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Sealing Police Box sign

Started by jonsprin, Apr 10, 2024, 04:00 pm

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jonsprin

Apr 10, 2024, 04:00 pm Last Edit: Apr 10, 2024, 04:13 pm by jonsprin
Hello, I am currently working on finishing up my Tardis and I'm having issues with condensation getting between my layers of acrylic on my police box signs. My vinyl is layed over white acrylic with a clear piece in front of that. They are slotted into a groove inside the box. I'm not sure how to resolve this problem and was hoping you guys would have some ideas.
I haven't started a build log yet but I plan to soon.

Rassilons Rod

Apr 10, 2024, 09:05 pm #1
Quote from: jonsprin on Apr 10, 2024, 04:00 pmHello, I am currently working on finishing up my Tardis and I'm having issues with condensation getting between my layers of acrylic on my police box signs. My vinyl is layed over white acrylic with a clear piece in front of that. They are slotted into a groove inside the box. I'm not sure how to resolve this problem and was hoping you guys would have some ideas.
I haven't started a build log yet but I plan to soon.

Are they glued together at all?
In the cities in the streets there's a tension you can feel,
The breaking strain is fast approaching, guns and riots.
Politicians gamble and lie to save their skins,
And the press get fed the scapegoats,
Public Enema Number One.

jonsprin

Apr 10, 2024, 11:21 pm #2
They are not glued together. I'm thinking I will have to take them out and seal the edges somehow.

Rassilons Rod

Apr 11, 2024, 07:06 am #3 Last Edit: Apr 11, 2024, 02:32 pm by Rassilons Rod
Quote from: jonsprin on Apr 10, 2024, 11:21 pmThey are not glued together. I'm thinking I will have to take them out and seal the edges somehow.

I would suggest clamping them together and using superglue around the edges.

Hopefully clamping will stop the glue running inside and you can also use accelerator spray to make it harden quicker. Several layers of this should help.

Less on the bottom, of course.

And mask off the front and back.

Alternatively you could use caulk to seal it, but that will be thicker and bulkier .
In the cities in the streets there's a tension you can feel,
The breaking strain is fast approaching, guns and riots.
Politicians gamble and lie to save their skins,
And the press get fed the scapegoats,
Public Enema Number One.

jonsprin

Apr 11, 2024, 02:23 pm #4 Last Edit: Apr 11, 2024, 02:32 pm by Rassilons Rod
Quote from: Rassilons Rod on Apr 11, 2024, 07:06 am
Quote from: jonsprin on Apr 10, 2024, 11:21 pmThey are not glued together. I'm thinking I will have to take them out and seal the edges somehow.

I would suggest clamping them together and using superglue around the edges.

Hopefully clamping will stop the glue running inside and you can also use accelerator spray to make it harden quicker. Several layers of this should help.

Less on the bottom, of course.

And mask off the front and back.

Alternatively you could use caulk to seal it, but that will be thicker and bulkier .

That's not a bad idea. I also thought about using vinyl wrapped around the edges.

fivefingeredstyre

Apr 14, 2024, 07:50 pm #5
I'm not sure you will beat the condensation problem when you use two pieces of Acrylic butted together to make up your signs. Unless you mate them together in a vacuum you will always have air between the two pains of acrylic and it's the trapped air that's causing the problem.

I found this with mine, especially on the sides of the box that are in direct sunlight as the sun warms the acrylic, causing the gases in the air to condensate.

I got around this my making my signs  out of vinyl which was cut in reverse and applied to the inward facing side of the clear acrylic pane. I then put white vinyl over this.

There's a post in my boxes refurb thread about it: https://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2793.msg135559#msg135559





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