London Stock Bricks

[Sonsey]

Dear All,

 

Sorry if this has been asked before (I searched the forum for an answer and may have missed a previous thread) but....

 

I would welcome advice on what colours people have used when painting buildings made to look like London Stock?

 

What colour would you use for the mortor, the base colour for the brick, and what other colours would you add to build up the different shades of a London Stock building?

 

Many thanks in advance for your assistance.

 

Kind regards

 

Sonsey

[zarniwhoop]

If you want yellowish shades, I'd mix yellows and buffs. Probably more buff than yellow, because the available enamel yellows are rather virulent. Maybe some *pale* grey to tone it down. Alternatively, for the pic in wikipedia where I went to check if this meant the "yellow brick" I'm used to seeing in pictures of some London-area stations, probably dark browns and dark greys or even black (it was very dirty, from before the 'clean air' acts).

 

So far, I haven't had any reason to try to make these colours, but it's something I've been thinking about. Perhaps other similar shades, such as flesh, will be useful. For red brickwork, I tend to think that a range of 4 or 5 shades is usually the minimum. For modern yellow bricks, I suspect that a more consistent overall colour is appropriate. But, your question suggests you are thinking of a range of colourst. For partly-weathered yellow, I'll guess you can add some middling browns, or even dark browns.

 

Isn't the mortar similar to mortar everywhere ? If so, creamy or very pale greyish colours, or sandy shades.

 

Probably the best advice I can offer is to select some tinlets of revell or humbrol matt shades which you think might be appropriate, dedicate a small piece of moulded brick sheet for testing, and mix colours until you find what works for you *in your light* - as always, colours can look very different in different light temperatures, what seems correct in daylight might look less good on the layout. I use these brands on buildings because their matt shades are mostly straightforward to use, quick drying, and seem to work ok when the two brands are mixed together. I also use Phoenix (particularly, cement rendering, and maybe concrete, for the mortar), but these need a lot more mixing and I don't think I'd add them to revell or humbrol mixtures, phoenix enamels take a lot longer to touch dry.

 

Of course, if you are using artist's acrylics, work with whatever you have available - siennas, some yellow, some white, maybe a touch of grey. For modeller's acrylics, I haven't found a reliable range that I'm happy to use and which has a wide general range of colours, but if you have a preferred brand, use whatever shades it offers.

 

ĸen

[Sonsey]

Thanks for your input Ken, I will let you know how i get on! It's my Daughters Christening this week so not likely to have a bash at this until next week.

[31A]

Looking at pictures of real buildings it appears that the shade can be quite variable, but I've tended to use Humbrol no. 93 Matt Desert Yellow, which has the advantage that it is also available in aerosols if you need to paint a large building.