have been a larger granular salt; maybe sea salt? Maybe a combination of both? Check to see what’s available in stores–try the “natural foods” area too.
I do remember that it was salt though. The melting property wouldn’t figure into it if you sealed it in with thin superglue.
You might take a look at “Kosher” salt. Grains are two to three times the size of regualr table salt.
I would suspect it was regular iodized salt, which would most closely scale in 1/35 to about 1/2" pieces. Kosher salt flakes are way too big, and are white. The flakes would scale up from 1/35 to be as big as the palm of your hand.
Maybe something with a vac-form piece? Heat it to shape, and then remove the broken area. Maybne try scratching it with thin wire? Just ideas. Never tried it myself.