Painting brick structures

dark red is the most obvious.   But coming back with a mortar colored wash and then wiping off helps make it look real.   LOTS of ways to model brick and mortar.   The key is to model both, not just the brick

Richard

I agree. 

Most of my brick buildings are each painted a different shade of red or tan.  Once the white or gray wash is applied for the mortar, the shade of the red on the building changes. 

Even if you painted two building the same red, and then used a white mortar wash on one, and the other used a gray mortar wash, they would look slightly different.  And that is what you want to wind up with.

gandydancer19

then used a white mortar wash on one

Note of caution:

Benita Jameson

One word of caution when using any of these methods for mortar lines – avoid using white or any very light color. This can give an unwanted pink look to your building.

This has actually happened to me, when I used a bright white morter wash over my usual Rattle Spray Can Dark-Red Primer brick coat - the results looked off (pinkish). I believe in addition to the NRMA discussion linked above, there was an article in MR last year discussing this too, and the suggestion was to use a grey-white or off-white color.  I believe the pink color will be most noticible in images, and not sure how much weathering the walls (with a dark wash) will counteract the effect.

Also, remember light brick color (tan or beige) = dark grey/weathered black morter colors.

ronanders

What is a good color in a paint spray can to use for brick in it's various colors?

Red auto primer from Krylon or Rustoleum.  It's a good red brick color, and it dries dead flat.

ronanders:

I have been painting buildings for a long time and the list of paints is long. I really like either spray paints from Wal Mart or Lowes; colors of brick, rust, burnt colors. I also use Acrylics from Wal Mart or Hobby Lobby, again in bottles that are the squeezable ones, Like "Apple Barrel", the color is up to you.

I first clean the plastic walls with soap and water. I paint before I put the kits together, including the windows, put is the sheet plastic for windows and even pain shades or curtains. After the paint has really dried I take sheet rock mudd, a small amount on a cloth towel and wipe it over the wall. Then with a damp towel I wipe of the excess leaving the mortar cracks with the mudd. There are other ways to do the concrete but I like the way I just described. I have tried to present some pix.

Thanks,

Robert Sylvester

WTRR

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/robertsylvester/100_0948.jpg

[http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/robertsylvester/?action=view&current=100_0910.jpg

Another tip is to paint the inside of the building. I paint with grey primer, then a lighter finish coat. This color is the desired interior color. This prevents your building from having that "glow" when you install interior lighting.

Welcome to the forums.

As mentioned there are many colors of brick and many ways to model them.  Rattle can spray primers work well and different makes are slightly different colors.   By using the different brands and different methods of shading, you have a nearly limitless variety of colors, just like the real thing.

Good luck,

Richard

ronanders

What is a good color in a paint spray can to use for brick in it's various colors?

Well, unless you're simulating glazed brick, any flat paint in a colour that looks to you to be similar to the colour of your prototype.  As noted, mortar colour and weathering will have a pronounced effect on the final appearance.

Personally, I find Floquil Reefer Orange (not available in a spray can, but there are lots of similar oranges available) to be very representative of some brick in my area of southern Ontario.

Any of the red primers or boxcar colours also work well, and any of these can be varied by changing the mortar colour and/or that of the weathering:

Wayne

Wayne, your brick buildings look awesome!

Hi!

It's always a pleasure and inspiring to see the good Doctor's work!

I've done a lot of brick and mortar painting over the years and using oil and acrylic paints, via mostly brush.  On some I did the mortar wash first and then dry brushed the brick surfaces, and on others painted the bricks and washed the mortar - wiping it off soon after.   IMHO, the model brick walls are all different, and some give better results with one method as opposed to the other.  Soooo, I would test a piece first.

On colors, a variant of red/brown mix is by far the most common color for face brick.  But for sides and other surfaces variants of grey/brown/white are more common - especially in the big cities and on larger structures (face brick cost more $$$).

Most every brick structure I have painted is with a custom mix, just to give the structure a different shade from its neighbor. 

Lastly, as you should already know, painting the brick and mortar different colors is a sure way to make even the cheapest structure look really good!

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

As mobilman44 notes, painting any brick wall will improve the appearance, simply by removing the unrealistic sheen of the plastic.  Adding mortar detail helps to "pop" the detail that's cast into the walls, and weathering ties it all together.  A spray can (or airbrush) is a good way to apply the base coat, be it the brick colour or that of the mortar, but beyond that don't be afraid to use a brush or other techniques to complete the job.  Some of my brick structures have mortar applied as a wash (sometimes several washes), some got pre-mixed drywall mud, applied with a rag over my fingertip, and others were sprayed with the mortar colour, then the bricks were dry brushed.  The comment about face brick is right-on, too, and I'll utilise that detail when I get into building some commercial districts in the towns around the layout.

And, if your first efforts don't come out as well as you'd hoped, don't be afraid to re-do them.  I have at least one structure on the layout that will be re-done, as I'm not too pleased with my colour choices.

The colour is alright, I think, but not for this particular town.

Wayne

doctorwayne

...I find Floquil Reefer Orange...to be very representative of some brick in my area of southern Ontario...

Wayne

Wayne makes a very good point.  Bricks are one of those things that are "region-specific".  They were (and I think still are) mostly made locally, so the color(s) depend heavily on the soil available in that area.  Do some searching for images and you will see what I mean. 

The comment about auto primer is also spot-on; those dry so flat is is almost scary.

Re-painting is always an option. On one occassion I was not happy with the airbrushed color I had mixed so sprayed the entire structure with Tamiya primer gray. Next had the idea of scraping off the primer wjth a chilsel blade and was totally surprised at the result. A very nicely weathered brick warehouse structure. Who would have known except by accident.

Thom