Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I am in the process of starting a build on a Model Shipways Benjamin Latham. Is there anywhere I can get the lettering and scrollwork around anchor. What do you normally use for these items. Wondering if anyone makes these as decals I can purchase or am I going to have to print my own. Just wondering what you all do, so I can get some ideas for when the time comes to do the lettering on this one. Thanks, Ron.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dry transfer lettering usually comes in typefaces appropriate for that period. Try searching for it at shops or websites that cater to model railroaders, or search for "dry transfer lettering".

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of stationary shops carry them in assorted sizes.  If none are small enough then Google is your friend.

Mark
"The shipwright is slow, but the wood is patient." - me

Current Build:                                                                                             
Past Builds:
 La Belle Poule 1765 - French Frigate from ANCRE plans - ON HOLD           Triton Cross-Section   

 NRG Hallf Hull Planking Kit                                                                            HMS Sphinx 1775 - Vanguard Models - 1:64               

 

Non-Ship Model:                                                                                         On hold, maybe forever:           

CH-53 Sikorsky - 1:48 - Revell - Completed                                                   Licorne - 1755 from Hahn Plans (Scratch) Version 2.0 (Abandoned)         

         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can get blank decal paper that works in inkjet printers.  Draw the lettering or scroll work using a program like paint or a cad program like designcad  or turbo cad.  Print the artwork on the paper and apply the resulting decal.  I believe these sheets are called water slide decal sheets.  There are two types, clear and white.  Use the one that works best for you.

My advice and comments are always worth what you paid for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I spent years as a graphic artist when 'Letraset' was part of the stock-in-trade in a vast range of choices. It was never cheap, but there were other products available. A lot of fonts came in colour choices, including gold and silver. I can't believe it isn't still available; try professional graphic supplies outlets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Old stock of Letraset is dwindling. Try these people:

https://www.mayfairstationers.co.uk/office-supplies/letraset-dry-transfers.html

 

HTH

Bruce

🌻

STAY SAFE

 

A model shipwright and an amateur historian are heads & tails of the same coin

current builds:

HMS Berwick 1775, 1/192 scratchbuild; a Slade 74 in the Navy Board style

Mediator sloop, 1/48 - an 18th century transport scratchbuild 

French longboat - CAF - 1/48, on hold

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm amazed that this stuff is still around. I heaved the remains of my then ageing and crazed Letraset (I was in graphic design back then) about 25 years ago!

Be sure to sign up for an epic Nelson/Trafalgar project if you would like to see it made into a TV series  http://trafalgar.tv

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree, Bob. Ultimately, everything degrades. It's the properties of physics (entropy) I guess.

I think it's important to not loose sight of the fact that many of us enjoy the process of 'doing', hopefully to a level we find satisfying. As often happens, once we shed this mortal coil, the things we personally value now will be in tomorrows dumpster. It doesn't mean we can't enjoy what pleasure we can while we are here.

The model-makers in the 17th century, I'm sure, would be amazed and delighted that we can appreciate their work today. But oh! How much has been lost? Sometimes I get a chill when I think what would be destroyed if just one of the major collections was lost through fire or some other disaster. There aren't that many. It's like most of these 'eggs' are in a few scattered baskets.

We are fortunate and lucky to have what there is. It's our love and enthusiasm which is the best preservative of all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, shipman said:

I agree, Bob. Ultimately, everything degrades. It's the properties of physics (entropy) I guess.

I think it's important to not loose sight of the fact that many of us enjoy the process of 'doing', hopefully to a level we find satisfying. As often happens, once we shed this mortal coil, the things we personally value now will be in tomorrows dumpster. It doesn't mean we can't enjoy what pleasure we can while we are here.

I was talking about ten, twenty, thirty years, not all eternity. :D  As they say, "Your mileage may vary." 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any insight as to what materials and methods have enabled this art to last for almost 300 years.

 

Artwork.JPG.edd1b020432792985817a73837fc396e.JPG

Winchelsea model. Circa 1764..

 

 

Has it been restored at some point ?

Luck is just another word for good preparation.

—MICHAEL ROSE

Current builds:    Rattlesnake (Scratch From MS Plans 

On Hold:  HMS Resolution ( AKA Ferrett )

In the Gallery: Yacht Mary,  Gretel, French Cannon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bob, I have a few plastic model kits built up to 30 years ago. Apart from my catastrophic dropping of a few, they look as if they were built yesterday.

Gregory, I'd say that paintwork is untouched, other than years of dust and smoke being removed.

Once I was lucky to get a look at paintings in the National Portrait Gallery, London, where cleaned areas were next to un-cleaned areas, with no other 'restoration'. The results were truly astonishing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Gregory said:

Any insight as to what materials and methods have enabled this art to last for almost 300 years.

Probably oil-based paints -- just like portraits that have lasted for hundreds of years.

 

Of course, having a museum curator around doesn't hurt either.

Chris Coyle
Greer, South Carolina

When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.
- Tuco

Current builds: Brigantine Phoenix, Hawker Hurricane

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, shipman said:

Bob, I have a few plastic model kits built up to 30 years ago. Apart from my catastrophic dropping of a few, they look as if they were built yesterday.

I'm sure that's true. Were they painted with acrylics 30 years ago? Even so, they may look fine today. Obviously, you've taken good care of them. It's a dicey business. Some do apparently last well for such periods of time. Others, not so much.  We don't have to wait 300 years to see how permanent styrene plastics are though. Plastic begins its process of "plastico-porosis" the minute it's made. It has a half-life that is relatively short and which can be radically accelerated by adverse environmental factors. It's decidedly "non-archival." Nobody expects it to last longer than what it does. (This degradation, however slow, is the only thing that has prevented mankind from becoming totally inundated in plastic garbage!)

 

I expect anyone who has held on to a model that had decals applied for any length of time will have noticed that the clear edges of the decals frequently begin to cloud up and discolor after a few years and after a few more years, will eventually "dry out" and start to crack, flake, and peel off.

 

Seriously, though, I think all modelers who put many hundreds, if not thousands of hours into building good models, should give careful thought to using the most long-lasting methods and materials. You never know. Maybe 300 years from now, your model may have survived and is then one of the very few models of its subject in existence, a true historic "museum quality" model. However long it does last, if anyone comes to own and enjoy it after you, they will certainly appreciate the fact that you did consider the permanence of the materials used. It also makes a huge difference in the monetary value of a model, should that be of any concern to the builder or the builder's heirs. 

 

I realize few of us will ever be good enough at the game to build a model that is worthy of being considered "museum quality," whatever that may be, but I think we all like to think we strive to do the best we can, or should. Every little bit brings our work closer to excellence.

Edited by Bob Cleek
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...