I know there are several sets of graffitti decals available. The ones I’ve seen seem to have very large graffitti that look like they’d cover a lot of a rail car up. I model the 1978 - 1980 time frame and my memory says that graffitti wasn’t as prolific then as it is today and didn’t tend to cover nearly the whole car… Are there any graffitti decal sets available that aren’t so “over the top”? Any info on some graffitti decals that aren’t quite so huge would be appreciated. Thanks for your time.
A friendly reminder to all:
While I’m somewhat hesitant about leaving this thread up because of the topic, I’m leaving it up for now because the OP is simply inquiring about decals and where to find them. Please keep the conversation and discussion in that vein and refrain from any comments on tagging. At any point the latter begins to show its ugly head, I’ll be forced to shut the thread down.
Thank you for your assistance in the matter.
Regards,
Tom
I agree with Tom. My question was merely to ask if anyone had some information about decals. I don’t in any way want to trigger a discussion about graffitti or “tagging”.
I have seen graffiti decals made by Busch here in Heidelberg but, I have not used them. They are on a translucent sheet that looks like they are very easy to install. I rememeber the sheet had various sizes so they would not cover the car entirely.
Hope this helps!
Mike
If you are modelling in HO scale try using Microscale urban graffiti in N scale, or do what I do google graffiti and use images found on line to make you own decals using an ink jet printer then you can print it any size you like. Regards Jon.
Mike,
I went over to Walthers.com and did a search on “graffit decals”. Looks like Blair Line has a number of them in both N- and HO-scale:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/search?quick=graffit+decals
Hope that helps…
Tom
Champ has “scribbling” decals, representing 50s and 60s chalk markings on cars. Not graffiti as such, but they might work. You’ll have to get them fast though.
http://www.minot.com/champ/data-ho.htm#misc
Nick
Back in January I asked a similar question-- wasn’t about decals per se, but about grafitti in past eras. That post might be useful to you:
A Factual / Era Question About Graffiti
John
The era in question was virtually graffitti free. Mostly chalk marks or smears in grime, smiley faces,peace signs, someones first name and railroaders marks. You’d be better off doing re-wiegh/repack stencils and covered up ACI tags.mh
If you ever get a chance to see a rerun of “Welcome Back Kotter” from the seventies, watch the opening credits. IIRC it includes a New York subway car pretty well covered in graffiti. Graffiti wasn’t as bad in the seventies as it would become, but it was already becoming a concern with many people. Painting with spray cans was common but not the huge “paintings” that became common in the eighties-nineties.
It might be tough to find appropriate graffiti for that period. The “tagger art” like the Blair Line decals hadn’t come along yet. The Champ graffiti decals is more appropriate for the steam era with “JBKing,esq.” and “Bozo Texino” etc…but it might be close enough to be usefull.
You could always use a fine-tip ink marker to draw your own words or pictures onto the car I guess…??
yes, but since he’s not modeling subway cars, graffiti was not prevalent on freight cars. Check those years on fallen flags and rr archives.mh.
Based on the input it sounds like my memory was not far off on the type of graffitti on rail cars. Microscale makes a set that has placards and some minimal graffitti like chalk scribblings, peace signs, etc. That may be the best bet.
That’s what he needs. I can tell just from my own videos that subway car style graffiti on freight cars really didn’t start showing in quantity until the very late 90’s.
Also, most heavy graffiti is on boxcars and autoracks, which spend the most time in urban terminals. Containers (the actual boxes, not the wells), coal hoppers, and tank cars usually have little to no graffiti on them.
This speaks for itself.
(Photo taken by GF from Amtrak train between Sacramento and Martinez, CA in July, 2010.)
Mark
It’s kind of a matter of degree. Compared to the 1950’s, when true graffiti on cars (i.e., not chalk markings made by railroad workers) was rare to non-existent, the 1970’s and '80’s had quite a bit of graffiti. Many cars had it, but it wasn’t the huge “tagger art” type of graffiti that you’d see later. It was more people’s names, or slogans etc. (GN cars with the cartoon “Rocky the goat” standing up often had an addition making Rocky “anatomically correct”.)
BTW, white or light gray 55’ smooth-sided covered hoppers, which often have minimal lettering, seem to be especially hard hit by the taggers in recent years.