I am trying to find the right color of concrete for some structure pieces. To be more precise, these are used on the Walthers ethanol plant series. I have a bottle of Polly Scale Aged Concrete, but it is too brown. I was wondering if you all have any suggestions? I know that concrete is different shades in different parts of the country.
Thanks in advance.
Some brands have “concrete” as a different color. If that isn’t quite what you are looking for, try mixing the two or some grays to find something you like. Don’t forget to keep the formulas so you can make more.
Good luck,
The “standard” Floquil paints have a very nice shade of concrete, I have used it for years and still do, and it dries “flat” as well.
Mark
I use that one as well with great results.
I used Model Master “flat gull gray” for concrete. I dorve around my area looking at concrete parking lots,roads and highways and the paint I mentioned seem to match for my neck of the woods.
Krylon “Fusion” for plastics spray, and the color I use is Satin River Rock, #2423
Apple Barrel craft paint in Sandstone color is a very good aged concrete color. And it’s cheap so you can experiment with tinting it a bit and not break the bank.
Check out the current GMR. One guy has used real concrete. He uses forms to cast things like loading docks but will apply a layer of the real stuff to the foundations of plastic kits. He mixes Portland cement and mortar, varying the ration depending on the look he wants. Portland cement cures darker while mortar cures almost white. I’m going to give this a try. No one will be able to say the color is wrong.
In reality, the color of concrete varies depending on a number of factors. The mix of materials as noted above is one factor. I’ve noticed in my own backyard projects, concrete is initially a medium gray but bleaches out over time. Real old concrete will age to a dirty gray, tan, or even yellowish hue. There is no one right color for concrete. I like to experiment by mixing shades of artist’s acryllics until it looks right to my eye.
Under weathering, concrete is rarely grey. With time, the granulat (small crushed stones) shows on the surface and this color, with other factors, is dominant. jecorbett advice is good. Yellowish and sandstone colors in many variations are common. I tend to chose that kind of warm colors for my concrete structure and building basements. Color can also vary in the same structure because different batches of concrete were poured. That may be an insteresting feature for large and undetailled concrete surfaces.
Matt
Concrete Color
Concrete has various colors in nature. After much experimenting to get the right concrete color I settled on these two for all my concrete. Delta Ceramcoat Sanstone diluted to your taste with White Ceramcoat for walls and bridges where the elements have had time to work on it.
I use Delta Ceramcoat Mudstone for station platforms, inspection pits, and turntables etc. where oil and dirt have built up over the years. You can dilute with white paint.
A wash on top of these base coats using India Ink or diluted (browns, blacks or grays) paints or caulk should give you the results you want but you have to experiment. The object is to settle on the base coat first and then apply the aging.
Doc