Every so often, a modeler would place a beautifully engraved placard on their diorama base, usually gold lettering on a black metal plate.

Are these baseplates contracted out or made by hand? The lettering, spacing, and finish looks extremely professional.

How much does it cost to have a shop make the placard? And which shops make them? (I'm thinking of "Things Remembered" engraving at the mall.

TIA.

Hi Peter,

I used to make my own (non-engraved) on shined up K&S Engineering's brass and Letraset rub-on lettering... sealed with an acrylic gloss coat but, lately I have been making them on my PC with ok results. I wish that I had a (much) better printer. Making them on you PC gives you the option to draw screw heads/rivets etc.

The brass strips and RO lettering was fun to do and I will most likely go back to that.

There are other non-expensive methods as well and I'll let the crew here give you their opinions on what they make them from.

HTH

shouldnt cost too much to have a brass plate engraved they normally charge by the letter

I get my plates made at a local trophy shop. It doesnt cost much at all. They also offer many different materials to use from colored plastics to metals. They can engrave or laser cut. I had some metal plates engraved about a year ago (5 plates total) each about 1 x 3 inches with plenty of letters (vehicle type, unit, etc).
It only ran me about $15 to $20. Currently I am waiting for some plates in light blue plastic (infantry color). The cost will be 15 cents per letter. They can also do art work for you. I am certain you have some similar shops around.

Thanks for the replies. Are there any conventions and rules and regs I need to know about contracting out plates?

What to look for? Any rip-off stories? Any bad experiences with rubbing off letters? Do I need to overspray? Etc.?

I have had a bunch done at trophie shops too. Just go and tell them what you want. I have never had any problems. They usually charge a couple of bucks for the blank plate (brass, aluminum, plastic, whatever) and then around $0.10 a letter.

Same here....the Local Trophy shop.

Tri -
Its been beat to death but if you bring some pics of Dio bases to the trophy shop so they can see your end goal, you will be more than pleased with the results

and it'll be easier on you than the mall joint

go for the trophy shop
its their bread and butter

All the best bud

I used to go the trophy shop route but the last time I went in (years ago) the prices had something like quadrupled for some unknown reason. Never went back, perhaps I should.

Another plus for making your own is that if your base is something other than square/rectangle (as the majority of my bases are), it is much easier to get the thinner K&S brass shims to contour.

.... Just an option.