3d text and numbers

Hi guys, I wonder if I'm on the right board for this question but here goes. I already have the code for basic camera and rendering, and i've been putting in primitive shapes in my scene with success. Now what i'd like to know is what would be the better way to put in 3d text in the scene. Are there any function already made for that or will i have to create my own models (considering i'm a pretty lousy artist)?

[tdavie]

Create an array of display lists (where the ASCII code number is the same as the array index of the letter)
e.g. my3DFont [55] would be the number 7 because 55 is the ASCII code for 7.