# Brick color



## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

What colors do you paint your brick buildings?


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## J.C. (Dec 24, 2016)

brick red :laugh: on the serious side there are several so called brick red's that you can buy. not all bricks are the same color besides several shades of red there are tan and blond. often on older buildings the public sides were of grade 1 brick the back and other sides would be of grade 2 brick still as strong but off colored often mixed colors, a lot of brick business buildings would have the front painted a non brick color I remember one the yellow cab co had a yellow front to it another one a sporting goods store was dark green.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

I use red oxide primer.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

The color of brick in the real world is dependent on the color of the clay they're made from. They range from tan (blonde) to dark red. Efflourescence and soot baked in to the clay will give you white and black mottling. I normally use either Old Rust, or my own color made with Soviet Brown (a red orange) and Leather. Then i drybrush some black and lighter reds on. A wash of Ivory creates the mortar lines and the efflourescence.


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## slammin (Mar 25, 2016)

Rattle can red primer is my choice. If you are going to have several brick buildings, use several different manufacture's primers so you have some color variation. Keep in mind many early 1900s brick commercial building have been painted over the years. Some owners will just paint the front wall, leaving the rest of the building natural.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I use the water based craft paints from Walmart. It's
easy to mix them to get the color you like. I sprayed
mine with clear matte finish then used a 'wash' over
it with a gray tone for motor joints. Unless you are
building a 'new' building you'll want the joints to have
varying color, and perhaps a zig zag 'crack' in the joints.

Don


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## Deane Johnson (Sep 19, 2016)

The mortar overwash seems rather important to the overall effect. I'm getting ready to build the Walthers large red brick with white trim depot and the brick work is a rather important part of the model.

Any amplification of the overwash technique would certainly be appreciated.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Deane,

Rather that rehash that, may I direct your attention to these threads:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=128529

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=65921


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## Deane Johnson (Sep 19, 2016)

Excellent. Thank you for the links. I'm thinking maybe I should purchase some Evergreen brick sheets to experiment with.

I saw somewhere that a person used white shoe polish, then quickly wiped it off while wet. Seems a bit drastic, but I haven't tried it. A lot has to do with how white one wants the mortar.


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

I painted with brown flat with part of water. what do you think?


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

I think it looks great!

Mark


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

Thank you.

Rusty


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I agree -- you nailed it!


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

CTValleyRR,

Thank you
Rusty


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

I finished the front details on the building. I am not the perfect


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Maybe not perfect, but it looks fine to me.


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Looks good to me, I like it.
Nice color something different.

Magic


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## Yannis (Apr 29, 2017)

Very very nice building Rusty!!! Thanks for posting this.

Yannis


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

Thank you guys,

Rusty


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## dan51 (Jul 30, 2017)

If you go to Google and look up "burnt sienna", the results will return the colour. Some might think it's a little too orangey, or brownish, but it looks fairly close to natural brick to me.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Rusty, that feed and seed building looks great. I am impressed. There is no one color brick. I live near st louis and probably 95 % of the down town buildings are brick. Each
one a different color. Most of the city buildings tend to lean towards red brick but there is blond, tan, and like some have said the fronts of the buildings can be painted any color.
Good job on your feed store.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

dan51 said:


> If you go to Google and look up "burnt sienna", the results will return the colour. Some might think it's a little too orangey, or brownish, but it looks fairly close to natural brick to me.


Bricks come in all different colors, ranging from "blonde" (actually yellow / ochre) to chocolate brown. Many bricks have black and white highlights as well.


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## dan51 (Jul 30, 2017)

CTValleyRR said:


> Bricks come in all different colors, ranging from "blonde" (actually yellow / ochre) to chocolate brown. Many bricks have black and white highlights as well.


I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, and red brick houses are the norm in many areas in older parts of the city in homes that were built in the 20s and 30s. My grandmother's house for example, has really red coloured brick, which is why I suggested burnt sienna, because it's closest to what the brick looks like on her house, in my mind. If I was weathering a brick building, I'd probably white wash it with 50% white paint/50% water and let it soak into the crevices to appear as mortar, then use the burnt sienna to dry brush the brick and highlight it with a bit of orange or light brown. There's an excellent tutorial on YouTube about colouring brick structures. Check it out, it's a fascinating watch!

The attached image is an actual image from Google Maps of the brick on the house. The mortar is fairly dark after the effects of years of age and weather, and the colour on Google Maps isn't always right, so you have to take that into consideration. If the house was new, you'd probably see a huge contrast in the colour.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

The point is, there isn't any such thing as the "correct" color for brick. If you're trying to match a prototype, then color match as closely as you can. Otherwise, you have lots of options.

The wash of gray or ivory is a fairly common technique for doing mortar lines. It's what I do.


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