What are the different styles of number plates on the market?
Without a doubt, the available options for number plates within the UK have significantly increased over the last few years and although many of these styles may not be road legal; such as the glitter black and different coloured number plates, it still gives variety to all drivers and motorcycle riders alike…
Not only is there now a vast amount of styles to choose from, but the range of sizes available today can be overwhelming too; especially when you need a legal number plate for your pride and joy. Don’t worry though, we have covered the smallest legal sizes for motorcycles in another article which can be found below but to stay on track, we will explain the different style of number plates in this article and links to our products where possible! Here is the aforementioned article regarding the smallest legal size!
The Different Style Of Number Plates – A Brief Guide!
4D Number Plates / Next Gen Number Plates/ Lasercut Number Plate:-
One would argue this style is the most recent significant addition to the number plate market. With the use of laser cutters and them being more affordable, the market has seen a rise in 4d number plate manufacturers.
So what are 4D number plates you say? Well, 4D number plate letters are black acrylic letters which have been laser cut from a sheet of black acrylic sheet. These letters, in combination with generic number plate materials and high quality double sided tape or glue, help produce 4D number plates. In recent times, the legalities of Lasercut plates have been scrutinised which seems to be a very grey area. However, some suppliers argue that their combination of materials have passed the new BSAU 145e test procedures which would assume that Laser cut 4D number plates are in fact road legal when using the proven combination of materials. On the other hand, cheaper number plates that use inferior quality products may not have been tested to BSI standards and therefore some specific combination of materials may not be road legal.
Here at JDM Plates, our combination of materials are purchased from BNMA registered suppliers that have passed BSAU 145e test procedures which are in fact road legal and should be when the new standards have to be adhered with in September 2021.
4D Number Plates come in a range of substyles which include; 5mm thick raised acrylic letters, 3mm thick raised acrylic letters, krystal and coloured based acrylic letters. With recent changes to legislation, it states that letters must be only black which therefore means that the krystal and neon substyles are unfortunately subject to further scrutiny and are open to further investigation. However, the ‘black only’ 4D letters such as our signature 3mm thick 4D number plates and our 5mm thick 4D number plates are infact road legal!
3D Number Plates / Gel Number Plates / Bubble Number Plates:-
3D Gel number plates have been around since the early 2000’s and have been a popular choice of style for many motorists for years! Here at JDM Plates, we have thousands of 3D gel letters in stock and can produce road legal 3D gel number plates for both cars and motorcycles in the smallest legal sizes to accommodate your registration number.
But what are 3D gel number plates? Well, 3D gel letters are made with a black adhesive vinyl and are coated with a UV stable Polyurethane resin. The vinyl letters are cut using vinyl cutting machines and the excess vinyl is removed which leaves just the black vinyl letter on the vinyl backing paper. Afterwards, the sheet of cut vinyl letters are moved to an incubator which monitors the humidity and temperature and a layer of resin is applied to the surface of the vinyl which hardens over time in a controlled environment; this is a timely process!
JDM Plates offer high quality 3D gel number plates and all of our gel letters are made to a considerable high standard. All of our 3D Gel number plates are fully road legal and we can also offer them in the smallest legal sizes for cars, imported vehicles and motorcycles alike. As our 3D gel letters are made with black vinyl, then the finished letter are purely black with a 3d domed resin finish; some suppliers sell gel letters which have a glitter effect or a coloured outline around the letter – these 3d gel letter styles are in fact illegal as the letters need to be black only! Here at JDM Plates, our letters are jet black so you can be assured that they are fully road legal! Our 3d gel number plate letters utilise a considerably high quality 3M adhesive so the letters will be securely fixed to the number plate!
Printed Number Plates / 2D Number Plates / Generic Number Plates:-
Printed Number plates are the norm and are the generic run of the mill number plate. However, there are multiple ways on how a printed number plate is made up. The first method is printing onto a clear acetate and sticking this to the front of a ‘wet’ acrylic substrate. The substrate is generally black which has the yellow or white reflective on the front face; this method produces a lower quality number plate as there is no protection for the printed acetate and it therefore is prone to peeling and fading. The reflective section on the front of the substrate is ‘wet’ which is what the clear acetate sticks to. It has been noted that number plates of this orientation peel in less than 6 months of being exposed to the elements!
The second method, which is what we do at JDM Plates, is printing onto a ‘dry’ reflective sheet and applying that to the rear of a ‘wet’ acrylic plate which is also optically clear. This produces a significantly higher quality finish and also gives significantly more weather protection which reduces peeling and fading over time. As there is a 3mm thick, optically clear front facing acrylic plate, our number plates last longer than the alternative approach! Our number plate materials are sourced from BNMA registered suppliers so you can be assured that they are of high quality.
