Mortar colour

[bob hughes60]

Direct attempt to pick members' brains !

So does anybody have an off the shelf, Humbrol etc. paint enamel/acrylic or a recipe for getting a basic mortar colour (i.e.very light grey/beige?) for dressed stone plastic?

I do realise mortar varies but I am after a basic starting colour.

TIA

[Chris Nevard]

Look at some real mortar on a real wall, then pop into your local model shop and choose a colour to match. Most people make mortar far too bright.

If you have a tub of gousehol magnolia lurking try using a thinned down wash of that then wipe 90% of it off leaving a hint in the groves.

[Kenton]

I've seen mortar coloured from an almost chalk white to a dark almost black gray, from a creamy yellow to an almost yolk yellow.

It is very dependent on the locale, and the brickies involved. Then there is the effects of weather and local grime/soot/mold

[simon hudson]

I have used "Games Workshop" acrylic Bleached Bones and found it to be quite good.

[Red Devil]

One thing that seems rarely modelled is 'black ash motar' which seems pretty common on a lot of buildings up north, I've had a couple of houses with it (to my cost....black ash motar, wall ties and mortgage companies don't seem to get on), I've used variious dark greys to try and represent it in the past.

[TomCrewe]

I have given my Signal box a base colour of Humbrol 121 (I read somewhere to use that) and then dry brushed the bricks Humbrol 70 and as I am looking for a aged look it was horrendous

The darker brick colour made the mortar look even lighter.

 

As I have used Humbrol for years and know it workings I want to stick with it but what's a better base colour for the mortar?

[ed7]

Does mortar get darker with time / dirt?    It seems that it can either be lighter or darker than the bricks or stone blocks - obviously it is also a different shade.    

[crompton 33]

Mortar can be light on old walls if it's been repointed . A lot of old buildings need repointing over time.

[Damo666]

On 14/04/2019 at 09:32, TomCrewe said:

I have given my Signal box a base colour of Humbrol 121 (I read somewhere to use that) and then dry brushed the bricks Humbrol 70 and as I am looking for a aged look it was horrendous

The darker brick colour made the mortar look even lighter.

 

As I have used Humbrol for years and know it workings I want to stick with it but what's a better base colour for the mortar?

In the real world, a coloured mortar can change the appearance of a brick wall considerably, and visa-versa. ie: two walls, built of identical brick, but with a different coloured mortar, will give a different overall impression of what the wall looks like. Which is why we ask the contractor to build a small 1M x 1M sample wall of the chosen mortar, to make sure it's the effect we want.

 

You'd think that the mortar, being such a small element of a brick wall, wouldn't have much of an effect on appearance, but different coloured mortars can have a dramatic change on the wall.

 

So. maybe your mortar colour is right but the brick is now looking wrong?

[Hound Dog]

Farrow and Ball paints have a colour called “Pointing”, which very much lives up to its name - perhaps at the white end of Mortar, but being of chalky consistency it darkens nicely with a wash over it.......available in 100ml tester tins at B&Q for around £4 so very good value - hope this is useful

Edited April 15, 2019 by Hound Dog
Spelling

[Stoker]

It really depends on the type. Lime mortar, as used in older buildings, has a different (more yellow-white) colour to Portland cement, which is more grey. Age and the type of sand used are also a factor - the older cement pointing is the darker it will go, also the sides of a building more exposed to the prevailing weather will have darker pointing than those which do not. In mid-Cornwall there's a type of concrete that seems to leach out a pinky red colour; at least, I'm assuming it's leached, and this can sometimes be found in pointing.

Ultimately your best approach is likely to be working from photographs. Using just a single colour across a whole model is never a great idea as it will look too uniform.