Experiences with the graffiti stickers made by Langer Grafix
Important note (4th October 2014): In recent weeks we have received several
emails from readers suggesting that Langer Grafix has ceased trading. To verify
this information we have written to Mr. Langer ourselves and are currently
awaiting a response. We would like to emphasise that there is no business
connection between tiny-world-BIG.com and Langer Grafix, and it
is not possible to buy their graffiti stickers through our website.
Update: Mr. Langer did not reply to us. Sadly,
with regard to the emails from our readers, we have therefore come to the
conclusion that Langer Grafix has ceased trading.
We do not know whether you prefer an ideal world on your model railway layout
where all the trains are spick and span and where nobody could even imagine a dirty
wall. If you are a bit closer to reality, you might be interested in putting
some graffiti on wagons and buildings. But who is skilled enough at making miniature
paintings properly with a spray gun? That's not necessary, says Patrick Langer,
owner of Langer Grafix, who produces graffiti stickers for model railways.
Apart from the stickers you will find on his homepage
www.modellbahnaufkleber.de individually printed shirts and
other interesting stuff for model railway fanatics (English language is
available on the website). Everything can be easily ordered at his online shop;
the sticker sheets cost from EUR 2.55 (N gauge) to EUR 3.99 (H0 gauge and
suitable for 00 gauge as well).
At
the moment you can choose between three different editions - one made for
trains, another one for walls and one that consists of graffitis for various
objects.
When we got our first sticker sheet we were a bit sceptical. Can ordinary
stickers, similar to those children collect in special albums, really be smooth
enough to properly cover the uneven surfaces of model wagons or miniature brick
walls? We HAD to try that! No doubt that it would not be a problem to stick the
graffiti on even walls - so we chose large containers with their characteristic
grooves as test objects instead.
Soon we had to realize that on uneven surfaces some extra work is necessary. But
be careful: Pressing the graffiti to an object with your fingernails might
damage the print. So we used the warm air from a hairdryer to make the sticker film
smoother after being put on the object surface just loosely, and then we carefully
pushed it into the grooves with our fingers.
Apart
from its vulnerability to finger nails the print quality of the graffiti is
superb; only a very close look will reveal that they are made of countless tiny
dots and marks. And the miniature ‘paintings’ are true to scale, but the
sprayers must have definitely used a ladder - converted to 1 : 1 size some of
the graffitis measure more than two metres (approx. 7 ft) from the bottom to the
top and thus can only be applied to bigger objects.
Therefore a further edition with some smaller graffiti is number one on our wish list.
But maybe the N gauge stickers can be used on smaller objects like e.g. traffic
signs etc. in an H0 or 00 gauge layout - we have not tried them yet.
By the way, the manufacturer promises that all stickers can be removed easily at any time. Okay, that could be proved in a long-term study but is this special quality really important? We are pretty sure that nobody would ‘clean’ a boxcar after weathering it years ago with a lot of effort and energy…
All in all, we can recommend the graffiti stickers made by Langer Grafix. Putting some of the stickers on your trains and buildings is an easy way to make your model railway layout or diorama look more reality-like. And unlike in our real world you can decide yourself which objects will be spared from graffiti…
© Volker Labitzke - www.tiny-world-BIG.com - please visit our
main page