Rattle can brick red suggestions

[Bill H]

Hi:
Any suggestions for a rattle can color for red brick? Most of the time I am brushing on boxcar red or oxide red but I need to do a lot of buildings quickly - at least for the base color coat.

Thanks,
Bill

[garethashenden]

Red oxide primer? Get a couple of different brands for a little variation?

[nkalanaga]

Bricks come in an almost infinite variety of colors, sometimes on  the same building, so there is no such thing as the "best" color for bricks.

As for type of paint, anything that will work on plastic will do.  I used to use Krylon "Ruddy Brown Primer" for "freight car red" on my narrow gauge, although it was a little rough on plastic.  Very thin plastic, such as roofwalks, tended to warp, so I ended up using HO 1x4s for roofwalks (N scale).

If your model isn't plastic, you have an even wider variety to choose from.

[Lenny53]

Tamiya oxide red fine surface primer

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Bricks come in an almost infinite variety of colors, sometimes on  the same building, so there is no such thing as the "best" color for bricks.

As for type of paint, anything that will work on plastic will do.  I used to use Krylon "Ruddy Brown Primer" for "freight car red" on my narrow gauge, although it was a little rough on plastic.  Very thin plastic, such as roofwalks, tended to warp, so I ended up using HO 1x4s for roofwalks (N scale).

If your model isn't plastic, you have an even wider variety to choose from.

This is so incredibly true.

The one thing I'll recommend though: avoid the mortar trap. The things that people do to highlight mortar in larger scales don't necessarily translate into N.

This is because the mortar lines in N are, almost necessarily, very out of scale.

Highlighting the contrast of them doesn't do us any favors.

[wazzou]

This is so incredibly true.

The one thing I'll recommend though: avoid the mortar trap. The things that people do to highlight mortar in larger scales don't necessarily translate into N.

This is because the mortar lines in N are, almost necessarily, very out of scale.

Highlighting the contrast of them doesn't do us any favors.

I'd have to disagree on being fully dismissive that mortar cannot be portrayed well in N Scale.

[DKS]

I'd have to disagree on being fully dismissive that mortar cannot be portrayed well in N Scale.

Agreed.

[nkalanaga]

Mortar lines also vary widely on the prototype, no pun intended.  Some are narrow, some are wide.  Some mortar is bright white when new, some is gray, some is colored to match the brick.  Then, as the building ages, the mortar may, or may not, collect more soot and grime than the bricks, which can change the original contrast.

I've seen old buildings here in Kentucky where the mortar seems to have "run", lime leaching out, maybe? and the bricks themselves have light gray streaks.  In other cases, the mortar is so dark that it is almost invisible.

The same building can show wide variations.  In many cases, especially in the middle of a block, the front was made with high-quality brick, with neat, often thin, mortar lines.  The sides and rear, on the other hand, are cheap, rough, brick, often with uneven edges and corners, and the mortar seems to have been simply slapped on.  In some cases, the side courses aren't even straight.

[Lemosteam]

Mortar lines also vary widely on the prototype, no pun intended.  Some are narrow, some are wide.  Some mortar is bright white when new, some is gray, some is colored to match the brick.  Then, as the building ages, the mortar may, or may not, collect more soot and grime than the bricks, which can change the original contrast.

I've seen old buildings here in Kentucky where the mortar seems to have "run", lime leaching out, maybe? and the bricks themselves have light gray streaks.  In other cases, the mortar is so dark that it is almost invisible.

The same building can show wide variations.  In many cases, especially in the middle of a block, the front was made with high-quality brick, with neat, often thin, mortar lines.  The sides and rear, on the other hand, are cheap, rough, brick, often with uneven edges and corners, and the mortar seems to have been simply slapped on.  In some cases, the side courses aren't even straight.

All of which can be simulated, if the modeler chooses (with the exception of sloppily laid brick to some extent).

[johnb]

Hi:
Any suggestions for a rattle can color for red brick? Most of the time I am brushing on boxcar red or oxide red but I need to do a lot of buildings quickly - at least for the base color coat.

Thanks,
Bill

Krylon Fusion Satin Brick

[Bill H]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Have to agree, mortar well applied can be positive...

[mmyers]

Bricks will be a variety of colors. There are also different lots in the same colors. i use a couple different brands of red oxide primer. Dry brushing different shadings makes them look more realistic. I know a professional bricklayer that layed his initials with an off-lot cube of brick. I won't name the building but Ed attended college on its campus. He got fired for that but his G H wall is still there.

[GaryHinshaw]

He got fired for that but his G H wall is still there.