Graffiti used for realistic modeling ???

[Anonymous]

Hi to all. New to the board, My farther and I have been into trains our whole lives.

I have a question I was wondering if any of you would be so kind as to answer, is there any market out there for Box cars or commuter cars with Graffiti on them ? Or buildings, for modeling an urban enviorment ?

Reason I am asking is I have seen some Like the MTH subway cars but the graffiti on them was horrible looking.
I guess im what you would call a retired graffiti writer. Some of my work has been in Magazines and books.Im from NY and was active in the 1980's - 1990 's since then I have painted many scale trains and buildings for my farthers and friends layouts. I am considering doing this fulll time .

Is it worth it ?? or a waste of time ??? Thanks for any input.

[Anonymous]

Yes, your subject is slowly gaining attention for box cars on this forum as well as the www.atlasrr.com forum plus graffiti decals.

[Big_Boy_4005]

OK, so you are a little late to the party, we won't hold that against you.[#welcome]

Try these topics, they may help you find your answer. I have a feeling this group is a little "graffitied out". [swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12463
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16086
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12825
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14337

[Dough]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

OK, so you are a little late to the party, we won't hold that against you.[#welcome]

Try these topics, they may help you find your answer. I have a feeling this group is a little "graffitied out". [swg]

LOL, I was thinking the same thing Big Boy...[:D]

I am interested in eventually adding Graffiti. Sadly, their are many prototypes that just look wrong without it. For example the local Blue Circle concrete's sand and cement cars are virtually all covered in it. However, I was more interested in the ability to take a picture from the side, scan it, and then print out a decal.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the links and the input. I attempted to use the search but had no luck.[:(]

I guess I will try my luck on ebay.. I will post some pics of my work later if anyone is interested.
Thanks again

[Big_Boy_4005]

Just a simple search using the magic word GRAFFITI, and you'll find even more! Post your photos to one of the existing topics, and it will bring the topic back to the front page.

Dough, how did you miss my most recent offering? This is what you are after!!!

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=3&TOPIC_ID=16086

[BNSFNUT]

A friend just bought some graffitu decals in N Scale. I think the were Micro Scale.

[dano99a]

go for it, why not...

I wouldn't do it as a full time job, but as additional income is a good way to think of it. A friend of mine and myself graffiti and weather cars for people around here and it brings in some money but not a tons.

I guess if we bought a large quantity of rolling stock, graffiti and weathered them then sold them to the local hobby shops it may be more beneficial but we haven't gotten to that yet. Right now it's just by request.

Don't let anyone here discourage you, try it, it may fly, it may not, it may take a while before it really starts to take off as a business. A few around here will warn you to never get into this business and then if you look around here they are marketing themselves on this forum??

A few weeks ago I created a topic discussing wiether or not people would be interested in RTR weathered and graffitied rolling stock (buying quantity and weathering and graffiting them as stated above), I'd say it's about 50/50. I try to stick to local people I know because I feel business is done better if you can put a face to a voice. That and they can stop by to see the progress if they wish, it's just easier this way.

so, try it

[:)]

[Dough]

Hey, I'm real interested in that Big Boy. I have a few pictures that I took directly from the side to help make it easier. I'll have to get you to look at them for me. What do I need as far as printing them out though? Will a regular inkjet work? And also where do I find the decal paper?

Thank, I'd really like to give this a try.

[Big_Boy_4005]

So far the the work has been mainly about finding, capturing and isolating the images. This will of course be an on going project, and I am slowly building a library. As far as printing them to a medium that can be transfered to models, that is still being studied.

For that other topic, I just used the first thing I could find, which happened to be some window decal film made by Avery. It is some intersting stuff, and may have some really good applications, but it isn't the best for applying to cars. It would work well for making lighted signs to be placed on buildings though.

I'll have to get some water decal film, and try that. The secret is that material will have to be sealed because regular inkjet ink isn't waterproof. The other problem is that you can't print white.

I have never understood why the ALPS printers were discontinued, they were able to solve both of those issues. I have considered picking one up on eBay, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far. Nobody has ever made an afordable printer like it since, at least not that I know of.

I have an HP Officejet all in one, but if I really get into this stuff I may go looking for a specialty printer.

By the way, it definately helps to take your photos square to the subject. The problem is often that isn't possible. There is software that can correct some of that, I just don't have it. That will take some digging to find too.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

So far the the work has been mainly about finding, capturing and isolating the images. This will of course be an on going project, and I am slowly building a library. As far as printing them to a medium that can be transfered to models, that is still being studied.

For that other topic, I just used the first thing I could find, which happened to be some window decal film made by Avery. It is some intersting stuff, and may have some really good applications, but it isn't the best for applying to cars. It would work well for making lighted signs to be placed on buildings though.

I'll have to get some water decal film, and try that. The secret is that material will have to be sealed because regular inkjet ink isn't waterproof. The other problem is that you can't print white.

I have never understood why the ALPS printers were discontinued, they were able to solve both of those issues. I have considered picking one up on eBay, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far. Nobody has ever made an afordable printer like it since, at least not that I know of.

I have an HP Officejet all in one, but if I really get into this stuff I may go looking for a specialty printer.

By the way, it definately helps to take your photos square to the subject. The problem is often that isn't possible. There is software that can correct some of that, I just don't have it. That will take some digging to find too.

Elliot,

The work you did inspired me to try it myself. I perused some of the graffiti picks, extracted the artwork and dropped them into MS Powerpoint to print. He's the first of the efforts....

- Dan

[Big_Boy_4005]

Too cool Dan!!!

What medium did you run throgh the printer??? I see that your "little vandals" were kind enough to leave the reporting marks readable.[swg] Gee, if we can learn to do this stuff ourselves, then this guy's business plans are almost out the window.[swg]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

Too cool Dan!!!

What medium did you run throgh the printer??? I see that your "little vandals" were kind enough to leave the reporting marks readable.[swg] Gee, if we can learn to do this stuff ourselves, then this guy's business plans are almost out the window.[swg]

Thanks...It was you idea that got me going on this....

I used Beldecal laser paper on a LaserJet. I actually painted the patch white, but it doesn't show up too well in the photo and did a set of reporting marks on the sheet when I ran the decals to reapply over. I'm trying a few cars...the only problem I've having is color depth on the darker backgrounds. I'm using clear paper. So not having the white ink capablity makes it hard to do against dark backgrounds.

Dan

[Big_Boy_4005]

I swear Dan, this is the way of the future. It sounds like there are a lot of different decal products on the market. Unfortunately I don't have a laser printer, only inkjet, so I'm going to have to try some other products.

I just happend to spot a topic over on Garden Railways regarding decals. I invited them over here to check out what we've been up to. Here's the link to their topic. Imagine what we could accomplish if we worked together. By the way, I warned them about the graffiti.[swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=2&TOPIC_ID=14961

P.S. White paper may be one solution, but keep in mind the vandals have to deal with paint coverage too.

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

I swear Dan, this is the way of the future. It sounds like there are a lot of different decal products on the market. Unfortunately I don't have a laser printer, only inkjet, so I'm going to have to try some other products.

I just happend to spot a topic over on Garden Railways regarding decals. I invited them over here to check out what we've been up to. Here's the link to their topic. Imagine what we could accomplish if we worked together. By the way, I warned them about the graffiti.[swg]

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=2&TOPIC_ID=14961

P.S. White paper may be one solution, but keep in mind the vandals have to deal with paint coverage too.

With this one, becasue of the dark background, I painted a white base....I have seen some pictures where this was done by the taggers also.

[Anonymous]

Just came over from the garden railroad forum. Have you seen this CD advertised in the mags?
Here is a link for model railroaders "Clip Art" on a CD for only $25. ... http://www.modelbuilder.info
This CD may have some Graffiti on it; if not it still has a bunch of other usable stuff to make it worth the money.
I plan to buy one for myself.

OLD DAD

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by OLD DAD

Just came over from the garden railroad forum. Have you seen this CD advertised in the mags?
Here is a link for model railroaders "Clip Art" on a CD for only $25. ... http://www.modelbuilder.info
This CD may have some Graffiti on it; if not it still has a bunch of other usable stuff to make it worth the money.
I plan to buy one for myself.

OLD DAD

Welcome to the other side of the tracks, and thanks for the link. It looks like a pretty cool disk. Not everything has to be graffiti, some of the advertising, road signs and logos would be very useful too. The disk may have even more appeal to the guys here who HATE graffiti, which seems to be the majority.[swg]

Have you considered creating your own artwork using a digital camera? That is part of what is going on here. This may not be as useful for the garden crowd, because you may not do as many structure models as the indoor guys, but it could have applications.

By the way OLD DAD, are you from the metro area?

[Anonymous]

Hey Big_Boy_4005, if Hopkins is considered part of the metro then YES we are in the twin cities.
Are you a member of the "O" scale club at Bandanna Square?

Some garden railroaders build a lot of buildings but the weather is very hard on such things so most of us keep them to a minimum.

OLD DAD

[Anonymous]

I am about to start making my own graffiti decals and patches, but have questions about decal paper. For those of you who have printed your own decals, what brand of decal paper do you recommend?

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by OLD DAD

Hey Big_Boy_4005, if Hopkins is considered part of the metro then YES we are in the twin cities.
Are you a member of the "O" scale club at Bandanna Square?

Some garden railroaders build a lot of buildings but the weather is very hard on such things so most of us keep them to a minimum.

OLD DAD

Hopkins?? I graduated from Eisenhower in 1979. I was a member of the Bandana club back when the major construction was going on. I was the one who owned the display at the Mall of America 11 years ago. Now I live way east, just a couple of miles from the Wisconsin border. Stillwater post office, but just a mile and a half north of 94.

Are you going to be riding 261in July?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

I was the one who owned the display at the Mall of America 11 years ago.

I remember going there once. If I remember correctly, there were a few bridges that went overhead, along with a working coal shovel [or something to that effect].

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dhesh

I am about to start making my own graffiti decals and patches, but have questions about decal paper. For those of you who have printed your own decals, what brand of decal paper do you recommend?

I use Beldecal paper from www.beldecal.com . It is pretty decent, but I also do it on a laser printer, so I have no experience with inkjet. The only complaint I have is the film is a little thick, so it take a little work to get it seated down. More so than a Microscale or Highball production decal. But it does the trick.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dhesh

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

I was the one who owned the display at the Mall of America 11 years ago.

I remember going there once. If I remember correctly, there were a few bridges that went overhead, along with a working coal shovel [or something to that effect].

You remember correctly!! All of that stuff is in my basement as we speak, slowly being transformed into a new layout. The upper photo was one of my postcards. A different postcard has the steam shovel on it, but I don't have it scanned in. I should do that. You can just see one of the bridges in the lower photo.