Any supplier available for UK civil registration letters?

[Gooney Fan]

About 40 years ago I was using Letraset for creating civil registrations on 1/72nd and 1/48th scale models.

 

Now that my former supply is no longer available I am asking forum members for suggestions.

 

Thank in advance

 

Gooney Fan

[Scratchbuilder]

I was kindly given some red ones by John when we met at Newark museum, but I don't know if he still sells that sort of thing.

 

Martin

[72modeler]

John Aero's sets of UK civil registration letters are the only ones I know of in 1/72- sure are overdue for replacements by somebody!

Mike

[Mika Jernfors]

I have done white letters in different sizes, although not added into my web site (Arctic Decals) yet. I had them for sale at Telford SMW show.

Regards,

Mika

[AMB]

I have pestered several well-known decal makers for sheets of civil aircraft registration letters, particularly to include the 1930s-style letter 'G' and some 'hollow' letters in different sizes. Result, just a sniffy response from them all. I think they think they are 'too pedestrian' and wouldn't sell well. If I had a £1 for everyone I spoke to at Telford that wanted these, I would be rich.   

[Graham Boak]

If you really believe that, then approach Fantasy Printshop and arrange for a printing of whichever letters you think are required.  You will of course have to consider a number of different sheets at different sizes, and possibly styles, particularly if you want fully generic sheets rather than those appropriate for specific individual aircraft.  I'm sure you could price them to give yourself £1 profit per sheet, but you will of course have to make rather more than that to allow for those sheets that do not sell as well as the others.  With the resulting fortune you could buy Airfix and convert it to only produce 1930s civil aircraft in 1/72 and 1/48, rather than all these unprofitable Spitfires, Mustangs etc.  That'll show all these sniffy responders!

[John Aero]

Civil letters, produced to a reasonable price are a nightmare. I produced a large number of different sizes and colours in the early 80's. They were done with hand drawn artwork (as was the norm back then).  The sizes were worked out to cover the most useful height and style commonly found on civil aircraft of the inter-war and early post-war period, mainly for 1:72 scale use, with some of the bigger sizes able to do the same for 1:48 scale.  They were done by a very good silk screen printer. However because they were decals, they had to be varnished. The varnish proved to be the Achilles heel as they yellowed with age.  They just did nor sell in sufficient numbers even when new. So a great deal of stock was eventually consigned to landfill.

 

Later I re-drew the letters with my computer drawing program, this made 1:72  and 1:48  easy to do. Again I revised the (6) colours and had them printed by a well known screen printer who was retiring, who frankly didn't do a good job as the quality varied. , But again very few sales were made. I lost money on both occasions even on quite low number runs.

 

The only Light civil aircraft which have any large sales potential seem to be ones which were impressed, or were military trainers or liaison types, or they were used in minor wars or record breaking. The use of resin does now allow a certain number of interesting types to have small production runs with decals, but you're paying a lot for the decals therein. One is talking about £40 for a relatively unknown French light plane or similar.

 

The excellent short run decals by such as Arctic decals, are however not cheap, simply because of the art work and low market potential of the subjects. You can print your own but you can't print white, unless you have a more expensive machine and they are thin on the ground.

 

John

 

[Ivor Ramsden]

I've used many of John's civil letters successfully over the years but my supplies have dwindled to almost nothing and I agree that modern replacements would be very welcome. In recent years I've had success in printing my own using an ordinary inkjet printer and clear decal sheet which is designed for use with inkjet. I'm no artist so I've had to use standard fonts but it's surprising how many are available. Even using only basic software the letter sizes can be adjusted accurately. My only reservation with inkjet is that if you use non-genuine ink it can fade badly even in low light. A bonus with many modern aircraft is that their lettering, even some of the more stylised, is made using standard computer fonts so an exact match is easy to make.

 

Another option is Luftwaffe code letters which are available in many sizes and colours including white which is, of course, impossible to print using basic equipment.

 

In all cases the styles can be tweaked if necessary by hand either before or after application.

[Rob de Bie]

On 11/14/2019 at 12:03 PM, Gooney Fan said:

About 40 years ago I was using Letraset for creating civil registrations on 1/72nd and 1/48th scale models.

 

Now that my former supply is no longer available I am asking forum members for suggestions.

My best suggestion: learn how to draw decals yourself in vector graphics.

 

CorelDraw Home & Student costs ~85 euros, and it a fantastic tool for modelling. Not only can you design decals, but you can also use it to analyse photos, overlay photos with drawings, analyse kit shape problems, design parts from photos, scale drawings to exactly the size you need, or make your own line drawings. I use it on almost every model project.

 

Once you designed your own decals, companies like Arctic Decals and Spotmodel can print them for you, for a reasonable fee. As long as you do the design yourself, it's quite affordable.

 

Rob

[G.E.SAUNDERS]

   hi All ,

 

                  If you have any other Colour  U.K. Civil A/C Registration Lettering  Decals the size and font you need.

                  First paint the White on the area of the Lettering then very care fully cutout the Letters to shape

                  apply, don't seal, remove after paintin' the Model . Even better use  Rub On Lettering over the white.

 

                                                                                                        cheery "Christmas Modellin' " mumbas !

 

                                                                                                                                    Geoff

                                                                                                                                    F.T.G.  3156