Several years ago, I built the Walthers Farmers Cooperative Rural Grain Elevator. I never painted the kit, but I'd like to do that now.
My experience with wood grain elevators is that they are usually white, but I've seen several on various forums painted a reddish brown or even green. What color was normal for midwest grain elevators in the '50s?
Also, what color does one use for the roof panels? Silver is always a problem...
Gary
As I recall, the Walthers elevator was cast in a boxcar-reddish colour, with silver-grey panels for the corrugated roof. I won't speculate on the proper colours for midwest elevators in the '50s, as I model southern Ontario in the '30s.I painted mine in a colour similar to the kit's cast-in colour, using paint which I had mixed, then lettered it with dry transfers. The roof was left as-is, but with some weathering added...
I later moved that elevator to a different location within the same town, and scratchbuilt an add-on farm supply outlet. It was painted in a similar, but not identical, colour, to simulate somewhat newer construction...
I have another as-yet unmodifed Walthers elevator of the same type and colour, but it's been uprooted from its original location, too, and will have to be relettered. I'm thinking of re-painting it in either a cream colour or perhaps white or a darkish green. These, along with the boxcar/barn red were common in southern Ontario.
This smaller scratchbuilt elevator represents what was originally a coal dealer's elevator. I built it with the trackside elevator removed, as shown below, with the bucket pit covered-over:
The elevator was moved to the other side, and a truck dump pit, on a dirt ramp, will be added when I find a suitable spot on the upper level of the layout...
It'll represent a storage area for excess grain and will likely be on a site with the currently-homeless Walthers elevator.
Wayne
I'd lean towards "barn red" as the most common color. Spent many vacations and holidays driving through Indiana and Illinois in the late 50s and early 60s and feebly seem to recall mostly red or gray.
Prior to 1900 most houses were darker color:
http://porch.com/advice/why-did-house-paint-change-color-in-1900s/
I would imagine that commercial structures followed suit, so the older the elevator the more likely it was a darker paint at one time.
Titanium dioxide for white pigment was introduced in 1921, but I'd think it would have been more expensive than a red oxide pigment. Prior to that most white paint was lime based, commonly called whitewash. Not very durable so I would have doubted that it was used in large structures as often.
Ray
Thank you, gentlemen. I will find a vaguely Box Car / Barn Red color for my elevator.
As an experiment, I tried three different Delta Ceramcoat colors on the outbuilding that came with the elevator--Candy Bar Brown, Red Oxide, and Barn Red. I'll see which one I like best and maybe mix up a color. Edit: my wife says the Candy Bar Brown is the best (we have a winner).
BTW, Doctorwayne, your modeling is an inspiration as always.
That silvery roof probably represents aluminum roofing, which would grey somewhat as it aged. If steel nails were used there would be tiny dots of rust, but not streaks.
The other possibility, galvanized steel panels, would be a duller grey color, and would begin to rust at the seams and edges. Old, unpainted galvanized steel will show rust streaks along the flow paths of rain runoff. On the other hand, many galvanized roofs were rejuvenated with a thick coat of aluminum paint. Others were sprayed with rust-resistant paint in whatever color the elevator's owner chose to use. At this point, color photos of elevators in the modeled area are the best source of information.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - without grain elevators)
Thanks for your kind words, Gary.
I'm a big fan of Walthers industrial structures, either used as-is or modified, and most of them are also suitable to represent industries totally unrelated to what it says on the box. I always look at the box top image rather than what Walthers has chosen to call it. Even simply assembling them as per the instructions, and then painting them can change their appearance markedly, as with my not-yet-finished version of their City Station...
Googling pictures turns up a lot of barn red with some brown, green, and white.
jim
If the elevator was owned by a corporation, it would be painted in the 'corporate colors', whatever that might be. Otherwise, tuscan red with white or yellow lettering, or gray with black lettering would be pretty common.
BTW, before artificial paint colors were introduced, the price of paint was connected to how it was made - what kind of plant, animal, or mineral component was used to add color. Purple was hard to come by, as it's color was made by using ink from some type of sea animal, so only kings and rich folks could afford it.
On the other hand, dark red paint was dirt cheap because it was made from...well, dirt or clay that contained iron oxide, a common mineral around the world. This is similar to 'boxcar red' or 'tuscan red'. The paint was cheap and wore well, so was used in barns, freight cars, industrial buildings, etc.
When artificial colors came along, color didn't affect the price. Farmers still went to town and asked for 'red' paint to paint their barns, but now what they got was a brighter red - like caboose red or fire engine red.