Picking Out Brick colours

[gwrrob]

When using the brick plastikard sheets from Slaters and having painted the base colour,which is the best way of proceeding in detailing the brick colouring.Do you pick out the bricks with several different shades and then apply the mortar wash or do you do it the other way round.You certainly need a tiny brush to pick the bricks out !Does the same apply to doing rooves as well ?

[Andy C]

FWIW I paint the base coat, then when dry let in the mortar wash, wiping it carefully off the brick surface to leave the courses showing. I then pick individual bricks out with watercolour pencils of various shades of red, yellow and blue. Godd results and far easier than picking out brickwork with a fine brush and paint! - I then seal it with matt varnish.

 

By way of a demo, both the signal box and the goods warehouse on New Hey were done using this method

 

[gwrrob]

FWIW I paint the base coat, then when dry let in the mortar wash, wiping it carefully off the brick surface to leave the courses showing. I then pick individual bricks out with watercolour pencils of various shades of red, yellow and blue. Godd results and far easier than picking out brickwork with a fine brush and paint! - I then seal it with matt varnish.

 

By way of a demo, both the signal box and the goods warehouse on New Hey were done using this method

 

 

Interesting Andy.Can you buy the pencils singly or do you buy a pack and would Hobbycraft sell them.

[coachmann]

I hope this link assists : -

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/310/entry-3067-railway-buildings/

 

Larry

[gwrrob]

I hope this link assists : -

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/310/entry-3067-railway-buildings/

 

Larry

 

Thanks Coach.I've already seen those Townstreet buildings of yours.I've used their products myself in the past.The bricks are easier to pick out on them but using the Slaters sheets is harder so I'll just hve to pereserve.Those watercolour pencils of Andy C sound interesting though.

[Andy C]

Interesting Andy.Can you buy the pencils singly or do you buy a pack and would Hobbycraft sell them.

 

 

 

I bought mine singly, that way I didnt end up with a lot of colours i didn't want, and also get a good range of shades in the reds / orange / yellow. The blues are useful in producing dirty brick, they "mix" with the red / yellows to produce a dirty brown ! I think you will find them in all art shops, the local "Range" store seems to be good for picking stuff like this up, but I can thorughly recommend Fred Aldous in Manchester:

 

http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/

 

The only place in Manchester that I found scraper board knives for carving Plasticard !

[Guest jim s-w]

Hi All

 

I too use water colour pencils but also artists markers. You have to use the markers last as any weathering will wash them off.

 

HTH

 

Jim

[Captain Kernow]

artists markers

That's something I've not come across before, Jim, can you kindly explain what these are, please?

[coachmann]

Slaters bricks using my usual method....It can be done even though they are smaller than Townstreet bricks. Helps pass a pleasant evening.

[gwrrob]

Slaters bricks using my usual method....It can be done even though they are smaller than Townstreet bricks. Helps pass a pleasant evening.

 

You masochist Larry.

[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]

I paint the basic brick colour all over, then using a runny mortar colour and holding the wall vertical I run the mortar colour down through the brickwork, (think of t like pointing)

 

This is then allowed to dry at least overnight, (sorry I use enamels for these), I then dry brush the walls to give a better colour and texture, and finally pick out a few individual bricks. I have thought about giving a coat of kleer once the mortar is dry, but not tried that.

 

I am in the middle of cutting out the parts for llanfyllin Station Building, I have the main brick work sorted and am now working on the window and door surounds.

 

Once I start painting I will take a few photos to illustrate.

 

Search for llanfyllineither on this or the last incarnation of RMWEB for photos of the signal box I built ages ago

 

Hope this helps

[Phil Traxson]

I work in 7mm so it's suppose it's a little easier to pick out individual bricks. I found the easiest way was basecolour then mortar wash. (using watered down B & Q acrylic matchpots!). I then spent a few evenings in front of the box over some weeks, after the soaps had finished, with a packet of cheap coloured felt tip pens from Partners or somewhere similar, picking out individual bricks, the less I concentrated on the bricks the better finish I got. As you can gather I'm a bit of a cheapskate. The only real expense was a coat of "Dulcote" which killed any shine and sealed the surface. Some hard faced bricks are almost shiny though, Loughborough G.C. station building is a good example of this and also has a very uniform colour.

 

The most important part though was spending some months looking at various local brick walls in passing and noting the colours and differences in them. Even adjacent houses built at the same time by the same builder can show big variations, though modern houses are usually much more uniform in colour. The biggest variation was in an industrial wall which was opposite the canteen window at work which didn't appear to have any two bricks the same through all sorts of shades of red and yellow often being much darker, heading towards blue in the centre of the face of the bricks.

 

I think the real answer is lots of observation before you begin, though in my case what I wanted to achieve and what came out was limited by my ability, but I think I got better with practice.

 

Phil T.

[Guest jim s-w]

That's something I've not come across before, Jim, can you kindly explain what these are, please?

 

Hi Tim

 

See http://www.letraset.com/design/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=55&cat=Tria+Markers

 

These are only good for darker colours - for lighter colours you need the pencil crayons.

 

HTH

 

Jim

[Ian J.]

Slaters bricks using my usual method....It can be done even though they are smaller than Townstreet bricks. Helps pass a pleasant evening.

One of the things I've noticed when looking at brickwork in real life is that, particularly on older buildings individual bricks aren't evenly coloured, sometimes quite glaringly so. You seem to have found a technique that captures that look quite well. Can you elaborate more on how you go about your 'usual method'?

[10800]

Hi Tim

 

See http://www.letraset....at=Tria+Markers

 

Blimey Jim, Letraset - that's a blast from the past, didn't even know they still existed in this computer-dominated age. (OT - my Dad and I used the lettering a lot up to around 25 years ago for various display purposes, and I recall using letratone for shading maps at uni).

[Andrew F]

As stated above, it's not often the case that the bricks are all different colours. I suppose this is regional and as for the mortar, I've found that it's often picked up a lot of grime over the years and is seldom uniform. I guess this depends on era and weather/ exposure to polution. Coachmann's effort is very convincing for railway/industrial region brickwork.

I've some unorthadox methods but very simple without painting individual bricks. I'm not saying they are great.

Using the Wickes emulsions I mix a dark grey/brown just thick enough to cover the entire un-painted brickwork; when dry, rub some neat 'latte' emulsion into just some of the gaps(trying to keep the smears off the brick surface and then scratch the whole surface of the wall with a plastic coffee stirer

more a process of removal than application but it takes minutes.

I found some other methods out by accidently spilling liquid poly onto Slaters brick and found it premanently brings it down a tone once the plastic is thoroughly hard. Using the above method this makes for a more detailed wall with 2 base tones.

 

Another method with liquid poly is to paint the whole brick surface with another tone of enamel brick colour and wait a few days for it to really go off. Then liqhtly brush on the liquid poly until it starts to bring off the paint, then let it all thoroughly dry. With the blade edge of a craft knife, scratch the surface horizontally and diagonally until you have a nice rough textured wall with 2 clear brick colours. Then use the first method for weathering.

Not sure if this would work with Slaters though.

These are just first attempts and accidents but I hope they may work along with other methods

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[coachmann]

One of the things I've noticed when looking at brickwork in real life is that, particularly on older buildings individual bricks aren't evenly coloured, sometimes quite glaringly so. You seem to have found a technique that captures that look quite well. Can you elaborate more on how you go about your 'usual method'?

I thought I had covered it in my building blog, sorry. After painting an overall brick wash using turps-diluted brick colour enamels from Howes Railmatch range and letting them dry, I brush a very diluted wash of dark grey acrylic mixed with Fairy Liquid over the bricks and wipe some of it off. Then when dry I run diluted off white on patches of bricks to show lime bleaching out or to show where new pointing has taken place.

 

Then I start to pick out individual bricks using a the aformentioned diluted dark grey to stain a few here and there. Random patterns make all the difference. Also make runs where gutter leak or behind drain pipes, or below window sills where brickwork is shaded and does get a regular wash when it rains. My technique evolved from looking at real buildings.

 

I have a completely different method for stone buildings.

 

Larry

[Ian J.]

I thought I had covered it in my building blog, sorry. After painting an overall brick wash using turps-diluted brick colour enamels from Howes Railmatch range and letting them dry, I brush a very diluted wash of dark grey acrylic mixed with Fairy Liquid over the bricks and wipe some of it off. Then when dry I run diluted off white on patches of bricks to show lime bleaching out or to show where new pointing has taken place.

 

Then I start to pick out individual bricks using a the aformentioned diluted dark grey to stain a few here and there. Random patterns make all the difference. Also make runs where gutter leak or behind drain pipes, or below window sills where brickwork is shaded and does get a regular wash when it rains. My technique evolved from looking at real buildings.

 

I have a completely different method for stone buildings.

 

Larry

Thanks

[gwrrob]

Well after everyones replies and especially Andy Cs recommendation I purchased several Derwent watercolour pencils.Using my chimney stacks as guinea pigs I've had a go.Very pleased indeed.I will post some pictures shortly before going on to the main building itself.

 

Heres the link to the online stockist I used which gave excellent service with cheap postage to boot.

 

 

http://www.clarkcraft.co.uk/

[Andy C]

Well after everyones replies and especially Andy Cs recommendation I purchased several Derwent watercolour pencils.Using my chimney stacks as guinea pigs I've had a go.Very pleased indeed.I will post some pictures shortly before going on to the main building itself.

 

Heres the link to the online stockist I used which gave excellent service with cheap postage to boot.

 

 

http://www.clarkcraft.co.uk/

 

Glad you found it useful Robin - and its much easier than a fine brush!! HTBOH.

[mvrnut]

Hi Robin,

What colours of watercolour pencils did you find useful for the bricks ?

 

Cheers,

Chris

[gwrrob]

Hi Robin,

What colours of watercolour pencils did you find useful for the bricks ?

 

Cheers,

Chris

 

Hi Chris.I bought four different colours.Burnt Sienna,Raw Umber,Raw Sienna and Burnt Yellow Ochre.The Burnt Sienna was used the most.They are £1 each + p/p.I've uploaded some photos in my gallery.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=gallery&module=user&user=126&do=view_album&album=134

[mvrnut]

Hi Robin,

Thank you for the info. Love your pics. I am modelling 1930's Southern Railway.

Cheers,

Chris