Letters and Numbers (1 mm high)

Aber photo-etched letters and numerals, 1 mm high

A fine etched set of brass letters and numerals of a uniform height of 1 mm, supplied on a common fret. The characters are neither decals nor stickers - they have real thickness, so once glued on and painted they look like raised marking rather than like print. Compared with the sister set 1.5 mm high this is a markedly smaller variant, suitable where the marking is to be legible only from close up. It is made by the Polish firm Aber, a specialist in photo-etched accessories for plastic models.

Use

• Separate the character from the fret with a sharp knife or with nippers for photo-etched parts, always on a hard flat support.
• Work with fine-tipped tweezers and in good light, ideally with a magnifier.
• Glue with cyanoacrylate glue (super glue) in an absolutely minimal amount; an excess would flood a tiny character.
• Put the marking together along a lightly marked guideline so that it holds its line.
• Degrease the brass before painting and use a primer.

Where it is useful

On small maker's and type plates, labels of instruments and controls, markings in vehicle interiors and cockpits, fine lettering on crates and signs in dioramas. A height of 1 mm corresponds in 1:35 scale to a marking roughly 3.5 cm high, that is to the typical small plate that real machines carry.

Who it is for

For experienced modelers used to working with very fine photo-etched parts and for builders of richly furnished interiors and dioramas. Working with millimeter characters calls for patience, tweezers and a steady hand.

Extremely small parts - keep out of the reach of children under three, there is a risk of swallowing. The etched edges are sharp. Cyanoacrylate glue is irritating and bonds skin, so work carefully and in a well-ventilated space.