i mixed black and grey but the concrete looked to new… Im looking for aged concrete…Any suggestions?
Try a gray base coat, like primer gray. Then use washes of white with an occasional wash of black or dark gray over it.
Check the art section at your local big box store, as they tend to have a large selection of acrylic paints in a variety of colors that are inexpensive. You may be able to find a suitable gray there.
As always, working from photos and working in steps will produce the best results.
Over the years, I have used many, many colors of Floquil Polly Scale Acrylic paint.
One of my favorites was Aged Concrete because it looked so similar to the real thing.
When Testors discontinued that line of paints, I set out to replicate the Aged Concrete color, and I believe that I succeeded.
Here is my formula, using white as the base:
White - 10 parts
Green - 2, 3, or 4 parts (to suit your preference)
Undercoat Light Gray - 2 or 3 parts (to suit your preference)
D&RGW Building Cream - 2 parts
Red - 1 part
Brown - 1 part
Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy, but gosh golly darn it, it works. [:D]
At one point, I tried to add Yellow, thinking that might be necessary, but don’t bother with yellow.
If you cannot find D&RGW Building Cream or Light Undercoat Gray, then just use a generic cream and light gray.
I really experimented with the green and gray to get the right proportions, but just start with 2 parts in each instance and just add more to suit your preference for the exact desired tint or shade.
In my opinion, that formula is spot on to match the prototype.
Just use an eye dropper to start our using “drops” for the “parts”.
What I did was to dip a tooth pick in each jar of paint and place drops on a piece of wax paper to experiment until I was satisfied that I had the ideal proportions.
Let us know what you come up with.
Rich
What I observed is that aged concrete is not one solid color but has a lot of variation to it. I mixed my favorite base color, 1 part earth to 3 parts concrete. After painting I tried aging with alcohol and india ink. The contrast was too much so I painted with a very thinned coat of my concrete formula. The effect was very good. I have also airbrushed, somewhat randomly with thinned dirt.
The other thing that worked pretty well was after the base coat of concrete was down weathering with pastels.
Anything you like.
The Agate used in concrete is different from place to place. The amounts and kinds of sand differ from place to place. Even the cement used will be a different color from place to place.
You want to try something, do this. Take a photograph of the concrete that you are interested in. Put the photo up on your photo program and ue the color picker to find the numerical match for it.
Of course as you move the picker across your photo it will show different numbers for each pixel in the photo. The preceived color of the concrete is actually assembled in your eye, the color picker looks at each pixel individually and none of these is the actual color of the concrete.
On the layout of the LION, him uses only Walmart/Hobby Lobby acrylic paints and him puts a few daubs of each on a pallate and scrumbles it on the work. This gives the eye the opportunity to assemble the preceived color for itself.
ROAR
i found for best results after painting with your favorite concrete color apply a thin wash of India ink over the entire concrete surface. Let it dry then apply various color chalks in different spots to show oil stains, rust spots, etc.
For aged concrete similar to what PollyScale used to offer, start with a light-ish grey and add yellow. A little brown can be used shift it a bit, too, but always make the addition of the tints gradually, at least until you get a feel for the process.
If you want a newer looking concrete, start with the same grey, but add a bit of green.
I’ve found the easiest way to make needed colours is to do so initially by the “brushload” method: put a small amount of the base colour (in this case, grey) in a small container, then select a not-too-big brush and dip it into the colour that you’re using as the tint. I usually place the brush right into the base colour and use it to mix things together. Once it’s mixed-in, use a paper towel to wipe the brush fairly clean, then dip it into the tint again, repeating the process until you get a shade that looks useable. Keep track of the number of brushloads of each colour you use - for colours like this, where you may not want to use the exact same shade on all concrete on the layout, the proportions aren’t overly critical, but rather a guideline with which to start.
Use the same brush to apply a little paint to a non-porous surface, and let it dry. If you don’t like the results, continue adjusting as necessary.
If the colour of the applied paint looks too uniform, add variation using well-thinned washes after the concrete colour has fully cured.
This is a good way, too, to get a feel of how a colour can be affected by the addition of other colours and will build confidence when you need to mix a colour that matches a specific prototype colour or perhaps to match a colour that you’ve used before that is no longer available. In these cases, use brushloads for all colours involved, including the base with which you start: while not totally precise, it doesn’t waste a lot of paint and will provide a rough idea of how much and which colours you need
People generally have the misconception that aged concrete is gray. Not even close ! Gray would be aged asphalt. Concrete for the most part is almost a tan color. Add thinned washes of black for weathering and you will be really close.
My biggest aha moment was when I was mixing some grays myself and just wasn’t getting what I thought looked right. I took it outside and laid my sample on the sidewalk. It almost looked blu-ish compared to the sidewalk ! That’s when I realized it wasn’t gray, it was tan. Adjusted my color and weathering and have been happy ever since.
Mark.
A dark gray color looks like freshly pours cement that is still be wet. As the cement dries it’s color lightens up. The longer it sits in the sun the more the sun bleeches out the color and it gets lighter and lighter until it is a very light shade of gray. You should mix WHITE with black, or with gray (which is white and black already mixed.)
Same is true with roads, the older they are the more they are faded and lighten up.
Floquil’s Aged Concrete worked well for me in the past. It tends more toward tan than anything else. I guess we ought to think about the reason. Concrete has several components, and sand is usually one of the most dominant. As the concrete ages, the sand color becomes more apparent. The final shade is dependent on the color of the sand in the original mix. As stated, it ain’t gray.
Tom
I am going to restate my formula for matching Polly Scale Aged Concrete that I described in an earlier reply to this thread. It is an exact match.
Here is my formula, using white as the base:
White - 10 parts
Green - 2, 3, or 4 parts (to suit your preference)
Gray - 2 or 3 parts (to suit your preference)
D&RGW Building Cream - 2 parts
Red - 1 part
Brown - 1 part
I hope this helps the OP. As I said, it is an exact match for Polly Scale Aged Concrete.
Rich
OK, so this post is a little over three years old.
When I have a project that requires a little knowlege beyond what I have I do a little research. I believe wisdom and knowlege don’t have expiration dates.
That being said: I purchased a 1/4 ounce bottle (7.4 ml) of flat white, poured it all into a clean empty floquil bottle and followed the ratio using a gradated ml eyedropper to whip up what I had hoped to be my “go to” concrete color. Measuring the smallest amounts first I added .74 ml brown, .74 ml red, 1.48 ml cream, 1.85 ml gray and 2.2 ml green. It came out with such a PINK tone I had to dump it. Not much call for that color on a MRR layout.
Your results may vary but just this post is just a heads up for other “researchers”.
I ended up repainting with a simple primer gray with some floquil earth mixed into the airbrush cup with satisfactory results. After more research I found a Model Master mix I’m going to try next time: 1:1:1 gull grey, flat white and sand. Pretty sure it won’t turn pink …
I resurrected this thread because I have a similar question and don’t need the same responses.
I finally got around to putting together some bridge wing that I had painted with Floquil Aged Concrete 20 years ago. I need a very small amount of paint to touch up the seams.
I still have some Floquil Concrete and some Foundation but no Aged Concrete. Is there something available today that I can use that after some weathering will blend in, or is it possible to make the Foundation work?
Rick
Have you tried the formula that I laid out twice in this old thread?
Rich
I’ve been looking for a concrete/cement paint color. I’ll try this later. I don’t have any D&RGW Building Cream, would you compare that color to flesh?
Terry
Any cream color will do.
Rich
No.
I am sure your formula is a good match but it is more work than I want for just a few brush strokes of paint. I was hoping someone knew of something off the shelf that would work.
Rick
I do a little bit of oil painting as a hobby. Use Payne’s grey and a little bit of titanium white. If you are not happy with the result, add a little bit more of titanium white. A little, little touch of cadmium yellow could also improve the color but I mean a very little touch.
Thank you, but I am not interested in buying a bunch of paint and mixing it to produce a couple of brush strokes. I also don’t think your idea would come close to matching Floquil Aged Concrete.
Use the Floquil, and do some weathering to blend it in.
Mike.