Micro Trains Weathered Railbox

[eja]

No reporting marks ? The car get repainted and there goes their "art".

[mu26aeh]

I model a pre graffiti era, so as beautiful these cars are, they're not for me. However, I was observing a string of heavily graffitied cars the other day and it appeared that some of the graffiti "artists" had made an effort to avoid painting over important data on the cars, including most obviously reporting marks and etc. I'm pretty sure this wasn't by chance and it wasn't that the data had been repainted over the graffiti because in some cases the design had been arranged to avoid the data (data inside the center of an "O", for example). Is there some sort of 'honour among thieves' thing among at least some of the "artists" not to mess up the cars so much that the cars are made unusable?
Geoff

I think the artists have figured out that if they don't cover up the important data, their work may stay out there longer.

Hello everyone, just wanted to introduce myself and thank you for the feedback! I'm one of MTL's graphic artists and I've been creating the graphics for the majority of the weathered/graffitied cars for the past two years and nearly all of them in the last 6 months. I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying them. It's a labor of love.

I'm also pleased how well this Railbox turned out. Most of these cars require a significant amount of research and art time (some can have hundreds of layers in Photoshop - recreated painstakingly by hand based on photos), and then produced via several proprietary methods that have to blend together, by many skilled and talented individuals. We can't always reproduce every detail, sometimes due to licence agreements, but we always strive for the highest level of accuracy.

Many of you know Joe, a good friend of mine who is instrumental in ensuring things come together right. So its very rewarding to hear how well they're received. Everyone at MTL appreciates all your feedback and support.

Brandon

Welcome aboard !  I've got quite a few of the weathered releases as I model modern era.  Where can possible candidates be sent for future releases ? 

[Jbub]

This thread inspired me tobuy the one at my LHS. I've also got a collection of the graffitied cars.

[Smike]

Welcome @MTL_Brandon to the railwire! Your work is outstanding. The bar is pretty high, and the rivets are many and counted around here, but you should fit right in. 

[ljudice]

Such wonderful printing screams out for MTL to retool these cars!

[coosvalley]

Such wonderful printing screams out for MTL to retool these cars!

I didn't want to be the first to say it, but some of the best paint/weathering jobs are on their worst models, and as such, I do not own any of those, despite their EXCELLENT printing

[tom mann]

I didn't want to be the first to say it, but some of the best paint/weathering jobs are on their worst models, and as such, I do not own any of those, despite their EXCELLENT printing

I own a few, but I would have more if that car wasn’t squished. I brought this up before on this forum and suggested that they use their 60’ excess height car (not the waffle side one) as the basis for more projects. This car has correct dimensions, and I’m sure there are plenty of weathered examples out there. Heck, since the 50’ car that they use isn’t an exact match, one could fudge some art for 60’. Maybe @MTL_Brandon can look into it?

[MTL_Brandon]

Welcome aboard !  I've got quite a few of the weathered releases as I model modern era.  Where can possible candidates be sent for future releases ? 

Thank you! You can send any feedback or suggestions to us via our "contact us" links on our web site. That goes directly to the appropriate individuals.

Heck, since the 50’ car that they use isn’t an exact match, one could fudge some art for 60’. Maybe @MTL_Brandon can look into it?

I believe this has been looked into previously, but I'll pass your suggestion to management on Monday. Thanks!

Brandon

[peteski]

Absolutely Micro Trains best looking weathered and graffiti car to date. Pretty amazing screen printing. Not much to do but a few minor tweaks.

AFAIK, MTL never used screen printing on their models. Just for reference, Microscale waterslide decals are screen printed.

Up to few years ago MTL used pad-printing (Tampo) for transferring inks to the car sides.  But for several years now they have employed a direct-to-substrate color ink jet printer to print the decorations directly on their car sides. The initial efforts were a bit crude (I mentioned this in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28938.0 ), but since 2013 they appear to have upgraded their printer few times and they print quality has improved dramatically.  The printer they use is not only capable of standard CYMK full-color printing, but they can also print spot colors (like opaque white).  That printing process is especially suitable for printing graffiti and weathering (using suitably designed artwork of course).  They still Tampo-printing some of the very small lettering and usually the end reporting marks, but it seems that they will likely use the Tampo method less and less often

[Rossford Yard]

Brandon,

I would love a few more 60 foot HC boxes to be weathered and graffitied.  Modern layout, already have too many of the old 50 footers to be prototypical, have a newsprint plant where the extra height boxes are more prototypical (can get 3 rolls of newsprint in, vs. only 2 in normal height.) Plus, just more modern overall.   Bring them on, I will be the first five you do, then go from there.  PS, a few waffle sides would be okay, too.

[tom mann]

 Maybe the forum here can kindly suggest some artwork and/or 60’ prototype photos that would make good candidates?

[coosvalley]

Maybe the forum here can kindly suggest some artwork and/or 60’ prototype photos that would make good candidates?

While not a 60 footer, I think MTL has a decent version of this car...and no graffitti too

[James Costello]

While not a 60 footer, I think MTL has a decent version of this car...and no graffitti too

Dozens of examples of the Evans 4780 covered hopper too.

I get it though, Railbox sells.

[tom mann]

While not a 60 footer, I think MTL has a decent version of this car...and no graffitti too

I’ve been trying to replicate this surface rust pattern for a section in my next weathering book. I’m getting close, but not as close as a printed example.

[peteski]

Hello everyone, just wanted to introduce myself and thank you for the feedback! I'm one of MTL's graphic artists and I've been creating the graphics for the majority of the weathered/graffitied cars for the past two years and nearly all of them in the last 6 months. I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying them. It's a labor of love.

Brandon,
Your (and  your colleagues) weathering and graffiti artwork is most impressive!