I’m looking for any help on paint colors to paint bricks on several brick buildings I’m building I have seen articals in MRR before. But I can’t find dates. Thanks
Bricks come in many shades of red and brown depending on the raw materials used and the fireing technics employed. I think it’s best to
start by reveiwnig prototype brick building in the area from the era your modeling. What colors are they? The era is an important consideration because in the past there were more “neibourhood” brick factories. These smaller factories had the greatest verity of color as a result of their cost controling. i.e. who has the best price for raw clay today?
I hope this helps
For red brick, paint first with Floquil Tuscan Red, then apply a wash of Poly S Aged Concrete thinned with water and alcohol (add a drop or two of dish detergent, too). For brown brick, paint with Floquil Roof Brown, then apply a black wash made with India ink and alcohol. See the recent issues of Model Railroader…John Pryke had a series of articles over several issues on building a layout in an urban setting. He also has a great book titled “building City Scenery For Your Model Railroad”, in which he provides a wealth of info on weathering buildings.
One thing you may want to do if you live in an area that has older brick buildings, is to check out the front side and then wander around to the back side. Many builders saved money by using new brick on any side that would be facing the street. They used brick that was not up to the quality standards on the back and sides. I duplicate this by using some variation of freight car red all over. Get a gel pen at a craft store for color variations. I use white and black. Color individual bricks in a random pattern on any wall you want to show this less kept up wall surface. Use the grout mixture mentioned in the earlier post. Put on whatever signs you are going to use along with all details including window frames. Add some weathering other than grime, then coat the whole wall with a light coat alcohol india ink mixture. Try this on a DPM modular wall piece as a test. You will be amazed.