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Hello there! I am just wondering how some of you out there place text on your parchments in books and on the seals of SM? I have just been lightly brushing paint across it with a fine detail brush, but I have seen out there that some have actual pictures or the text just looks so much finer. I have also noticed a type of pen out there being used in some videos. Please leave some feedback on how you would do it, or anything enlightening pertaining to this. Future Thanks!!!

Technical/art pens, available from your local art shop. They come in a zillion colours. For use on models, I recommend getting the ones with waterproof ink, so that a later coat of varnish doesn't dissolve the ink.

If you look at any of my gallery images, scribbling and scrawling are things I love to do with models, I think they can take a bad paint job Iike mine and make them, look good. When I do my scrawling, I try to do a few things.

I really REALLY water down the paint.
I try to imagine a sentence and write it out as close as I can get, so I geta decent mix of long and short words.
And I don't try to make it consistent. In fact, the more random they get the better odd I normally am..

Take a look at some of my gallery pics if you want to see how I did it.

Sakura Pigma micron pens. They come in a bunch of sizes and colors, have archival quality ink (won't fade or discolor), and are waterproof once dry but go on very fluid, so mistakes can be wiped off during a very forgiving window. Pick up a 005 and you'll be cranking out scroll-scribbles like a pro in no time.

As for technique, Sc077y's point about variety is a good one. A mix of scribble length, degree of waviness, etc. makes it all the more convincing. On bigger scrolls, making a distinguishable initial in a contrasting color can be a very striking touch. Full-on illumination is beyond our scope, but a single red letter leading off those black squiggles looks ace.

[edit] I should add, after rereading the OP, that there are some insanely detailed scrolls and seals that actually are lightly illuminated, or display actual text. These are almost exclusively done with custom-printed decals, using high resolution images that have been scaled down. Don't expect to get that with brush and paint, but don't get discouraged - the pros don't, either.

A line with a shorter line under it and a dot under that (as close as possible to each other) can make a quick aquilla to add a bit of variety.

Thank you. I am going to give it a shot on my upcoming models.

I find that a very light wash of the "parchment colour", ie. what ever colour you are using for the pages themselves, over the finished lettering ties everything nicely together.

Sakura Micron in .005 if you can find it get one in red, black, and brown. Black is fine but variety is the stuff of life.

Usually, I just drink coffee, and when my hands start shaking, I try to draw a straight line... works amazingly well for a weird method... Also, I like to think what I write, for example:

If I write something like -- ------ --- ---- ---- ---- -- ----.
I recognize it as my friend who made this tank is lazy... this actually is written on his badly painted Razorback