Dutch Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) So I am running into a little bit of a problem with the 1:144 USCG HC-130J markings. As described in the SCM project album, I plan on using most of the Minicraft kit decals and the Microscale 72-109 USCG sheet for the nose serial number (either 2001, 03, 05, 07, 08, 12). However, I also need to change the font of the upper & lower wing "USCG" titles. As you can see from the photos below, the older HC-130H (top photo) has square letters with angled corners, but the newer HC-130J (bottom photo) has rounded letters. The Minicraft kit #14524 includes the older squared off USCG wing font. After comparing fonts with the lower photo, I have ruled out Arial. Does anyone know the font and a possible source for black letters ~3/8 inches or 10mm high? I thought to use the Luftwaffe letter codes from MS 72-89, however font is not completely accurate and has a white border around the black. This won't matter on the bottom wing, but will show on the upper wing where the background is gray for the wingwalk area. Any suggestions are appreciated. Kind regards, Dutch Edited December 6, 2020 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martin_sam_2000 Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 It may not be a commercial font and may be an in house design. I took a look around and haven't found anything. Fonts that match the "C" have the wrong "G" and vice versa. Sean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 Sean, I quite agree with you. I have also been searching through the railroad dry transfer letters to see if anything fits. So far, nothing. I may end up printing my own. Botheration! K/r, Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JayBee Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 To me it looks like the Zurich Font Family: Linotype Website Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 13 hours ago, JayBee said: To me it looks like the Zurich Font Family: Linotype Website Yes folks! We have a winner! I used Zurich Bold. It looks pretty good, perhaps 97-99%. Close enough for me. Thank you JayBee. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JayBee Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 (edited) You´re welcome, Dutch. 🙂 Edited December 8, 2020 by JayBee Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 (edited) Jaybee, I used Zurich Bold font and made a test print. [See photo below.] Before printing I played around with the font size and settled on 40 pitch. It printed out at 10.5mm tall. So I will cut out the letters and see how they fit the upper and lower wing before deciding if I need to shrink it to 39 or 38 pitch. The RCAF titles are for a couple of CF-100 Canucks and use a RCAF font. Those I will have to resize. K/r, Dutch Edited April 29, 2021 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
andyf117 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 (edited) Very useful info which I hadn't spotted earlier - only a few days ago I was looking at the underside photo of a MH-60T with the rounded style lettering, and wondering which font it might be... ....just tested it on a side view, and by matching the heights and then stretching the width at 120%, it's a near-perfect match for both the main serial number and the tail designator and serial - although, strangely, the width needs increasing by 130% for the main titling. On the underside view, the spacing simply needed a slight increase... ....which means that I can fully customise which aircraft I depict - have been re-watching episodes of 'Coast Guard Alaska' on YouTube, so it'll definitely be a Kodiak bird, for which Italeri already supply the badges... EDIT: An update - further investigation revealed there is a version of the font named 'Zurich Bold Extended'... ....which eliminates the above-described need for percentage increases of the width - only adjustments to the spacing is required. Edited April 29, 2021 by andyf117 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 Andy, thanks for that added bit about Zurich Bold Extended. I have switched to that one now. K/r, Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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