Signwriting a Civil Defence Brockhouse trailer

Arne Barker Signwriter

Arne lives in Wiltshire and spends his time between producing these hand painted signs and his artwork. Due to some disabilities, Arne is only able to work on or create smaller scale signs; nevertheless his work is to be found all around the world.
One of his latest projects is a pair of plates for a stunning vintage 1909 Cadillac. If you appreciate classic Land-Rovers, then we have a feast for you; these vehicles date from 1948 through to the early 1960’s. Additionally, some wonderfully restored vintage motorcycles, early Brockhouse trailers, a beautiful 1929 Austin Seven 7, and a lovely 1929 Morris T-Type Commercial Truck.
Many of these vehicles have been restored to the highest standard, Arne is proud to have contributed in a small but very visible way in all of these projects.
more-info
Click any image for a slide show

More information

In the UK, modern registration plates use the Charles Wright font, and each character should be 3⅛ inch high. While the older, now classic vehicles were 3½ inches high, considerably larger. Pre ~1960, whenever a Dealership sold a new vehicle, and a pair of hand-painted number-plates were supplied; the choice of font or style was the preference of the local signwriter, so long as he followed the basic rules of size and spacing etc. Unfortunately there is no current font that matches what was used in the 40 and 50’s. So Arne created his own derivative of the early font or style that was used by the famed “Ace” number-plate manufacturer from the 1950’s. Each character is 3½ inches high by 2½ inches wide, with the correct spacing and borders. Motorcycles often use a scaled-down version, as their plates are normally smaller. When studying the top serif of the number One (1) and the drop line of the letter G; research on these has shown that these details were either included (serif), or omitted (sans serif); this decision was down to the signwriter. Arne normally includes the serif on the number One (1 rather than l). Please note that all plates are supplied as classic vehicle ‘Show Plates’. Here is a link to a video of Arne working with his brushes.

Work in progress

Some of these images show the work-in-progress with the different letter/number layouts on the black plates, along with Arne’s painting process. Once completed, all lettering is protected with a coat of exterior grade varnish.