would anyone know if graffiti would look realistic on a layout set in the 60s? How about the 50s?
There has always been some graffiti, but the method of creating it changed in the 1960’s with the wide availability of cheap spray paint. Most of the earlier graffiti on railroad cars was smaller and put there by railroaders and hoboes with chalk. The Mexicans were accomplished graffiti artists. While there, I saw some excellent nudes drawn in such incongruous locations as the cylinder heads of a steam locomotive! High school students painted class symbols and dates on water towers and the like as long as they existed.
Joe: Go easy on your graffiti on any cars before 1985.I have several videos on classic railroads (shot with super8 movies)that show alot of the train and most of the cars are graffiti free.any thing beyond 1985 is free game go to it.but as was stated do not over kill your cars with graffiti,even today all cars hasn’t been tagged by the “artist”