Damn this blew up. Here's a little bit about Alex, the artist who's cool as hell. His studio is open on Artwalk nights in DTLA and if you're in the neighborhood, get some coffee at his place, Concrete Jungle on Spring between 5th and 6th. I can't wait to show him how many people loved this!
This is amazing! I’d love to see an NYC version of this. My grandfather, an art history professor, defended graffiti as an art form beginning in the 1970s and I’ve always appreciated it immensely.
I can't speak to these particular models on display - but when it comes to just general model train stuff, you can find a lot of stuff on eBay as well as places like TrainWorld: https://www.trainworld.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Graffiti
If you're serious about collecting, a crash course on scales:
* O scale (1:48): Classic Lionel "Christmas Tree" scale, usually toy-like
* HO scale (1:87): Most popular scale, seen in the OP's picture
* N scale (1:160): Very popular in Japan, a smaller scale for small places
Alex's studio is open for DTLA artwalk nights. I dropped a link to an interview with him as a comment. Sadly he doesn't sell them, otherwise I would own one!
I absolutely love this. I would spend hours just peering at the details on everything, never daring to touch them (but wanting to, oh so very wanting to)
I know a lot of model railroaders myself included who would pay to have him do custom graffiti on their rolling stock, for added realism. Has he considered making a business of that?
It is! And it’s really
well done! I dunno if they’re doing decals or actually airbrushing it onto the models- that second option would be SUPER impressive!
If they’re former taggers, my guess would be option two, and that’s really cool!
There is a certain sub section of Hot Wheels (die-cast car) collectors/enthusiasts who do customizing and also create dioramas or scenes. Seems like those groups need to talk to each other.
Those are so cool! Those are so perfectly done, I can totally see them being hauled as part of a freight train. Graffiti is such an awesome kind of street art & seeing those skills put on miniatures is awesome!
"I assure you captain, the tricorder is functioning normally: sensor readings indicate that this fucking rules. Few recorded phenomena in the universe rip this hard."
I absolutely love the storytelling you're doing with some of these pieces. This one in particular, showing the lifecycle of tagging - paint over paint over paint - simply beautiful attention to detail. Bravo! 👏
Box cars used to be boring. Waiting for trains sucked. Tagging them made that moment just a little bit better. The train companies should lean into it and encourage it.
In a time of daily messed-up news, this is a wonderful thing. And non-toxic masculinity is a great thing, too. (FWIW, I suspect there are female taggers, too.)
The rolling stock often costs more than the layouts. It's common to see a stock of 50ish trains/carriages go for $300K. This is something security at exhibitions is well aware of.
Many are entirely custom-made, or rare collectables... Or they just cost a fortune anyway. I'm not an expert on the reasons why; I'm not a railway enthusiast myself.
Sorry, but travelling in a tramway, train or bus OBSCURED (because the windows have been painted by some teenager on a whim) only makes more miserable the life of the working people using públic transport.
And that is toxic.
People don't usually travel by full-size boxcars or billboards, let alone miniature ones. And these are people who have decided to STOP tagging in public, and only do it on these models. That's not toxic at all. That's artistry on a miniature scale.
Comments
I left LA this morning for home (Sac) and now I need to schedule my next visit for Artwalk.
https://reddit.com/r/dioramas/
Like just tiny airbrushes with different nozzles?
If you're serious about collecting, a crash course on scales:
* O scale (1:48): Classic Lionel "Christmas Tree" scale, usually toy-like
* HO scale (1:87): Most popular scale, seen in the OP's picture
* N scale (1:160): Very popular in Japan, a smaller scale for small places
An N-scale train can fit in about 2 feet of space. HO needs about 4-5 feet.
Going bigger means you can run bigger trains! But for a diorama you don't need much.
This is O scale, for example! https://youtu.be/0w76Ala2d4w
i’ve always wanted to make urban scenery for wargaming and have some tags and graf on it, but this is incredible work.
It's an absolute delight!
In all seriousness, gorgeous work there.
well done! I dunno if they’re doing decals or actually airbrushing it onto the models- that second option would be SUPER impressive!
If they’re former taggers, my guess would be option two, and that’s really cool!
Apparently local tag artists will by HO scale Box cars for like 50-100$, tag them and are able to resell em for 170-300.
Art is art, and I'm here for it
trains
cool trains
I need to find some mini trains
what a perfect outlet for a hobby ; ^ ;
No Time for Crime to Play for Pay.
If any of you want some custom weathered cars with graffiti, hit me up.
All four of these are 1/87 scale.
There are people who get pretty serious about it and sell them for good money too (the hobby friends part sounds more fun though)
Here's an example of one that sold for $2600
And that is toxic.
I with t’hem only painted boxcars here. If Only.