Micro Trains Weathered Goodness

[Catt]

The problem I have with it is that this style of graffiti was not prevalent on rail cars until >~1990. Infrequently, maybe, in the '80s, but then only on equipment that lingered in Northeast dense urban. Very rare out West.

The dates on the photos are all since 2000.Some as new as last year.MTL has done all of these previously unrusted and minus the graffiti so they are out there if you want them.

[Smike]

To me the biggest wow factor here is in the printing technology to print 'weathering' on cars. The potential her is just starting to be relized.

Look at the chipped paint, patches and other weathering effects printed on. This is hands down the best yet from MT, and getting better with each release.

[robert3985]

Hmm... looks like it was
kidnapped by the navy and
left on a siding to rust...

Kiz Kiz Kiz...Ya don't get "kidnapped" by the Navy, ya get "Shanghai'd"....

[Kisatchie]

Kiz Kiz Kiz...Ya don't get "kidnapped" by the Navy, ya get "Shanghai'd"....

You have to forgive me. I was in the Army.


Hmm... it's a shame that
veterans benefits don't
include free termites...

[peteski]

You have to forgive me. I was in the Army.


Hmm... it's a shame that
veterans benefits don't
include free termites...

How about Ms. Dee?  Would she get "apenapped"? 

[tom mann]

These are excellently done.  Great job Joe!!!

[fredmoehrle]

Kiz Kiz Kiz...Ya don't get "kidnapped" by the Navy, ya get "Shanghai'd"....

Actually, that's the merchant marine.
The Navy would be "Pressed" as in "Press Gang".

[John]

Kiz Kiz Kiz...Ya don't get "kidnapped" by the Navy, ya get "Shanghai'd"....

and keel hauled ..   in the PI - there is also monkey meat on a stick

[lock4244]

Looking at my own personal collection of photos, the stuff I took in 1997-99 was virtually graffiti-free. The explosion of dessication seems to be a post millennium phenomenon.

Anyone that says it's art would think differently if I took a spray can to their own personal property and turned it into 'art'.

[Denver Road Doug]

Looking at my own personal collection of photos, the stuff I took in 1997-99 was virtually graffiti-free. The explosion of dessication seems to be a post millennium phenomenon.

I've been trying to pin down a percentage and progression of graffiti on freight cars since I model that timeframe. (1998-2003 or so)   I have not received any expert response but I'm thinking it's somewhere along the lines of: Pre-1998 I would guess no more than 1 in 10 cars had "advanced graffiti" (and maybe 2 in 10 had "line-art" grafitti....all my terms, I don't know the lingo)  I'd say by 2003 it was 2 in 10.  Guessing maybe 4 in 10 these days.

Anyone that says it's art would think differently if I took a spray can to their own personal property and turned it into 'art'.

Unless I missed it, nobody said it was "art" in this topic.    Yet, I seriously doubt that you illegally defacing property would change whether or not someone considered graffiti 'art' or not.  And even if they did, their tastes might not dictate that the results of your illegal activity was something they wanted to have on their property regardless of their stance.  Nor does it mean they don't recognize that defacing private property is illegal.

Regardless, it exists on freight cars, just like rust and dust.   Just because we include graffiti on our models doesn't mean we are advocating illegal activity. 

The great thing in this case is...they're YOUR models so you can do whatever you want with them, legally. 

[davefoxx]

Looking at my own personal collection of photos, the stuff I took in 1997-99 was virtually graffiti-free. The explosion of dessication seems to be a post millennium phenomenon.

I would have guessed that it exploded in the 1990s, but either way, I would love to know why this sudden fascination for tagging has taken off in recent years.  Nowadays, it seems like graffiti-free cars are significantly in the minority as compared to tagged cars.

DFF

[JoeD]

Based on my research (and experience  )  graffiti has become a form of art over the past 20 years.  Check out the documentries on Banksy, King Robbo and others who have done to street art what Andy Worhol did for the Campbel soup can.  Not all of it...I would say very little of it, ends up on Freight Cars.   There are art galleries and exhibitions at places like the LA Contemporary Art Museum that feature it.  A few guys over at the Rust Bucket Forum contracted with a number of well known taggers and had them tag G Scale 50 boxcars after they weathered them.  It became a very popular showing there.  I agree that the law is being broken, but as an artist I do appreciate the artform and am amazed at how it's changed over time.   I'm just happy I could hang up my spray can tote and express myself in a more "Legal Venue" 

Joe

[jagged ben]

The most complete documentary history is probably this one...

http://www.amazon.com/Freight-Train-Graffiti-Roger-Gastman/dp/B005DIA15S

Brief synopsis...
- The first explosion of modern graffiti was in New York City in the early 1970s (following beginnings in Philly in the late 60s).  The New York subways became a primary target, although graffiti was everywhere in NY at that time, with other cities following somewhat later.
- The NYC MTA fought a long and ultimately successful battle to rid the NY subways of graffiti.   They declared the subway trains graffiti-free in 1989.
- This led to the second explosion of graffiti, on freight railroads (although known instances of graffiti on freight cars go back to 1974), starting in the early 1990s.
-Due probably to the fact that the railroads feel a lower detriment to cleanup-cost ratio than other property owners, freight railcars have become the primary 'canvas' for taggers (or 'writers', if you will defer to their preference) over the last decade or so.

It's somewhat surprising that davefoxx would describe 1997-99 as "virtually grafitti free", but it's also true that the cumulative effect of so many cars getting tagged didn't really bring about the current level of saturation until somewhat later.

[bbussey]

I'm glad I primarily model an era where graffiti was not prominent.

[davefoxx]

I'm glad I primarily model an era where graffiti was not prominent.

+1.  While there are exceptions to my view of graffiti, e.g., the Smurftastic and Jack-O-Lantern covered hoppers, most graffiti is just poorly executed visual pollution and illegible scrawl.

DFF