Where can I get TINY letters for my ship?

[Brenticus]

I have a question.  I'm building the 1/130 La Flore/ Jolly Roger kit from Lindberg as a fictitious HMS Patrician.

 

I would like to add the name of the ship on the stern in the appropriate semi-circular area that it would normally go, but I do not have the skills to do so with paint. 

 

1. Is there a place I could order TINY, TINY little letters to spell out the name Patrician?

 

2.  Is there some kind of pen that would work?  I'm thinking even my small Sharpie won't work.

 

Any other ideas for this?  Or should I just kind of ignore it?  After all, it's a nice to have, not need to have.  For me, anyway.
 

[druxey]

Possibly consider using your computer to print this out at very high resolution?

[JPett]

Ahoy Brenticus  

 

I like the Dry Transfer Decals for lettering on my models. 

 

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/DecalsGraphics

[Brenticus]

@Druxey:  Thanks for the quick reply, but I'm afraid my printer is kaput.  Might use my parents' printer though next time I'm over there- especially if the scripts JPett pointed me to. 

They do have N scale...that just might work.  Either way, looks like I've got a good way to go.

 

Thanks, all!

[Jean-Pierre]

I'm afraid transfer letters will not easily be found at the requested small scale, in the colour you need (gold or white?) or in the correct lettertype (times?).  I did mine (on Flying Fish) using Word Art in Windows Word, which I printed out on photo paper in yellow on a black background.  I then varnished it with polyurethane varnish so the yellow will (hopefully) not fade.

 

Another problem with very small transfer letters is that they will be almost impossible to align precisely enough (at least I couldn't)

 

Now I suppose finding someone who owns an ink jet printer would not be too difficult

[reklein]

Try microscale decals. only trouble is they have a $25 minimum. Check to see if a model railroad shop is near you. They often have small decals. Personally I have not had good luck with transfers.There are also laser cut resin paper letter sets out there but the name of the company escapes me. Bill

[Brenticus]

Thanks for all the info. I think I'll ask the guy in the train part of the local shop (operated by a different guy) about decals, and check out my options with the printer

[JPett]

Ahoy Brenticus

 

I thought I would post a pic to help you out  

 

if you use quality transfers, follow the instructions, you will find that they are very easy to use , provide a scale "raised" appearance and look great. You can also clear coat them too as they are pretty resilient and "yes" they come in gold. 

 

These letters are only 5/64" high and 11 letters looks to be 34/32" across 

 

This took me about a half an hour and was my first take. I might just be done

 

Well after I hit them with a few coats of some WOP and shave off a 16" on the right. 

Edited September 12, 2014 by JPett

[HIPEXEC]

Try "Starfighter Decals). I ordered $15 worth

 

My problem is how do I transfer those tiny tiny decals without destroying them? They are so small I need a magnifier to read them .

[Jim Rogers]

I order vinyl lettering on line with self stick backing. They can produce very small letters in any font or color. You just center them, press on and carefully separate from backing. Very reasonable prices.

[Jack12477]

On 1/25/2017 at 0:19 PM, HIPEXEC said:

My problem is how do I transfer those tiny tiny decals without destroying them? They are so small I need a magnifier to read them

Rich,  I use a very fine/small sable artist paint brush dipped in water to lift the decal off the sheet and place it on the model. Takes a little practice but you can master it pretty quickly. You want the decal literally floating on the paper backing.

[Jim Rogers]

Bob I used Do It Yourself Vinyl. My letters came out to be a little bigger than 1/8th inch. I contacted them via email and explained what I was doing and what I needed and they came through. Cost was $6. 

[Chuck]

Try vectorcut.

http://www.vectorcut.com/letters.htm

 

 

[Jean-Pierre]

My experience as a clumsy ship builder is that small size letters are very, very difficult to align properly.  Furthermore, small letters seem to be only available in sans serif characters, like Helvetica, while the letters used on period ship were mostly of the serif type (Times...).

 

I personally used my computer and printed the required words on photo paper and protected the deskjet print with a few layers of matte varnish.  Two small difficulties here are: first conceal the paper edges; second: reproduce the right hull colour as a background on your print.

 

JP

[Jim Rogers]

The vinyl letters come aligned you just need to center and carefully rub off.

[MEDDO]

What I did at a much bigger scale was to print out the image/words onto rice/calligraphy paper then wet it out with dilute glue and you get a pretty good image.

 

Used a few different types of rice paper, tissue paper, calligraphy paper until I found the correct weight of paper.  Then I taped it to a regular piece of white paper and stuck it in my inkjet printer.  I found that printing the image "reversed" worked better.  I used a scalpel to cut it out as close to the ink as I could.  Having the reversed image allows the ink to be on the wood and underneath the paper.  After wetting it out with the dilute glue the rice paper disappears and is barely visible.  Depending on how close you cut it the edges are not really that noticeable.  

 

You can still see the edges if looking very closely so I am not sure how it would come out at such a small scale.  Will definitely bookmark the letter site for future reference.

[Sonofasonofasailor]

Does anyone know if you can apply dry-transfer letters to decal sheets made for ink-jet printers and then transfer the decal to the model?

[Bob Cleek]

 

With the caveat that I've never done this, I'll suggest that the Cricut (pronounced "cricket") home CNC cutting machine is designed to solve the problem of small scale lettering transfers for modeling purposes, among others. (It shows a lot of promise for photo-etch quality cutouts from card stock, too.) My daughter has one and loves it. It seems to be "a girl thing" as their marketing is directed to crafty "soccer moms," and I haven't seen the Cricut system mentioned in this forum at all as yet. I does seem to be becoming quite popular and the results it produces are excellent. While there is a plethora of "clip art" images for use with the machine, one can also generate their own with any computer graphics program or word processing font. I'd be interested to know if any modelers are using it and how they like it. Once the pandemic gets over, I plan to fool around with her Cricut and see what applications for modeling I can come up with for it.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by Bob Cleek

[Clark]

21 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said:

 

With the caveat that I've never done this, I'll suggest that the Cricut (pronounced "cricket") home vinyl cutting machine is designed to solve the problem of small scale lettering transfers for modeling purposes. My daughter has one and loves it. It seems to be "a girl thing" as their marketing is directed to crafty "soccer moms," and I haven't seen the Cricut system mentioned in this forum at all as yet. I does seem to be becoming quite popular and the results it produces are excellent. While there is a plethora of "clip art" images for use with the machine, one can also generate their own with any computer graphics program or word processing font. I'd be interested to know if any modelers are using it and how they like it.

 

 

 

 

 

Just browsed through the offers. There are some remarks that the cuts are not very precise. I would also be interested in any answers. Is it possible to design and print ornaments on thin (~0.5mm) wooden planks?

[realworkingsailor]

On 2/3/2021 at 1:23 PM, Sonofasonofasailor said:

Does anyone know if you can apply dry-transfer letters to decal sheets made for ink-jet printers and then transfer the decal to the model?

It should work. After applying the transfers to the decal paper, it’s a good idea to give them a quick overcoat with a sealant such as testors dullcote. Without the sealant, the transfers will be more prone to damage due to handling.

 

Andy

[tkay11]

Is it not possible to print very small letters to dry transfer decal with just an inkjet printer?

 

Tony

[thibaultron]

The Cricut Explore can handle up to about 3/64ths basswood. It has trouble with interior cuts, like for a window opening. It has a pivoting blade so to insure the corner is cut "square" it cuts past the corner, then back at an angle to start on the other section. This leaves a small triangle extra cut out at the corner. Not bad if you will be adding a trim piece to frame the opening, but a pain if you want just the square opening.

 

The new Cricut maker can do at least 1/16th bass, and has a gear driven knife for square corner cuts.

 

I have had difficulty going from CAD to the machine, but have not had time lately to revisit it.

 

If you are trying to cut an existing card pattern (As in a cardstock building, or file download (ship card model, where you want to print out the file and cut to the printed patterns) you are limited to I think 6X8 inch maximum output size. This is because their proprietary software Design Space uses your browser software as a print engine, and you are limited (for unspecified reasons).

 

Clipart and Line drawings can use the full  size sheet up to the largest cutting pad size. Remember though that the cutting pads are sticky to hold the material, so small delicate parts can break or rip when you go to remove them.

 

As I say I've not had time recently to play with my Explore machine more.

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, thibaultron said:

The new Cricut maker can do at least 1/16th bass, and has a gear driven knife for square corner cuts.

Wow! This thing is starting to sound like it could be a game-changer, particularly for card stock modeling. 

[thibaultron]

Here is a video given at a virtual Model Railroad clinic recently, on using the Cricut machine.

 

 

[Keithbrad80]

On 2/5/2021 at 6:01 AM, tkay11 said:

Is it not possible to print very small letters to dry transfer decal with just an inkjet printer?

 

Tony

This is what I do. My local art store sells letter transfer sheets that you print on from a regular printer then cut out your self. A little bit water and they slide right off. I have a sheet that I have printed on several times before for something small, cut it out then you can put the same sheet right back in your printer (as long as you don’t print where paper is missing lol).

 

Bradley

[Roger Pellett]

There was an article several years ago in the Nautical Research Journal about using the Cricut foe ship modeling applications.