Hello to you all, For my model railroad that is under construction i'm looking for information. One of the things i would like to know is the colour of the bricks that were used for the industrial buildings in the region of the UP and SP. One of the main buildings is a massive faccade of a building (65 x 25 centimeters) that is home made with parts of Cornerstone materials. It now looks like something plastic-like. But it's hard to find pictures of this type of buildings. Please excuse my english, I'm Dutch. Later on I will try to post some pics of the items that are already made thanks to everyone
I use rattle can red primer as a base brick coat for all of my brick buildings that will remain brick colored. I use light grey primer if the bricks will be painted some other color. Different brands of primer are different reds. Some are almost brown but there is a lot of variation in brick color here where I live, 10 miles from the UP's Chicago & NorthWestern mainline. I spray several thin coats to allow the solvents to evaporate to avoid damaging the plastic.
First there are 3 basic colours used for factories. 1. Red (which is close to iron rust red), 2. a dark red with black highlights. I would use 2 part red to one part black to get a dark enough red. Then use a water down india ink to weather it. 3. Believe it or not Yellow. It is a bright yellow. Companies like Curtis Wright, and Cornell Labs used Yellow before WWII. Hope this helps.:tb-biggrin: Now the above is for the US.
For most of the U.S. a brick color from brown to red is correct. But, a lot is dependent on age. New factories, say those built from the 1950's on, would tend to be basically all of one color as noted above. This was due primarily to better and improved manufacturing processes for the brick itself trending toward much more uniformity of the product. The older the factory, the smaller, or one using a small, local brick maker - the less likely. This is easily duplicated by using one base color for your brick wall and then using closely allied colors (even unto black) on the occassional or odd brick in the wall - that would be your choice. However, with this latter method suggest you use a light overspray to "blend" things in. I've used from light grey to the original red color with success. Another brick color, which I've always heard referred to as "Canton Brick" is really very much a beige to yellow brick. This seems to be much more common in the center of the U.S.A. than either coast. It seemed (to me) that this was fairly common for commercial buildings, but I do remember a fairly large factory in Kentucky using this brick - very impressive.
On older buildings I have found that using red (boxcar red to a reddish brown) for the base coat. When dry, dilute a light gray or antique white and brush it over the whole wall section. Then wipe the excess off with a rag or paper towel. This will highlight the mortar lines as well as "weather" the brick to give it a "Chicago brick" finish.
Here is a source for thousands of color pictures frrom the 1940s and 1950s. Hope you can get it on the "net" from over there. "One of the best 1940s-1950s color photo collections online is the Charles Cushman collection at Indiana University's website:" Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection Home I tried the search topic "factory" and "industry" and did not find what you are looking for, but "brick" gave me a brickpile of hits.
Thanks for all the information especially the Cushman Collection. I will try to keep everyone informed about the progress of the factory wall
These are parts of the facade of thew factorybuilding, just the basic plastic sheets and windows. They need the right brick colour and then its up to the next parts.
first impression of the factory involving this is about 25% of the factory that has to grow. I hope to show more in a later stadium.
I use spray-bomb red primer for large buildings. The fastest way to add the mortar is to use one of those liquid white shoe polish applicators. The ones in the plastic bottle with the sponge at the end. I have used many different brands but I like the Kiwi brand ones the best. One bottle will do several large buildings in HO. Once you go over a side of the building with the shoe polish, wipe it off with a damp cloth. The mortar will remain in the grooves but will be wiped clear on the face of the brick. This will also lighten the surface of the brick a little. After it has dried for a while, you can experiment with black washes. If you wait too long, it will be harder to get the polish off the surface of the brick. you have to wipe it off while its still in a liquid state. If its too light, go over it again.
Same in Detroit. You can tell the 1920-1930's buildings as many of these used a mustard yellow brick. Once building took off again in the 50's the red/red-brown becomes the norm. -Mark
One more thing about brick buildings that I have noticed. Many downtown buildings use high quality brick on the face of the building and cheaper brick on the sides and back. So a building can be built of 2 colors of brick.
A little progress is made. The colour of the buildings will be something calles desert yellow of a local brand over here. After the paintjob i will post some more pictures. Both pictures now showan oversight. electrical is almost ready, now the dividing of the underground has to be done. Appears simple, but has to be done softly.
progress I made some progress. The layout has to be reay in october of this year. I obligated myself to a show here in the Netherlands. A lot of work, but a lot has already been done. I will try to keep making updates for the interested.
another milestone. The traverse is working and the diesels are running analog. Now i can move on againg, reparing two switches and installing their electro motors. The overhead crane is on a positive course also.
Your bricks look a little beige. Here are some bricks in similar color on a former brewery building in San Antonio, Texas, now used to house an art museum. brewery Some more more-or-less beige bricks on a former courthouse building on Corpus Christi, Texas, blt 1914, vacant since mid-1970s.
thank you for this information and photo's. These give me more information in how to detail my buildings.
