It did not matter what direction i was facing, as long as i looked below -18.3, and above -3.8, the chests would be transparent. I think this has to do with the addition of the transparent second skin layers in Snapshot 15w47a.
Environment
Java 1.8.0_25 32 bit
4x Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2370M CPU @ 2.40GHz
1366x705
Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
3.1.0 - Build 9.17.10.2849
Dupe of MC-92906