How to Create a Replacement Tail Light - Moldmaking and Clear Casting Resin Demonstration
Headlight lens restoration & repair. This mold making how-to DIY video tutorial shows how you can replicate a tail light lens of any car using a Mold star silicone rubber mold and Crystal Clear optically-clear UV resistant resin. This video shows you how to replicate the turn signal lens of a Volkswagen.
Learn more about Crystal Clear resin at www.smooth-on.com/product-lin...
Crystal Clear® Series resins are water white clear and made specifically for applications that require absolute clarity. These rigid urethane casting resins differ only in working and demold times. Crystal Clear® products cure at room temperature with negligible shrinkage. Cured castings are UV Resistant and are not brittle. Vibrant colors and color effects are achieved by adding SO‑Strong® color tints.
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Back in the '80's I worked as an industrial designer/ modelmaker. We used to scratch build designs and often cast them in silicon to produce duplicates. Later it all became SLA resin rapid prototypes but the old ways are still good for duplicating items you don't have in CAD. We used to use a vacuum chamber with a heavy clear acrylic slab top rather than a pressure pot - the silicon would 'boil' as the air bubbles came out. The pressure system squeezes the bubbles really small but they are still there. Never try casting without vacuum or pressure or you get voids.
I am not even doing any casting of any kind or any car restorations, but this is the second time I watched this video, it's just so much fun to watch :D
Thanks for the clear 'no fluff' explication of this process. (still useful after 6 years of uploading it.)
You're welcome!
This was actually a ridiculously well made video!
Darkipod couldn't agree more. An exemplar to other KZhead authors.
I'm pretty sure it's an advert. You have no idea how much effort goes into making such a good quality video.
I agree with the colour being questionable but also that this was a really nicely paced and produced video.
@@_Rich_. I would use this more if you cannot get a replacement. It is a bit time consuming but you don't have to use their products, they're probably not globally available anyway.
Rich T If the part doesn’t exist, then its not a 5 dollar part.
Thank you for your response to my request! You can expect an order soon! My next request would be items such as radio knobs and other handles/knob for automotive application. If you really want a challenge, take an antique auto knob that is in rough condition and try to create one in it's original shape!
Thanks ElderlyIron, this is a great idea, and we will forward this to management!
Could you do that with a 3D printer?
Its easy to do. I make glow in the dark accessories. Was thinking about making some how to videos without using high tech or costly items that the average person doesnt have.
if the handle is in 1 piece but pitted with holes try this mix some bondo to fill crack and holes let it dry about 1 hr then sand to the original shape should mold like new
lenses are still available for the VW Rabbit in Amber, smoke and red but not in that bright sunflower yellow! great video.
I have considered this for a discontinued lens on my truck. Thank you for picking this subject.
+Alex Swavely thanks for watching!
have you checked ebay?
Smooth-On do guys sell a small starter kit ?
Ive always wonder how this was done. I always thought repros were injection molded. I work with resins and now I have the answers to how to replace/fix missing or broken plastic lights,trims etc on vintages. THANK YOU!
Thank you for watching!
TY for the excellent tutorial. I've done lots of metal casting & made alot of molds for it . I've become very interested in working w/resin & this lesson was very informative. TY again & keep up the good work
Great Idea. I did something similar many years ago. I used fine grain sand mixed 50/50 with plaster of Paris ( the sand/ plaster mix is for a stronger mold ). I made tail light lens for a 52 dodge that I was restoring.
I never understand how I end up at videos like this, but I watched it completely through and now know where to go should I need to cast something in the future. You make it look ridiculously easy, which I am sure it isn't.
Thank you for watching!
I bet if you had done it for five at ten years you’d get pretty good at it too.
It is so awesome that you and your company are providing a way to replace parts that are not available!
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That... That was a TON of cool Techniques and useful information. Popcorn buckets, popcorn buckets EVERYWHERE!
Great video. I'd like to see how you'd tackle a three-color tail light lens. I assume you'd want to pull a new single color lens out, then cut it apart on the color lines, and build it up with three separate pours, using the partial lens as a part of the 'mold' for the first one or two pours, depending on design.
Excellent job of explaining the procedures. Very nice job. I’ve also create parts for valance hangers that I couldn’t find replacements for. The second part was for a drape hanger. They came out exactly like the originals and the feeling you get by making these parts is unbelievable. Best regards, Richard
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Great tutorial and excellent explanations of the steps. Some diy videos are vague and requires watching several videos to fully understand what needs to done to have good results. Fine job sir!!!!
Wow, this has been one of the best tutorial videos I’ve ever seen. It’s so thorough and covers lots of essential processes and in depth details. Dope I appreciate you
Glad it was helpful!
Love it wish I could have a little shop and do something like that. Thanks for the info and this time you sharing with others love your work.
Thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe!
Thx alot Smooth-On, your tutorials are always on point!
Google heard me talking about doing this exact thing for my camper I'm restoring. I can't be too upset though because you saved me a bunch of research on the correct resin and squish molds for this kind of object. If only a distributor were closer!
Love these videos. So educational and helpful. I want to make everything now!
Thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe!
Comprehensive and Educational and No nonsense like music or such, one of THE best instructional videos I have ever seen on the Web, And I´ve seen plenty. Well done sir.
Thank you for watching!
This is really helpful . coz im planning to mod my tail light and cant find necessary materials in the store..
This was really great to see because i have been thinking about making some custom lens for my classic Mini.
Most professional video on KZhead so far,you are raising the bar for videos on YT
Thank you!
Great:-) I have see ways to remove air bubbles from the resins & Mold's via a vacuum. It's quicker & more versatile :-)
Thank you so much for showing me your video it's so education on how to make a lens that can't be found wish I seen this one for an old chevy I owned
It is great to be in a place where you can buy all those materials. Great work.
Thanks for watching - Our full distributor list can be found here: www.smooth-on.com/distributors/
Nice video, very straight forward and detailed. Peaked my interest in trying this out.
Thanks for watching! Don't forget to subscribe. ;)
Thanks for this video, I'm restoring a DeLorean and parts shipping from the USA is very expensive, so I might look into these methods for some of the lenses and perhaps even the switches. Smooth-on looks like a very easy to use product!
Thanks for watching!
I thought DeLoreans were made in Ireland?
Thank you dude I could not find parts for my classic Cadillac And i almost five up until I found your video now I could my that classic dashboard and tail light cover Thank you so much my friend ✊😊✊
Don't know how I got here but am glad I did. One of the better instructional videos I've seen for such a technical subject. There is almost no chance I'll have to cast a lens like this, but now, strangely, I want to.
You are fantastic!!!! Thank you, so much!!! SO much information. You left nothing to question. Props!!!
Thanks Brad, thank you for watching!
Can u make a video on how to make lenses with 2 colors side by side colors? Would be very helpful for guys looking to replicate multi color taillights.
Good one Milo! Thanks for touching on the tips for the Pressure Pot and using Mold Star 2 part mold tips.
Thanks for watching, jake angell, and don't forget to subscribe for more how-to videos!
what a unique line of products, thank you for sharing
Might work well for some of my classics with broken tail lights
Thanks for watching William, and let us know if you have any questions here: www.smooth-on.com/support/ticket/add/agree/
Your best I've seen. Thanks.
+Pushyhog thanks for watching!
From an R&D toy company design draftsman / prototype guy,,,,,well done ! Great instructions , good product. I personally like slip forms but yours is quick and cheep for a one time shot. thanks for a great video .
Thank you for watching!
This is brilliant! I'm restoring a vintage camper and need so many different plastic bits. Really well explained. Thanks!
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this was cool! now i just need figure out what to mold :D
coddas87 bust a tail light then cast a tail light
Rc Awesome i died
dildos is a safe bet
Carpathian I was just gonna say that
this is so awesome. I'd love to see more of these thin walled plastic part reproductions. I always thought this could only be done with high pressure injection molding.
Thanks Linktw0, this is a great idea, and we will forward this to management! Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe!
How cool! Wish I had this back in the day. I would have kept the amber color though
GREAT video thanks so much for doing it! It looks like a professionaly produced piece!
Thank you for watching!
Another great video Milo.
Thanks Matt!
هل لكم وكيل مبيعات في لبنان
www.cermat.co.il/
Looks like you can reuse the mold again. If that is the case, you can make more!
And if the patent has expired, you can sell them
Great video, I was just wondering what we would need to do if the piece needed to be two different colors in one. My blinker is part orange part whitish clear.
Complete video, from moulding to casting, thanks
This is great I've been trying to figure out how to reproduce lenses for a while. Ironically I just took the casting class at the Tech Shop in Round Rock Austin Texas. The gal who puts the class on is a special effects artist and has her own company she recommended your product and that's what we used in the class. Once again great video thank you.
Thank you for watching!
How about making the old type ca. 1950's teardrop Christmas tree ornaments with the flowing oils????
That was an eye opening approach to a problem I did not have a solution for. Thank you so much for an excellent video and the inspiration!
Glad it was helpful!
Smoothon is the best, love it for costume making! You should make SLA resins
Your mold making videos are really adding new things to the Smooth On videos. I hadn't seen the sideways pressure pot trick or the cutting resin vent tricks before. If you were doing a completely clear piece would you have to vacuum degas the silicon too or is the pressure pot enough?
If you have the ability to do both, you should. If not, the pressure pot is a good choice. www.smooth-on.com/support/faq/131/
Definitely need to do some of these myself. A question though would be setting up multi colored lenses say where the clear backup light is integral to the red lens.
probably have to cut the clear area out of the red. then make a clear to glue in that hole. that's how my taillights where made clearly because they broke in a wreck. was pretty obvious. I'm not an expert like that guy though.
I also need to know how to set up a multi colored lens.
Pour it clear and then tape off the section needed to be red. Spray it with a can of red tint spray. You can get it from the parts house for about $12. I’ve don’t it many times and it works perfectly.
I did the same for an aircraft wingtip light lens. One was missing, and the other was broken, so I glued the pieces together, and made a 2 part mold. Mixed up some Red and Green resin batches, and cast the new set - exact copies of the original, right down to the crack!
Love to do this kind of stuff.
good show bro, did you script everything before shooting? video quality is far superior to what I'm used to on youtube. almost needs the "how it's made" intro music.
Thanks for watching, TheFunniestFarm, and don't forget to subscribe for more how-to videos!
It’s the company that sells the molding equipment. It’s just one big commercial lol
Very well done video...subbed
This is a great video and demonstration of the products. I will certainly consider these products when I'm ready to make a set of clear lenses for my Datsun.
I’ve been looking into trying and getting some custom marker lights made for my car, and this is a cool idea I haut don’t know if I can do all of it. Haha
Bravo ! Your mold is a piece of art by itself.
Thank you!!
good job mate!
this is an awesome how to video. subscribed. I look forward to watching more of them. 😊
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
Awesome video. I wish I had even half of those tools!
Love it!
Very cool video. How well does the CC202 hold up to UV damage?
CC202 is a UV resistant resin, suitable for outdoor use. The effects of UV are dependent on exposure.
Excellent video, am researching on silicone mold making. Thank you for taking the time to make and sharing knowledge!
Thanks for watching! 😃
Very cool demonstration , thanks for posting !!
Good video.
Great video. I have a question. I have a motorcycle and want to change the look of the headlights. I have a zx14, Can I use this method to redesign them?
+djtren63 you could, if you need help, send us a tech support ticket via smooth-on.com
ok thanks
I watched this video by accident and loved it. I did not know, a mould could so easily be made with rubber. It so happens that I want to change a trailer light similar to the one on the video but a bit bigger. So I looked for a distributor in my area and found one. I will be visiting this week or next week. Thank you.
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You are Excellent Very Usefull information Thanks alot
This is freakin awesome!
Thanks for watching, RioZLander, and don't forget to subscribe for more how-to videos!
Is that turn light for VW Golf Mk 1 ?
fantastic! I was planing to make with transparent filament and 3d print. I think this is the most efficent way to produce it.
Thanks for watching Kamon.
Excellent video and commentary, thank you.
Thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe for more how-to videos!
It is good to know one can reproduce a part using this method. But it only makes sense if you are restoring a high value car.
not just high value, but re-use the mold to pop out a dozen or so and sell them on ebay for some profit :D
Value is in the eye of the beholder
@@VitaliyKhomich exactly if ya need it ya need it
I have a concern about whether this material will hold up to heat as well as the original, and UV exposure. Heat may not be as much of a problem on a turn signal indicator, except if someone forgot to turn it off.
@Stinky Cheese same here, stop-n-go traffic in Los Angeles will crack even original brake light lenses, will this material take the heat?
I use a food dehydrator at 145F to post cure my lenses, left on one half of the mold. This increases the strength of the resin a lot, strength it would normally only reach in 2+ weeks. I've used some of my failed castings at shows to do drop demos onto concrete and asphalt to show how tough and scratch resistant they are. Another reason for post curing Crystal Clear 202 is to increase its heat resistance. The lens cast in this video, if put in water the temp that comes from a typical kitchen hot water faucet, would soften and be easy to distort. Heat it up in a dehydrator for a few hours and it won't ever soften at any temperature lower than that. Even after this curing I can still use a dip in 200F water to bend castings for doing modifications to make another mold to replicate the new shape. But you cannot do this post curing so soon after casting. I wait a minimum of 24 hours before post curing and I leave the castings in the pressure pot that long. Why? Because leaving a 'green' 202 casting in contact with the mold *without* being under pressure tends to cause 'suck back' markings, areas where the resin shrinks away from the mold. Using convection heat, flowing hot air, is important! When I first started resin casting with Smooth-On products 16 years ago I tried to use a normal oven but the radiant heat ruined the castings (massive suck back) no matter how old they were. An old food dehydrator or countertop convection oven is ideal for post curing. Since the dehydrators I have only go up to 145F I bought a small convection oven which only goes down to 200F, for resins (like some epoxies) that need higher temperatures to reach their ultimate strength.
Use an LED bulb
Thank you! I learn something new.
Hi, Thanks for the amazingly detailed instruction video. Very easy and entertaining to watch. Could you tell me how many times you can reuse one silicone mold pair?
Do you think a 3d printed mould could have produced similar results to your silicone version? Of course you'd have to model the lens in 3D which could be a challenge.
Depends on the print quality I suppose. I'm not sure the screw grooves' fit would be to your satisfaction.
if its resin 3d printed yes, if its fdm typical 3d printing, you would notice the lines inherent to the process
@@86Spain you can sand those out resin print also has lines there just finer
hi, very interesting material. but why pressure and no vacuum? thanks!
Pressure casting a resin is more suitable for a 2-piece mold such as this.
This was an awesome and inspiring video! I've been wanting to make a new set of AMC Ambassador tail light lenses with a different inner molding for use with LED light strips for eons now and this has me thinking that it's actually possible, but given their length and such it would still be quite an undertaking
Thanks for watching! 😃
This is great information. Thank you for the Tutorial.
+Joanne Cohen thank you for watching!
Is it 60 PSI of pressure or vacuum in the chamber?
Pressure
So it's always pressure for bubbles to shrink during the cure and not for bobbles to pop like degassing process?
+Inspire To Make correct
Smooth-On thanks
@@smoothon Why pressure vs. vacuum?
awesome vid!
Thanks for watching!
thanks, for years i couldn't explain myself how this stuff was done
Very informative and concise tutorial.....Impressive.
neat
"simple and easy"
Very inspiring!! Love to do this kind of stuff. You are Excellent
Thank you for watching!
Did I get inspired hella yeah, so freaking awesome thank you.
Great! Thanks for watching and don’t forget to subscribe!
Intentional Hella joke or awesome coincidence?
You guys eat a whole lotta popcorn!
I am amazed at the production of this lens, and astounded by the number of popcorn buckets in the shop.
bullshitennogveel meer, well duh! Congrats on having zero sense of humour.
I love Popcorn!
Should call this series "Will it Mold"
Good to know thanks. I will be waiting until one shows up in my local junk yard though.
Excellent video, great descriptions without over explaining. I learned a lot, Thank You.
Awesome! Thanks for watching.
That's a great project, though I can imagine it would be rather pricy.
@@maxanderson755 Casting rubber: ~$35. Casting resin: ~$42. Pressure pot: $100 from Harbor Freight if needed. Total would be under $200 with the pressure pot. Access to an air compressor is assumed, but if you're doing a project like this you'd likely already have one anyway. No, it isn't a cheap way to get a lens, but if the lens isn't otherwise available it beats not having it. I need to replace the tail light lenses on a 50-year-old car, and I haven't yet been able to find anything other than the complete light assemblies for $250 each--and even if they're in perfect condition, the lenses are still 50-year-old plastic and not likely to last.
@@danbrown586 and what if the lenses or mirrored? and the other 1 is broken? how can you create a mould then? (im just curious)
@@dcpred3889 I haven't yet used this technique. If one lens is broken and you have all the parts, I'd expect you could glue them back together (maybe with CA glue) to make the mold. If not, I'm not sure what would be the best way to proceed.
@@dcpred3889 First off, I've never done what is being shown here. with that said, to make a mirrored part, would take an extra step or two, but basically not hard to do at all. In the example of this video, the mold he made is the negative, the part he created is the positive. It would just take some playing with positive he made (Maybe cutting in half, to reverse the locations of screw holes, as an example.) I'm gonna say it takes some creative thinking, that's about it. Another thing that may come into play, when trying to make a mirrored part, is not letting a "POSITIVE" part dry completely. If it is possible to take a part out of the mold when only 50 - 75% cured, then do what ever slice & dice, and than let the part fully cure. The quality of the part {Finish} may look bad, but what your after is: Can you now use that low / bad part to cast a part with a great finish. Or maybe simple as making a mold (Positive, put another way, this would be your 2nd mold) from the first (Negative) mold created.Just an old autobody (25 yr's) 15 yr's welder, metal CAD-Designer/Fabricator., offering my two cent's. Remember, you get what you pay for, you paid nothing for this advice. LOL!!!
@@dcpred3889 To my knowledge there's no reasonable way to accurately reproduce something so detailed in a mirrored form, using hand-working techniques. Ideally you'd borrow a good pair of lenses and make a mold from them, then give them back. Otherwise, unless you're proficient at Solidworks, Alias, or a similar program, and have access to a very high quality 3D printer or 3 to 5 axis mill, it's going to be worth your money to literally buy a parts car just for the other lens.
do a split color lens amber/clear.
So that it's not legal to use on public roads? Umm, why?
Stinky Cheese DOT likes amber, yellow or clear with colored bulb. A divider is needed between colors. 🏁
Yellow and red lenses are used in many cars and in many countries a yellow indicator lens is required along with a red stop and or taillight. I have paid close to 4 figures for good original lenses that were unavailable. This process appears to be able to replicate those without to much expense. I would be very interested in further lens casting demos using more complex lens shapes.
like this, it's legal in Europe boxerclassiche.com/321/plastica-freccia-anteriore-bicolore-porsche-911-912.jpg
petro206 jks,ls.ss
This is absolutely the best instructional video I have ever seen on KZhead, or anywhere else for that matter. Well done!
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Thank you very much. This is a whole different world I was unaware of. Wonderful video, nicely done.
Thank you for watching!