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Basic brick red suggestions?

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  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Champlain Valley, NY
  • 240 posts
Basic brick red suggestions?
Posted by warhammerdriver on Thursday, September 9, 2010 7:34 PM

Any suggestions for a good run of the mill basic brick red?  I bought a box full of buildings at a yard sale for 2 bucks, but the brick ones need some serious rehab work.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Thursday, September 9, 2010 7:47 PM

Good ol' Rattle Can Red Auto Primer (bricks generally have a rough texture so the finish doesn't have to be baby-heiny smooth).  Dries fast enough, and easy to put on (however, let it dry completely - no smell? - before you add mortar washes and the like, just to be safe.
Extra bonus advice (worth as much as you paid for it ) - Rust-oleum Dark Gray Auto Primer looks great (to me) as a base for outdoor metal vents, cast-iron piping, and chimneys, and also forsome types of roofing - it has a bit of a weathered black look to it, and is rattle can easy to apply. Then add your favorite weathering washes/powders, and off you go...

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Franconia, NH
  • 3,130 posts
Posted by dstarr on Friday, September 10, 2010 7:55 AM

Red auto primer, in a rattle can, available at all hardware and auto parts stores.  Sticks well, dries dead flat, takes decals well.  I use it for brick and for boxcar red. 

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Central Vermont
  • 4,565 posts
Posted by cowman on Friday, September 10, 2010 8:03 AM

Brick red is a strange term.  Bricks from different areas, even different manufacturers in the same area are different colors of red, so none are really wrong.  You will notice that different brands of auto primer red are slightly different colors.  I have several different rattle cans so that all my brick buildings do not look exactly alike.

Have fun,

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Friday, September 10, 2010 8:44 AM

Well, I guess we are unanimous on this one (or people don't read previous posts), so red rattle can auto primer it is.  I have never found it to take decals all that well (at least the Rust-oluem doesn't, even with copious amounts of MicroSet/Sol the film is noticable), but with varying amounts/types of weathering washes and different mortar colors you can make the buildings look different with even one type of auto primer.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Franconia, NH
  • 3,130 posts
Posted by dstarr on Friday, September 10, 2010 9:25 AM

chutton01

    I have never found it to take decals all that well (at least the Rust-oluem doesn't, even with copious amounts of MicroSet/Sol the film is noticable),

I use a final coat of DullCote to make the decal film disappear.   The decal setting solutions soften the decal film to let it snuggle down around rivets and other surface details.  They don't make the decal film invisible.

 

  • Member since
    June 2006
  • From: northeast ohio
  • 966 posts
Posted by 0-6-0 on Friday, September 10, 2010 9:39 AM

Hello I use a tuscan red pencil for my brick color. I use a 2'' long peace and take the wood off and rub the side on the brick. Color your motor lines first. Then when I have the brick the right color. I dull coat it. Hope this helps Frank

 

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Mpls/St.Paul
  • 13,892 posts
Posted by wjstix on Friday, September 10, 2010 1:01 PM

After the decal has snuggled down with solvaset or decal-set, I usually run a razor blade along the horizontal lines of the bricks thru the decal then apply more solvaset. Of course, after painting the building you should spray it with gloss finish before decaling, then seal the decals in with flat finish.

I use an art marker labelled "English Red" for brick buildings. I do it a little differently than most, I spray the building primer gray or light tan, then use the art marker to color the bricks, leaving the "mortar" gray or light tan. I find that easier than painting the whole building red, then trying to add a lighter color for the mortar between the bricks.

Stix
  • Member since
    January 2008
  • 4 posts
Posted by Dagny Taggart on Friday, September 10, 2010 1:38 PM

   Humbrol has a Brick Red that has always looked right to me. Generally, Humbrol does a pretty good job of getting colors right (including difficult shades such as Caucasian "Flesh"). Their paints are intended more for brushing than spraying, but that might be what you need if you're trying to rehab buildings that are already built.

  • Member since
    August 2001
  • From: US
  • 791 posts
Posted by steamage on Friday, September 10, 2010 1:47 PM

I use Floquil Rust color on brick buildings as I find the that anything in the heaver red color is just to much for a model to look realistic.  With light gray mortar lines with the Rust color brick looks more natural to me.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Chamberlain, ME
  • 5,084 posts
Posted by G Paine on Friday, September 10, 2010 2:13 PM

Rustoleum Rusry Metal Primer

Model Master Rust, Leather or variuous browns

Floquil Boxcar Red, Rust

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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