Gauge One Plates Supplier

[Thirtysecond]

I have been looking for a supplier of cabside plates for the T3s Chris Tolhurst and I are building. Usually I am quite happy with Guilplates but their etches do tend to be a bit on the shallow side. For the T3 cabside plates we wanted ones with a deep etch. I was pointed at Narrow Planet who usually do plates in 16mm but said they were quite happy to work in 1/32.

Very pleased with the result. As they use a double sided etch, they can also effectively cut out the plate in a perfect oval as well. Price for this pair was £8 inc postage or £9.25 painted which I thought was excellent value.

Close up pictures can be cruel; bear in mind that the small letters and date are less than 1mm high!

www.narrowplanet.co.uk

 

[warren haywood]

I’ve started using narrow planet for non Severnmill plates. Not quite as good as Chris’ plates but still very good.
Stopped using Guilplates after an altercation on the phone LMS the product is very poor.

 

[Scale7JB]

I’ve started using narrow planet for non Severnmill plates. Not quite as good as Chris’ plates but still very good.
Stopped using Guilplates after an altercation on the phone LMS the product is very poor.

I had an altercation with them over E-mail.. I'll do my own now so long as time allows..

JB.

 

[Paul Cambridge]

Another vote for Narrow Planet. I use them for my 16mm stuff. I like the fact that they email you the artwork for review prior to etching. It means any cock ups are down to you, but that in my opinion is a small price to pay for their service.

 

[David Halfpenny]

Kind-of, Paul.

The artwork check is very helpful but not 100% foolproof, at least, not with this fool ​

I've had two different kinds of cock-up from Narrow Planet downstream of the artwork stage.

One arose from them etching harder and deeper than the serif Font would stand. Replacements with tweaked artwork are in production, and I'm hopeful of success.
However the other arose from the limited scope they have for kerning (spacing-out letters) in their drawing software. It happened to be a particularly challenging sequence of letters, and I had to give up on them for that.​

Narrow Planet did kindly create a new-to-them style of Works Plate for me - at no extra cost, either.

As the artwork appears to have been created in a CAD package, rather than from a photo, it certainly isn't an exact replica.
But it's tiny and, from a distance, without an original to compare with, the effect is fine
​