I have been spending a fortune on brass nameplates for the pieces that I take to shows. How can I make my own? And they dont have to be brass. Thanks, Rob Liles

I make my own nameplates in Word or similar.

Start by making a textbox with the measurements and the text. I actually make it at the doubled size at this stage.

Chose the size of text, what type of font, colour of text, colour of background and perhaps colour of the frame. There are many fonts that you can download for free and I try to match the font to the subject, time and era. Also try to matcht the colour of the backgrond and text to the subject.

This can then be printed on glossy photopaper.

I actually go some steps further for bettar appearance.

I do a screendump of the nameplate in double size. Open it in Paint. Then I trim it down and turn it to a mirrorimage. Now I trim it down to the actual size before I printing it on Overheadplastic, the kind with one course side, spray the backside with white and cut out. I add it to the base with thin twosided tape.

Heres one example.



Cheers

Hey Rob, All mine are made at the local trophy shop, most expensive was around $7. All kinds of finish's and type. Can't imagine it being that expensive. If I was more into the computer I'd try Jannes way. Something different and custom too.

Well you dont really need to be into computers, Im the living proof of that.

Cheers

I do mine in power point, I find it easier to move objects around and change frames, sizes, etc. You can add small images as well, for example unit crests, national flags or reference photos. I then print them out with a laser color printer (at the office, but every copy shop has them). Cut to size and glue them on a piece of plastic card. As mine usually have a black background I simply paint the edges of the plastic black and voilà you're done. Check my photos for examples (iraq dio and korea vignette).

HTH! Cheerio!

I use textboxes in Word on my PC as well and it works great. I can custom build anything in any colour and in any size. I print it with an inkjet printer on photo quality paper and it comes out crisp and clear. I glue the paper to a thin styrene sheet, cut it out and mount it on the base.

Here are some samples:



cheers;


Bob

You could give these people a try? I've seen them at a few UK models shows over the last couple of years

http://www.nameitplates.co.uk/

Hi Bob

looks great ..any more detail on what exactly 'text boxes' are. I've got Word 2007 but it has so many functions it's as much as I can do to open it....

hi Rob,
I was looking for the same kind of thing as you & I got to agree with Allen on getting them from the 'Name it ' company. Run by Paul & Julie, they give service second to none & really reasonable prices for great name plates. I have no connection with the company but just a very satified customer. Give them a look!
Mark

Hi Neil

I was considering a tutorial article for Armorama on how to do this so I'd better get cracking. My experience is entirely self taught so there are likely some 'Word Wunderkinder' out there that can do this better but in the meantime, I'll try and explain briefly.

A textbox is basically a defined but moveable/changeable area in which you can put in text of any font, size or colour. You can also fill in backgrounds of any size and colour and draw lines and borders of any size, shape and colour. You can also import images (I use jpg's) of logos, markings, unit patches etc. and drop them anywhere in any size.

I really recommend that you try it out and play with it. That's what I did and was able to make it work for me. Like I say, there's probably a more 'proper' way of doing what I do in Word, but it seems to work out alright. I settled on using Word because of the infinite font types that are available and downloadable, plus it makes nice crisp font and image edges for photo printing.

Hope that helps a bit....


Bob