License Plates

[slant6]

How do you make custom license plates?

[Scalefinishes]

I use the plate maker from http://www.licenseplates.tv/ then just print them to size, cut them out, and glue them on.

Mostly older plates, but a great selection of European plates.

Jameston

[JamesW]

What is the approx. size for 1/24-1/25 scale???

[Scalefinishes]

Standard US plates are 12" X 6" making them 1/2" X 1/4" for 1/24th.

Jameston

[slant6]

Im more interested in what you use to make them. Computer programs, decal materials, ect. I made one for a porsche I built for my dad, the plate he's had for 30+ years, and I painted it. It brought down the whole build.

[JamesW]

http://acme.com/licensemaker/

I'll be using regular photo paper and white glue to attach it.

[Scott H.]

http://acme.com/licensemaker/

I'll be using regular photo paper and white glue to attach it.

You beat me to it!

I used the exact same website to make my plates and save them to my computer. Once I have them there, I open the file in Paint Shop Pro 8 and scale it to the right size & print off a test plate on regular paper to check and see if I have it done correctly. Once I am satisfied with the plate, I print it out on Photo Quality Paper and use Elmer's White Glue to attach it to the model.

I will say I either print out several License Plates at a time or some other picture I want that takes up most of the paper. Using a full piece of Photo Paper for 1 license plate would get expensive QUICK!

Here's an example of the plates you can get from Acme:

I just went to the site and made those just to provide a quick example of what is available. Anything you wish can be written on the license plate, be it letters or numbers. The CAPS LOCK is your friend on that site! No state license plate has ever used lower case letters to my knowledge.

You need to check out how many letters are allowed for custom plates in the state you are wanting to make if you are going to use something other than the standard 3-3 format. The plates will stretch longer for more letters than the state allows, so be careful as it is not going to look right.

You will have to make the month / year sticker part of the plate if you want them to be 100% correct, but I haven't done it yet and no one has complained about it. Of course now that I have said that, the next one I leave them off of is going to be nailed!

One last thing and then I'm going to quit adding to this post...

They have the US State License plates and some of the Canadian Province license plates, but they do not have all of the years or designs! There are some plates that you just are not going to find unless you take a picture and scale down an actual plate.

Hope this helps,

-Scott H.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Scott H. AKA Cpt. Bondo

[HotRodaSaurus]

What a great link! Thanks, I have been looking for something like this for ages.

John