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Plastic Window Inserts - Yes or No?


Blondie

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Have any of you ever left out your plastic windows? I did for my niece's house, but that's because she was 4. But now I'm thinking about leaving them out for the Beacon Hill. Mine have gotten all scratched and nasty. Rather than ordering replacements, I was thinking about just doing without. Do you think it will hurt the charm of the house to not have "glass" in the windows? I'll still do all the rest of the window elements, however.

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I have had a couple of kits that I purchased from ebay or CL that have had missing or damaged windows.

One "cheap" way that I have replaced windows in the past is with transparencies and clear labels. You can print a design on the labels and then attach them to either transparency sheets from the office supply store or plexiglass. You can put your own cross piece designs in the windows or create stained glass. If I have the old windows, I use them as a template. I like mine with windows, but that is a personal preference.

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I didn't use glass in my Aero Squadron Lounge because the back was bombed out and there was no reason to keep out the elements. :lol:

For my regular builds, though, I prefer filled windows - I use either thin acetate film or the thicker sheets like Janet does depending on the type of window and what works best. I know some here have suggested recycling plastic food containers.

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Ive left them out on a Tudor cottage. Alternatives to the kit windows are cheap and easy though. The cheapest Ive found (what Im doing with my Orchid build) is to buy a large poster frame from Kmart or Walmart, the plastic that comes with those is very thin, cuts easily and is similar to what Gallery Glass sells for faux stained glass, styrene blanks I think they call them...Ive used those for windows too. But the poster frame plastic sheet is buy far the cheapest and you could do several houses with all of that plastic,its nice and clear and thin.

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I prefer to use inserts, and save blister packaging; although the Pepperskins thermal underwear comes in a lovely clear acetate box that makes nice replacement window inserts. I also like to print out stained glass windows onto transparency film and beef up the colors with water colors, the lead lines with acrylic paint straight from the tube.

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Thank you for all of the advice! I think I will put in some windows... They will be purty.

Windows help reduce dust getting into the house. I'm planning a plexiglass back for the one inch scale Tennyson so that I can close it up. For the half scale houses I can put them in my china cabinet because they fit on a shelf! :lol:

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I left them out of my half scale McKinley - only becaused I bashed the house and then lost the new window inserts. They are also not in my half scale Chantilly - as (again) I rebashed that house and was not able to save the plastic.

What about the lids from donut containers??

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Windows help reduce dust getting into the house. I'm planning a plexiglass back for the one inch scale Tennyson so that I can close it up. For the half scale houses I can put them in my china cabinet because they fit on a shelf! :lol:

Ohhh another great idea for a china cabinet!! Right now mine holds snow globes and by that I mean its completely full of snow globes. hmm maybe I could move the globes to the lower shelves and save the top to putting the street shops.

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I'm afraid that i am on the team that prefers "glass" in my windows. The very first cabin dh I assembled did not come with plastic window inserts, and I did not think to use transparencies or any substitute. it seems like my little guy Schmitty would get pretty chilly in his cabin in the woods in the winter w/ just a huge open window! :bigwink:

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I also have a china cabinet filled with snowglobes! Great minds think alike! Hahaha.

I am going to make sure my windows are filled in because I live in the country, and it's always dusty, ooooof. Erin, I love your Wizard of Oz house. I'm going to have an Oz room in my Beacon Hill one day.

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Ohhh another great idea for a china cabinet!! Right now mine holds snow globes and by that I mean its completely full of snow globes. hmm maybe I could move the globes to the lower shelves and save the top to putting the street shops.

I keep moving thing around in my cabinet to make more room for the minis!

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Erin, I love your Wizard of Oz house. I'm going to have an Oz room in my Beacon Hill one day.

Thank you! I am glad you enjoy it. It is so much fun to work on, although I think my husband is getting just a little sick of coming home to me watching The Wizard of Oz.

I need to watch it for research though! ;)

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Not sure if this is too thick for what you want?

Last week I ordered (4) 16" x 20" sheets of clear plastic from Hobby Lobby. -40% off one, $0.12 shipping, total came to $7.79 or avg. $1.95 ea. or $0.85 / sq ft. The description says 0.1" thick?, but its really about 1/32" thick (0.028"~0.034").

Its listed under Crafts / Hobbies & Fabric Crafts / Glass Crafts / Faux Glass & Kits click here

The 16 x 20 is the best buy of the 3 sizes: The other ones are 8 x 10 & 11 x 14

(all 3 are the same thickness)

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For thicker windows, like sliding glass doors and such, I get acrylic panes from Lowes for about $1. I keep large, clear pieces of plastic from food things, like the cake boxes for birthdays and such. We have an office supply store that sells plastic sheets and acrylic, too, so maybe you can find something like that. It appears that you have several links to go off of now, though!

And I have houses that have the "glass" in and houses that don't.

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Thank you so much for this! I've been scratching my head on where to find "glass" for my windows and this is perfect.

Not sure if this is too thick for what you want?

Last week I ordered (4) 16" x 20" sheets of clear plastic from Hobby Lobby. -40% off one, $0.12 shipping, total came to $7.79 or avg. $1.95 ea. or $0.85 / sq ft. The description says 0.1" thick?, but its really about 1/32" thick (0.028"~0.034").

Its listed under Crafts / Hobbies & Fabric Crafts / Glass Crafts / Faux Glass & Kits click here

The 16 x 20 is the best buy of the 3 sizes: The other ones are 8 x 10 & 11 x 14

(all 3 are the same thickness)

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  • 1 year later...

Resurrecting this thread to see what the differences would be between plexiglass and acrylic? Im looking for something that wont get scratched so easily, like the gallery glass blanks do, and the poster "glass". Im thinking I would like to try acrylic, but what thickness would I search for and a source would be great if anyone has one. Thanks.

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I'm glad you brought this up again! I put plexiglas windows in the TeenieTow, and they worked out great! The local glass cutter guy cut them, but they were too big so I shaved them down with a dremel. He gave me some extra pieces, so I think I'll use more in the future. So far, no scratches. *crosses fingers* I haven't seen the plexi at HL, so I'd also like to know if it's hiding somewhere.

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