We all can probably pretty much agree on the basics of model railroading. It comes in many formats, in different scales and different eras, as well as many different prototypes. Sometimes the models produced are displayed in open shows (RPM meets) and sometimes in juried competition.
The question of whether model rairoading can also be art came up recently and engendered a lot of discussion, some of it heated. People didn’t want to be accused of being artists in some cases, although it wasn’t always clear why and even less so why they would object to others thinking of model railroading as art.
Generally, I just enjoy what I’m doing, whether building a model, working on scenery or setting up an op session. But sometimes things seem to just happen or that I do because it’s something I want or need to do to satisfy my desire to model things a certain way. I was set to thinking again about what art and model railroading have in common in building a Kaslo Shops SDL39 kit I’ve had sitting around for awhile.
I’ve always had a thing for the SDL39 ever since I came across the drawings back around 1970 in MR. As a MILW Road only model with just 10 produced, it wasn’t exactly a roaring success. But it had the look of a loco ready to do its job, a SD squeezed underneath a GP-sized superstructure in order to provide good tractive effort with a light rail loading.
And I always thought it’d be a great loco for the Rio Grande, the primary prototype I model. But the Rio Grande had plenty of seceodnary branch power, so no luck there. It would look so good in black and Aspen gold. Obviously, it would need two things: a Pyle or Gyralight rotating warning beacon in the nose and dynamic brakes.
Jump ahead more than a few years. There’s brass SDL39s, but out of my price range. Then there is Kaslo with their resin kit at an affordable price. I bought a couple, but recently sold one because I needed the cash for expanding my NG empire up the Cascade Bra
I looked up ‘Art’ as defined by Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art and, after a quick scan, if you boil all that they have to say about it, the word ‘creativity’ seems to stand out.
What you have done is very creative, and YES it is pleasing to the eye! Therefore, IMHO, your project qualifies as ‘art’. Lots of what we do as modellers is somewhat mundane, i.e. changing couplers or wheelsets, or installing a decoder, or laying track, or wiring… I don’t think that sort of thing could be considered as art in most cases, but when we create things like your locomotive or my critters I think we can safely say that we are being quite artistic. Others may disagree.
I think that model railroading is an art form. While some individual parts like wiring might not be, they are part of the whole that is art. It’s like the painter’s canvas - it becomes part of the art.
Even if you follow the prototype exactly, you still use different materials i.e styrene for steel. It’s still a representation of the real thing, like a portrait is a picture of real person. So yes the model is art.
When you deviate from the real, it’s still art. Like an Escher picture is art.
If you buy all RTR, your layout is still art - you concieved it and built it deciding what to include and what to leave out, what season for the scenery, etc.
**art1 **n.1. The production of something beautiful, skill or ability in such work. 2. works such as paintings or sculptures or sculptures produced by skill. 3. any practical skill, a knack, the art of sailing. –adj. Involving artistic design.
That is the definition of art taken from The Oxford Dictionary, which is the dictionary of choice for any self respecting Antipodean Colonial and member of the former Empire.[;)]
I have no problem calling all of Model Railroading an “Art” form of some sort; or, another. Is it pleasing to the eye? My eyes like what you’ve done, others may not. Because others may not, doesn’t mean what you’ve done is any less “Art” than any other type of “Art”. Model Railroading is Art and Art is Model Railroading, it is both!
Without even looking up Websters; or, another dictionary’s definition of what “ART” is, my opinion is that anything made by someone using there creative abilities is “ART”. Without doubt, some are better at it, than others. However, those who are really good at it, probably aren’t having any more fun doing it!
Yes, but sadly there always appears to be an element (not only in model railroading) that have FUN ([?][?]) in rubbishing others achievements, modest or otherwise.[sigh]
Yes,and they disguise such lambasting under " constructive criticism" even though it may not be ask for.
Nor do they consider the modeler may lack or may never learn the needed skill(s) or he may have a physical condition that limits his modeling but,on they nitpick while feeling all the superior.
However.
One should toughen up their skins if they wish to post a photo,layout plan etc on a forum for the above reasons.
Ever notice how far and in between my posting of photos is? I grew weary of the “constructive criticism” pm advising me on how to improve my photos by buying photographic items I don’t really need nor want.
As far as model railroading being a “art”…I will never see or agree with that since we are supposedly modeling a transportation system and in that light shouldn’t our main study be railroads and not a study?
I will never call Mike’s engine a work of art but,will say its a great model.
Is MR “art”? Well, I guess that depends on your definition. I would tend to describe it as “crafts”.
Or maybe its a combination of the two? On my layout, some could say the hand painted backdrop is “art”, and the built up kits as “crafts”. But what difference does it make?
Art is the rendering of a vision, concept, idea, or of a model provided by nature in whole or in part. I would call an out-of box scale model of something a rendering, but not sure it would constitute art per se. So, while there is overlap, all renderings are not art. Some renderings are art. All art is a rendering.
With that, a scale model that is also ‘touched up’ to look more realistic, say in the case of weathering, is a version of art. Some’s better’n others, as we would all pretty much agree, but that is also true of paintings, pottery, jewelry, sculpture, and even poetry.
I didn’t look into that other thread. I recall the rather heated one from 2005 that got a very knowledgeable steam loco engineer riled up as he refused to call his own hand-crafted model trams art.
It´s been only weeks since we had the topic coming up and there was no conclusion as to whether model railroading is an art or craft or “just” a hobby. We all agreed to mutually disagree.
Aside from that, that´s a nice looking loco - one of which you can be proud of, Mike!
Thanks to everyone for the interesting comments. We seem to have come to a ceasefire over the art issue, with everyone agreeing that model railroading is about executing your vision of the railroad world, whether it’s art, craft, or just a hobby.
Good to know no one had a puke [+o(] over what I did with Kaslo’s fine model.
Here are some pics and a little more info. The key to getting the dynamic brake hatch to look right was finding another EMD DB hatch that fit. It’s crazy tight and a DB from other members of the GP/SD38/39 is just too long, although the styling would be spot on. With some help from others more familiar with modern SG diesels than I, we managed to figure out that the hatch from an Atlas SD24 was a likely donor. With a little trimming, it fit!
The nose light is a Details West IIRC part. Fortunately, there was enough space between the front gear tower and the inside of the nose to accomodate a 5 mm LED, so ddidn’t even need two of the more expensive SMD LEDs like I thought might be needed.
People liked the model, but had mixed feelinsg about the chassis. Evene after the redone parts solved the gerabox clearance issue, there are a few clunky bits. But some care in going over the driveline carefully results in a very well running machine, considering I built it…[:o)]
Now for some pics…the shell built to where it’s ready to modify
Comparison to a SD40T-2 Tunnel Motor DB hatch. It’s too long by a couple of feet.
A top view. It’s the busy look up there that was one of the things I thought was really interesting about my Rio Grande SDL39.
Shell-on test run
Ready for paint
Primed, with that prominent nose lighting package
The billboard Rio Grande logo just fits
Rear 3/4 view
Three of my “lightweight” diesel builds
BTW, paint by Krylon rattlebomb (Gloss Black), decals by Microscale. Decoder is a NCE D13SR. Still thinking about maybe doing lighted numberboards. Needs a Nathan P5 horn (Cal-Scale wants over $11 for one these days…ouch!) Thanks for looking.[:)]
I thought I’d throw my 2cents in whether welcomed or not. IMO model railroading is both craft and art. Using Mikes very well done model as an example, it is craft in that he took materials and crafted something to look like a real functioning locomotive. It is art in that he planned a “what if” scenario that this locomotive could have existed on the Rio Grande, even though it never did, by utilizing Rio Grande practices to make the locomotive look like it was part of the family.
We use art when we compress structures or create compressed scenes to give the impression of reality. And whether we realize it or not, we will often use tools of picture composition like principle lines, and repetition in our scenes because we are creating an impression of reality, but not reality of itself.
So, we use craft and engineering to create our layouts, but the layouts themselves give the perception of distance and reality, and because of that, it’s also art.
the next time you go to a Disney theme park, study what they’ve done. Its all about controlling your view and seeing what they want you to see. We tend to do the same on our layouts. For what it’s worth.
Very incisive comments, I think. It also opens up a path to another conversation I’ve been meaning to pursue for some time now about how the hobby as a who;le may have overdone the “prototype paradigm” just a little bit.
The most relevant comment you made addressing that is about perspective, so I’ll leave aside other aspects for now. If you intensively model a location, as is often typical these days, you can end up with a lot of information, build some great models, and still end up with a section of your layout that just looks…odd.
Why?
Failure to account for perspective. How will the viewer encounter it for the first time? Is the angle being viewed from good? Which view of the scene - N, S, E, or W - is being modeled (remember there is always an aisle-side)?
And yes, that’s art. Putting together accurate scale models in an esthetically pleasing manner can be a challenge on par with actually building the models, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. If you want the most out of those marvelosu creations, put them in a realistic, believeable scene, not one that’s a jarring disconnect.
After some years, really at least two decades where “prototype rules” I see questions time and again from devoted prototype modelers who seem a bit lost in trying to build believable scenery, track scenarios, LDEs, whatever you want to call it to hist their wonderful models.
I think it’s time to begin remembering and concisously practicing the art of model railroading. We don’t have unlimited space for our layouts, which is where this problem becomes most apparent, so art is likely to still be needed until all MRR goes virtual - sadly in my book - in the year 2317. Anyone wanna take bets on that? In the meantime, I think promoting the idea that the creative aspects of art in model railroading are just as powerful a tool as prototype research is in building a layout that will satisfy your own vision of the railro
I think that the creative side of model railroading is aptly labeled art. Just because the “canvas” is not traditional, there are many styles and types of model railroads; from 100% prototypical to railroads of whimsy. All serve the purpose (hopefully) of providing fun.
