Lettering

[chborgm]

Some time ago I saw a reference to using Mircosoft Word for making lettering for the model. I know Word, but how do you get this on the model?

[mtaylor]

There's several ways...one way is use Word and then go through  the photo etch process.  Another is to print it out on decal paper.

 

And then there's these:

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7947-where-can-i-get-tiny-letters-for-my-ship/

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/6178-spacing-of-letters-in-ships-name-on-stern

[mtdoramike]

Or much easier and less work involved which I love, I order the lettering and waterline markings from Cornwall models in England. Yep, takes a few weeks to get to the U.S., but if I have a few ships in the wings at different scales, I can order most in one order and the shipping isn't that bad.

 

 

mike 

[chborgm]

Thanks for all the responses. I don't have a current problem, just looking ahead.

[RichardG]

I used Word for my Revenue cutter. In this case the whole piece was printed with a black background. Getting the "right" curve and letter-spacing took a lot of fiddling - I'm a bit of a perfectionist with this stuff (and it's easier to redo 20 times on a computer and printer  ).

 

 

 

Richard.

 

 

[chborgm]

After a "Google can find anything" search I found the decal paper is everywhere and really not to costly. The cheapest I found on Amazon

Testors Decal Paper, Clear, Pack of 6 (9201) $9.24 with free shipping

Somewhere down the line I'll give it a try.

[mtdoramike]

That is Beautiful work Richard, if I were more computer literate I would try it myself.

 

 

mike

[Nirvana]

Okay, I understand the whole concept of lettering

but when I like to do a name and port below  ( all centered) and there are curves in several ways, then what to do?

The yacht America 1851 and stern display has many various angles.....

Like the know the trick....

[chborgm]

I have not made any decals, but to get the lettering curved correctly. I would use Microsoft Publisher :  "Word Art" feature  lets you put a word on sentence into any shape you want. and then prints this o decal paper. The real problem might come with exsteamally conpound surfaces. In that case you may have to put one letter at a time. I would think that if you can lay a piece of paper on the surface the Word Wrt thing coud do.

[HSM]

Richard, is that piece of paper covering the whole transom, or just the area where the letters are? What do you use to glue that on?

[captainbob]

What do you do for white letters on a black hull? 

 

Bob

[chborgm]

I'm going to buy some decal paper and try a few thing out.

[reklein]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I will again recommend Vectorcut as a source for Laser cut letters for slightly raised letters. Just put some guidelines lightly in the area you want the letters and Voila! Prepaint them if you like. Bill

[Mirabell61]

What do you do for white letters on a black hull? 

 

Bob

 

Hi Bob,

 

to overcome the fact that the printer ca`nt produce white ink.......

 

I had that need for application with the white lettering on black / resp. red background with the depth marking scales....

When using Excel for doing the depth scales, by normal printing on white paper, I colored the cells (backgrounds) black above the waterline and red beneath. The lettering in white color for both backgrounds. There is also white decal paper available for ink jet printers, but I did`nt try it yet, probably that would work out even better, due to the thinner material

 

Nils

[RichardG]

Richard, is that piece of paper covering the whole transom, or just the area where the letters are? What do you use to glue that on?

 

Yes, that's a single piece of paper. It was printed on white paper (black background/yellow letters). It was glued using an Elmer's Extra Strength glue stick (which is acid-free). I then put a coat of the same matte polyurethane varnish (Varathane brand) used on the rest of the ship. Getting the font, color, curve, and size took a lot of tries. To get it looking just right (to me anyway), I also had to fiddle with the kerning (letter spacing) for the 'D' and 'S'.

 

I had considered using individual letters but decided that the chances of getting them lined up correctly was exactly zero (although I know some people here have achieved that feat). The letters are also flat which I felt was probably correct because they were most likely just painted on).

 

Richard.

[Dwaing]

Cap'n'Bob.
I would use  the free program INFANVIEW. One of its commands is to reverse colors so you can print white letters on a black background.

[captainbob]

irfanview  Thanks.

 

Bob