Adding Licence Plates

There are certain lines-in-the-sand in model railroading that, once crossed, signify a level of uber-detail or perhaps hyper-realism. It's like crossing the Rubicon, at least to me, and tonight I got my feet wet. Two of these lines are re-weigh stencilling on freight cars, and licence plates on vehicles. Both are tiny little details that someone squinting along at layout level (or using a camera at layout level) can use to separate fact from fiction, prototype from model.

To get plates, a Google search for Ontario licence plates quickly yielded a variety of styles and eras in HO scale. Bearing in mind that I'm modelling nominally 1970, I can have some older plates, but no newer. I printed off several sets, then cut them out with sharp suture scissors. 

Then it's just a matter of a little glue and a small fleet of trucks to start with, about a dozen tonight Another challenge is trying to find matching pairs for front-and-back, but then, who is going to notice if they're not? But they match, so don't bother looking! Another detail that I've unsuccessfully tried to add is side mirrors for trucks. Since I like to reposition vehicles, people and other parts of scenes, every time they're handled, it's possible that details, paint and decals will come off. So enjoy looking at the licence plates on the layout, just don't ask about the mirrors!

I'll work away at it, this bit of artistic licence I've taken. I don't think every vehicle will get the treatment, but those that do will certainly make scenes and photos more prototypical!