I am looking for a source of flat, diffuser type, red taillight material to construct taillight lenses for my '69 Roadster project. See project: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/810541. I am hoping to make flat lenses that fit the original round housings, use LED lamps, then design a billet lens holder similar to what the C-5's have as an accessory. If anyone has ideas, I would appreciate to hear from you. Thanks, Marv.

 

You can buy clear diffuser material as used in florescent light fixture lenses and use flat piece of red acrylic on top for the outer lens. I don't think you will find red acrylic with a difuser. Try to get the diffuser as far away as you can from the LED's. The closer the diffiser is to the LED's the more you will see individual spots from the LED's.

 

My brother just made some very exotic sequencing signal lights, true sequencing. He used the existing tail lenses but gutted the rest of it.
The fronts wouldn't work and he used the prismatic flourescent stuff mentioned. It doesn't look very good. You still see the LEDs and its kind of misty looking hard to describe. This might be all your after but a comparision of the back to the front is dramatic. Diffuser VS stock lenses. He didn't skimp on LEDs either so its not a spacing thing.

You can make your own lenses though but to look good they need the factory type prisms. The little wedges molded in. This is what does all the focusing and blending. Why his taillights look perfect but the fronts don't.

Either use stock lenses and heat them up in the oven. You can remold them flat if flat is what your after.
If this isn't going to work find a set of tail lights big enough at the junk yard and do the same. This might distort the prism wedges but ??

Get red plexiglass and vacuum mold it to get those prism things going. This would mold the finished shape you want and it isn't as hard as it sounds. But you need the vacuum molding frame device. And you need the the shape your molding.

The most complex and best finished is to mold your own lenses. This would mean buying molding rubber and molding the prism side of a lens. Fill this with clay to mold the outer side, the thickness of the lens and what you want it be shaped as. You got a chunk of rubber with all sides finished as you want them.
Then fill the mold with tinted casting resin. This is the hardest to do since the better plastics need to be cured in an oven and is probably stinky.

I don't know if this last would work. You would need a tool to form those prisms and roll it in the softened tinted plexiglass.

The reason I'm harping on those prisms is they are like wedges or pyramids they aren't diffusers but focusers. The only sheet ready made I've seen is diffuser stuff. You can try it to see if it will work but I didn't think it looked that great.
the red plexiglass can be scratched or blasted to make it diffused but taillights aren't really diffusers. Up to you for your look.


enter 3314 into the search box. Red plastic
Or colored sheets.

Page 630 for diffuser panels or that for the search.

 

http://www.3dlens.com/
http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlineca...246EFDE73E0CC2
http://mail.altmanltg.com/publicsyne...=17&L1=10&C1=2
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...goryNavigation

and on, and on, and on...Google and a little ingenuity is all a person needs anymore.

 

This thread was moved to tech, but if this post shows up in general, I want to say thanks for the help on this subject and others I have going! I am building multiple files on the design of my widebody, wanting to do something different than cookie cutter. I have been unsuccessful in doing any kind of search on the forum, so the advice from members like BBShark, Techno and CGGorman is really appreciated!

Ended up spending over 8 grand on the '75 for new parts and new paint, so my widebody project is on hold waiting for the good fairy to bless me with growth on the money tree I planted this spring! My wife mentioned that I would have better luck winning the lottery, then mumbled something about having to play to win...

Eventually, I'll have more postings to show progress, but until then, Thanks!

 

ttt