I’m thinking of adding some wall slogans on an Iraqi vignette I’m building. I don’t read or write Arabic, so I’m wondering what to use from the available sets…
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Mario
Find a good photo of something you like, print it out at a size that fits your vignette, and cut out the letters so you have a stencil for spraying or brush-painting?
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The thing is… I have no clue what any of the writing says. I know Archer Transfers did a set of Arab wall slogans, but these are supposedly based on the war in Lebanon.
Yes, I guess I will have to find something and replicate it in scale… hoping the writing would be Iraq and timeline specific.
Mario
Google Translate or DeepL will help with that. With Google, you can switch on an on-screen Arabic keyboard (at the bottom right of the text field on the left) and use it to type in the letters as you see them in the photo; for DeepL, you would probably need to tell your operating system to give you an Arabic keyboard on-screen to do that.
Of course, this is not that easy for Arabic script because not only are the letters written connected to each other, but almost every letter will change slightly depending on where in a word it is (beginning, middle or end), so you may have some trouble working out where one letter ends and the next begins, and even which letter is which. It’s much easier with languages that use Latin, Cyrillic, Korean, etc. alphabets where the distinct letters are clear.
Luckily, Google Translate also allows you to drop images onto it, and:—
Which, in turn, probably gets you into cultural differences — the translated slogan above makes no sense to me, but then, I don’t speak Arabic and am not familiar enough with the cultural background to work out whether it makes sense, is a warcry, an insult, or just a poor translation 
Genetically modified sheep to produce wool that can be used to substitute nitrocellulose?
Amazing …
Just shear the sheep, add detonators and BOOM, instant bomb …
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Thank you. I should have been more timeline specific… I’m looking for stuff in post-Saddam era, cca 2010. I found some posters which I can print, but I would also like to put some graffiti on the wall.
Cheers,
Mario
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The sheep are the people. So this is about the people taking to the streets
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Only problem there is that you then have to paint them yourself, in a script you can’t read and for which you’ve never learned the way to move your hands to write it. (OK, unless you’re going to be showing your model to Arabic speakers, this is unlikely to be a problem, but I still don’t think I’d do that for something I would build.)
That’s not a bad idea… I can make my own decal then, or even cut out a mask.
Thanks guys, I appreciate the help!
Mario
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Don’t do that with a standard Arabic computer font, though — try to find a handwriting one first (and make sure it’s not a calligraphy font, either ) else your text will look printed.
Good point, thanks.
Mario
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Exactly what I was getting at. If you want it to look written, print onto normal paper and use tracing paper and rub it onto your wall. You can get tracing paper in many colors.
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I’d use paint pens. I use them for making graffiti on HO scale rolling stock. Even most shops didn’t have perfect lettering.
Custom Dioramics actually used some of my signs in their Iraqi Street Scene. I took a slew of photos in towns that were the first to be taken over by ISIS (maybe because my team was no longer there 
)
Among them are a tire shop, a calligraphy shop, John Deere repair, cell phone shop, barber, womens’ bridal; shop, secveral restaurants, and many otheres. I also have spray imges of graffiti and signs, the simplest of which was “Dukan,” or shop. The way these are paintwed can’t be replicated other than by hand.
A nice example of “Dukan.”
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I don’t think I could write anything convincingly in Arabic script, so using a pen would probably require quite a bit of practicing…
On the other hand, I have an acquaintance from Syria who can probably do it more easily. It would be fun explaining why I need “Arise the new Iraq” written on the wall though. 
Mario
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It’s too bad Hisham no longer posts here. He’s been very helpful to me in the past.
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I know. I miss the guy as well… I’m not sure if he uses his FB anymore.
Mario
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That would be the very easiest way to get this not only right but looking convincing.
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