Hey there guys, just wanted to share a little technique i just found out.
have you ever wondered how to paint the glass vision blocks on AFV's so that they look like that red/blue/green/purple color. I know that for years i just been painting them silver or a shiny gunmetal color. I then tried to use cut pieces from a mylar balloon, but cutting those small pieces drove me nuts. I then thought I had gotten lucky at a local walmart. While in the hair and nail care aisle picking up some nail files, I came across some nail polish that on the display seemed to change at differant angles from purple to blue to green. Well that didn't work too good either, and my daughter got a new bottle of lilac nail polish.
So now, after just goofing off, this is what i came across. After painting the vision blocks Tamiya chrome silver, and waiting for it to dry, lightly go over the vision block with a sharpie fine point permanent marker (use blue or purple first). Make sure you keep the pen strokes either horizontal or verticle. Wait about 10 minutes, then get your next color ( if you started with blue then go to purple / started with purple go to blue) and make very light pen strokes perpendicular to the first strokes. the previous color may come up abit if you are pressing too hard, but dont worry about it. Finally get either the red or green marker and look for bare silver spots and lightly tap on those to color them in. You can add more red & green as you like by just lightly making small dots randomly about.
On 1/35 vision blocks it looks pretty good. I hope you guys get the same results I did. Sometime next week I will add pics to my gallery showing my results on my tamiya M113.

Cool! Please also show us pics on how to work on them! As for me, I use a strip styrene and color the inside with clear paints.

Let me see if I got you right Redaye. You say paint the blocks with Tamiya Chrome silver, then wait 10 minutes, then with a fine point Sharpie I draw a vertical line with the purple, then I take a blue and draw a vertical line, then a red, and so on, and so on, keeping them all vertical, or horizontal, until I get all the way across, never putting the same color side by side, with light pressure. Thank You for your reply

Regards Straightedge

the chrome silver paint has to dry thoroughly. you wait the 10 minutes or so after using the first sharpie marker for your first color coat.
then you color in the first color going in 1 direction---either horizontal or verticle. the 2nd color you use, you go perpendicular to the first. if you went horizontal with the first color--you go verticle with the 2nd. any bare spots you see after that, you color in by just lightly tapping the marker with the 3rd and 4th colors. the 3rd and 4th colors you vary the amount as to what you think looks good.

I agree to Shonen: it looks very interesting and some pics will be of great help!!!
Ciao

Instead of Testors Chrome silver, use Bare Metal Foil trimmed to fit over the vision block. that way you won't have to worry about the staedters reacting with the enamels. It works great.
Cheers
GD