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Topic starter
29/10/2022 9:04 am
Just recently a friend sent me a little envelope containing 10 1:43 scale Virginia license plates. The pictures speak for themselves.
The number 34077 goes back three generations. My grandfather had it starting in about 1930 or so in Massachusetts. When my grandfather died and his 1940 Plymouth was sold, as a boy of 12 I wanted to have the plates from his car as a tangible remembrance. My father discovered that he would have to turn them in to the DMV and the only way we could keep the plates was for my father to transfer them to his car. So in 1957 that number was on our family car and remained on my father’s cars until he gave up driving in the early ‘90’s. Meanwhile, my family and I moved to Virginia. I discovered that 34077 was available in Virginia. It continues to be on my car after being in the family, albeit in two different states for some 90 years.
These miniature 34077 Virginia plates on my Thunderbirds look so authentic I think these ‘birds are real.
Here is the 1:1 plate on my Subaru. Only difference is that mine has the optional Cardinal on it.
David Knight
Richmond, Virginia. USA
29/10/2022 10:22 am
David...your post hits home.
Often, I've copied, downsized & printed period correct license plates for the custom scale diecast work I do. Like you, I seek out numbers & letters that have personal sentimental meaning. I recently completed (..for now) a project (posted on the 1/18 Forum) that involved numerous 1958 plates. Despite being actual plates, most of these number & letters mean something to me.
John Kuvakas reacted
29/10/2022 10:44 am
Yes, custom plates can add a nice touch of realism to a model.
Some years ago on the old Forum I posted a link to a fun website called the ACME license generator where you can make up authentic plates for different States and model years. (All States are covered but for some reason not all years are available for every State, just a random selection).
I've just had a look and it still works.
If you want to try it out, go to the "Choose another State" box and select from the drop-down menu. Then in the box above that enter the required plate number or "vanity name" (note the instructions on how many letters, characters or spaces are allowed on different State licenses). Select the year. Click "Make license". Note that if you change the year from the default setting shown, the finished plate style may be different.
Then right click on the image of the plate and save it as a JPEG picture file. You would then either need access to a simple photo editor to set the width and height required for a 1:43 plate (for example I think a typical plate for a Brooklin is about 8 mm wide by 4 mm high) or alternatively you can simply open the file in PowerPoint, select the image and use "Picture format" to set width and height. Then you can "drag and drop" multiple copies if required. You could make up a number of different plates and import them all into the same PowerPoint file, re-size them as required, group them together into a single image (Drag a rectangle around the grouped images with your mouse and use Picture Format - Group on the top toolbar). Then right-click the combined image, select "Save as picture" and save as a JPEG to print at home if you have a decent colour printer, or put the file on a USB stick and print at a photo shop.
Here are some samples I knocked out quickly (with no regard for whether the lettering format is realistic for a particular State)
A few years ago I got hold of a set of ready-printed decals of plates. Not sure if these are still to be found anywhere. I made copies with a scanner. Here is a low-res version:
If anyone would like to use these and would like a higher res copy that might print better, you can contact me at graeme (dot) ogg (at) btconnect (dot) com.
Graeme.M. Ogg
London U.K.
Karl Schnelle and John Kuvakas reacted
29/10/2022 3:10 pm
My contribution are some personalized Colorado collector plates on a:
Brooklin '35 Studebaker Dictator
Brooklin '36 Buick
Durham '41 Plymouth
Brooklin '53 Nash-Healy
Models = Miracles in miniature = Holding History in ones hand
Cheers and Happy Collecting,
Steve