Scale License Plates

[Darin Bastedo]

There was a post asking about scale License Plates. Years ago I attenpted to market scale plates. I failed miserably. I realised that the the most successful aftermarket items are ones that go on models in progress, rather than finished models.

I'm not really sure whay I hadn't thought of this before, because for the last few years these have just been sitting on my hardrive waiting for me to actually finish something. So here they are. Free to anyone who wants them. I've started posting them on my fotki.

http://public.fotki.com/ashevillemodeler/m...license-plates/

So far I have 700+ plates uploaded and have many more to add. when I'm done you will be able to get a plate for anyplace in the world, including native american reservations, and diplomatic plate. I even have some dealer plates, and specialty plates. I figure no sense letting all my work go to waste just because nobody bought them. I am also working on tutorials for those who don't know how to add the text to the plates and resize them.

Here are a few pointers to start with though;

Ariel narrow bold is a good font for most plates and will look good. another favorite is "Licenz Plate" from acid fonts

http://www.acidfonts.com/lfonts9.htm

Enjoy.

[mikelo]

Thanks for the link and info. it is a great idea and a nice detail to finish off any model. I guess you are right about one thing, the key word here is "finish". (LOL) There is no comparison between the number of kits I have versus the number I have finished.

Did you happen to catch the guy on the bay selling registration for model cars? You would think plates would/could go along with that. Just a thought.

[John Pol]

Hi there I`m sure alot of us would like to learn how to downsize.Including myself I think it would be a great idea.Hope you go ahead and shows us all how.

John Pol

[LVZ2881]

Hi there I`m sure alot of us would like to learn how to downsize.Including myself I think it would be a great idea.Hope you go ahead and shows us all how.

John Pol

I'll second that!!!

[Darin Bastedo]

Hi there I`m sure alot of us would like to learn how to downsize.Including myself I think it would be a great idea.Hope you go ahead and shows us all how.

John Pol

Heres the long and short of it (so to speak)

the standard plate size for current US & Canada Plates is 12"x6"

In Microsoft Word & Works;

You would open a blank document, and click on "Insert" at the toolbar at the top of the page. This will give you several options. Click on "Picture" and then "From File" then brouse to where you saved the images, and select your desired plate

click on the image and in the corner of the image you will see an arrow appear as you hover the cursor above it . click and drag the image until it is the size you need it to be. you can also right click it and set the size on the image proerties tab

I find it easier to do metric as 1mm = 1' in scale ( I know that it isn't exact but the remaider isn't big enough to see.) so you would size it to 12mm x 6mm If metric isn't your bag 7/8 inch by 1/4 inch will do the trick.

In Adobe Photoshop;

This is much easier as you simply open the file, Click "Image" on the toolbar, this opens a dropdown menu select "image size" and enter the measurements above into the hieght and width fields. Click ok and you're done.

now simply print your plate and stick it to your model

[Gregg]

Thanks, Darin!!!!

There was an ACME plate site online, can't find my old link for it.

You could make a plate online

But, Darin's stuff works!!!!

See my pretty Avatar!!!!!

Thanks

Domo

Mahalo

Gracias

buy you beer :-)

[Jason Rothgeb]

I'll second that!!!

There is more than one way to skin this cat. My way? My printer has a reduce/enlarge function. I print the page and reduce accordingly slightly darkening as I reduce to counteract the lightening of the image that takes place. I use a Revell license decal for size reference on the final plate. The plate on this Shelby was the first time I had used Acme in a few years. One problem seems to be that your cache fills up pretty quick and you have to dump your cookies to reset. An annoying quirk to be sure. As you can tell by the picture I missed slightly on the size, though as most of us know by now, the Macro function on our digital cameras can be somewhat more unforgiving than the human eye. I choose North Dakota for the all important "looks cool" factor. Although the image lost a lot in reduction. That is a Bison in the lower left corner, though you can't tell at that size. Further, the "North Dakota" at the bottom of the plate is pretty much illegible at that size.

[Darin Bastedo]

Glad you like it Gregg. I should have more up soon.

[Lyle Willits]

Thanks, Darin!!!!

There was an ACME plate site online, can't find my old link for it.

You could make a plate online

Gregg,,,,,ACME plates are still there. Here's the link:

http://www.acme.com/licensemaker/

[SoCalCarCulture]

The blanks have always been available here...

http://www.rtbrandon.com/blankplates/

...that's where Acme resourced the bases for their plate generator.

Let's give credit to R.T. Brandon for originally creating this great resource!

[SoCalCarCulture]

I find it easier to do metric as 1mm = 1' in scale ( I know that it isn't exact but the remaider isn't big enough to see.) so you would size it to 12mm x 6mm If metric isn't your bag 7/8 inch by 1/4 inch will do the trick.

The correct size in inches would be ½†X ¼†which would equal 12†x 6†in 1:24 scale.

[1320wayne]

The Acme site is great. Two others that I use are listed below. One is for all plates of the world including all government and special interest plates.

The second one provides examples of sports related and other special interest plates to use for the front of your models or diorama walls.

http://www.worldlicenseplates.com/

http://www.licenseplateshop.com/