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I recently started painting some of my friends HO scale model cars, which has been challenging but alot of fun. I am a graffiti writer based in Baltimore Maryland, which is AMAZING for trains, benching and being around the gigantic beasts i have become obsessed with. i have been experimenting with techniques, and materials used to paint the models and this weekend i plan on weathering a few trains myself just looking for some expert advice before i tackle this, also i am willing to sell my cars, or do graffiti on a model someone has weathered etc. etc. and this is not a cheap attempt for me to make money im beginning to love painting these things and i am thinking about making my own yard/line
here are a couple trains i just bought and painted after a few experiments im beginning to get the hang of it
and a couple freights i have painted just to show you my work etc.
and this chessie i just painted is the one i plan on recreating and trying to weather first
Man, I'm sure glad you're on the other side of the country, because this side is already overrun with animals peeing spraypaint on everything in sight.
Aera101, I think you're going to find considerable resistance and conflict to your hobby by sharing it with a railroad enthusiast crowd. As you can see, tooter doesn't seem impressed
I wouldn't go so far as to condone graffiti, it is after all an illegal act of defacing private property. Not to mention trespassing - and they will take necessary action and have their own police force. However, occasionally I see works that are interesting to look at. And in the case of metal railroad cars an extra coat of paint isn't entirely a bad thing. Try to keep it off their identification markings - all of them - and if a car has recently been painted by the railroad leave it alone.
With that said, your work on the model cars is pretty cool. And I honestly think you might be able to make money with it. I'd start with some quality kits, assembled properly so they can be modified by a buyer (as little glue as possible so the can be disassembled and changed if they desire), and resell it for your investment costs - price of kit and a little bit of paint. That way you start getting product out into the community and people can talk about what you're making. Then start working the price up for the graffiti and offer to do buyer-customized designs. For example, I'd love to have a blue propane tank with black and silver "LoudMusic" scrawled across it covering 2/3 of one side.
Years ago I considered getting some large flat sided white box cars and fine tipped pens to use as a guest book for my layout. Everyone who visited would be offered a few minutes to 'tag' a guestbook car on my layout, permanently adding themselves to the exhibit. I still might, but haven't thought much about it in a long time.
My only question for you is, where did you find the 1:87 scale rattle cans? ;D
i figured that but ive been painting trains for 5 years, and i am very careful about how i paint thank you for the advice, i am going to research and experiment a little more, and for tooter like it or not graffiti is a huge part of freight culture, just as much as rail fans, and models.
and if i come across one of those tanks ill pick it up and maybe ill do that for you!
On the one hand, your work on models is very good and pretty cool, and I myself have started modelling graffiti in the 1:87 world, using basic stenciling etc with rattle cans because there is just so much of it on the local network and it leads to some very individualist wagons out of an otherwise uniform bunch. Obviously some modelers take issue with graffiti on different levels, be it real world or modelling. I hope you share more of your modelling artwork.
However I do not condone or support your 1:1 work, but thats just my personal opinion.
i figured that but ive been painting trains for 5 years, and i am very careful about how i paint thank you for the advice, i am going to research and experiment a little more, and for tooter like it or not graffiti is a huge part of freight culture, just as much as rail fans, and models.
and if i come across one of those tanks ill pick it up and maybe ill do that for you!
Don't even try to relate the aspect of graffiti to everything else. Railfans and modelers aren't running around defacing private property. Tagging is frowned upon, if it was legal it wouldn't be but it is. You bring down this hobby and railfanning as a whole for not having respect for the prototype. You obviously have a few more years to grow up and realize what you do is wrong.
i figured that but ive been painting trains for 5 years, and i am very careful about how i paint thank you for the advice, i am going to research and experiment a little more, and for tooter like it or not graffiti is a huge part of freight culture, just as much as rail fans, and models.
and if i come across one of those tanks ill pick it up and maybe ill do that for you!
So you have been violating the private property rights of others for five years. You think that info will endear you to modelers and railfans? I bet you’d call the police and squeal like a girl if someone did to your property what you do to others.
Unfortunately, you are correct in one statement, graffiti, like stealing, fraud and destruction of property are a part of our culture. It always will be as long as there are selfish and egotistical people that place their having fun above other peoples rights.
Sorry, to me and most people I know, your so called “art” is just a crime, to be painted over at the next shopping. And, unlike the legitimate hobbies of model railroading and railfanning, taggers will never have a good standing in the community.
If you are a real artist, prove it, put a little effort into finding an outlet that does not involve defacing the property of others. I'm sure in any town in this country you can find a wall or building that the town or private owner would be happy to have painted.
Wow, very nice job on the 1:87 cars! What are you using?
As for the 1:1 cars, don't know what to say.
I can't say I like the real thing but I have seen some fantastic works of art come down the "one way track" to the scrapper, more like murals than graffiti.
Have you ever thought of doing murals for businesses? It's a growing thing around here, maybe do up the side of a hobby shop, with their permission of course!
On the topic of tagging, I actually P some people off when I run those cars down at the club.
I think you should stick to painting models and not the real ones. It makes me cry every time I see box cars with all kinds of graffiti.
Do you know how much it costs to repaint a real box car? Do you know how much it costs to repaint walls, buildings, bridges, road signs?
I always wondered why some people think it's "art" while defacing private and public property.
Oh... one more thing, don't get ran over by a train in the middle of the night while you're sneaking onto private property. There was a recent story of some kids who were killed when then snuck into rail yard.
I second Sir Humphrey's comment - this is really good stuff. What is your process, if you don't mind us asking? Maybe even a nice timelapse video would be cool
...then so is gangbanging, dope pushing, carjacking, drive by shootings, and robberies. Your moral compass is broken. You're a thief because you rob the world of beauty by defiling property that is not yours.
If you were to ever grow up enough to actually own any property you might come to understand how infantile and narcissistic your behavior is now.
