"Colours"

Colours - for buildings and stock.

Well, this subject can be quite complicated.  After over 35 years of narrow gauge railway modelling I seem to have developed my own colour palette of preferred tones for buildings and stock.  I am quite "old school" and prefer to use Humbrol enamels brushed on, sometimes using thinners to weaken or dilute the paint, depending on what I am coating.  I personally find acrylics too thick, and this drowns-out the detail.  The formulation of Humbrol enamels has changed in recent years though, it now seems more oily, and the shades can differ from one batch to another, but for some reason I still stick with it.

Speaking about the colours of buildings in particular, for me, it can be a very laborious task, using a system of base colours, tints, detailing and weathering:

Base colour: The general shade of the whole building as seen usually when squinting the eyes.
Tints: The differing tones of stones, bricks or slates etc.
Detailing: Doors, windows, gutters, hinges etc.
Weathering: Giving that "worn" look with stains, rust, old mortar, moss etc.

In the early days I chose colours too literally and they turned out too dark, mainly because most of the time they were being viewed indoors, away from bright daylight.  I now use generally lighter shades, and this applies to the scenery too with lighter scatter's, foliage and terrain colours.

My own railways recently have been based on North Yorkshire buildings.  I do not know much about buildings, but I do like to get a vernacular impression with the stonework, roofs, and the general style of the buildings and also a constant tone to them with paints.  Welsh, Derbyshire, Cumbrian, Cotswold, Cornish stone buildings will all have different tones.  Brick buildings too appear in different shades depending on the clay's used and the manufacturer, some buildings show very consistent colours, others show different shades of brick ranging from light pink to dark red, nearly black, not forgetting other geographical areas (ie: London) displaying buildings with grey bricks in different tones.

Building in Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire.

Above is a photo of a cottage in Runswick Bay and shows the general colours of many of the buildings in the area, especially those on the coast.

"Beck Loft" on the Whitsend Tramway.  I used blacks more then, and looking back it appears too harsh. 

On the "Whitsend Tramway" many of the buildings were painted with a mortar grey colour, then the sandy tones dry-brushed on, with random individual stones tinted lighter and darker.  It was a long process.

Two buildings on "Raven Gill" using the same technique.  Light weathering with stains on roofs and mossy areas on walls and near some down pipes.

The grubby engine shed for "Shortwaite Hill" using a quicker process.

For "Shortwaite Hill" I have used a different process.  Rather than painting random individual stones I first gave the buildings a general base coat of mixed Humbrol matt 121 (a light buff colour) and 29 (brown) leaving random lighter and darker areas and left the model for 48 hours to completely dry.  

Then thinned matt 28 light grey was washed all over the building and wiped off with a cotton cloth to leave mortar lines in the grooves.  This was the main stonework done. With the roof painted with matt 27 grey, and doors, barge boards etc. painted with the livery colours (satin brown & cream) and allowed to dry, work could now begin on the weathering. 

Thinned matt 75 was washed into mortar in some lower areas where damp may appear, and dry brushed matt 80 green used to represent moss. Matt 75 was also dry-brushed on dirty doors etc. where wear and grime would appear.

For the roofs a light grey (No.28) was used dry brushed vertically to show roof staining with a tiny amount of matt 80 green also applied in odd areas and corners. 

I hardly use black(s) at all, and usually represent black with matt 75 Bronze Green and 66 Olive Drab.

Apart from Satin black (85) all these colours (mentioned above) were used on the engine shed.  
The "Humbrol" names are shown below.
110 Natural Wood and 121 Pale Stone mixed for the base stone colours,
29 Dark Earth also for gutter dirt.
28 Camouflage Grey for mortar.
27 Sea Grey for the slates.
75 Bronze Green for mortar loss and damp recesses.
80 Grass Green for moss.
110 Natural Wood and 100 Red Brown mixed for rust.
110 Natural Wood and 121 Pale Stone thinly mixed for brick arch headers.
133 Satin Brown and 71 Satin Oak Cream doors, barge boards, gutters.
66 Olive Drab, oil and grubby marks on doors. 
64 Light Grey for water staining on roof.
33 Matt Black for the main loco door entrance hinges.

I use the same type of paint for locomotives and stock, but using mainly the livery colours, plus 66 Olive Drab to represent dark areas such as under frames.  Goods stock is painted 64 grey, and roofs 27, a darker grey, this is stippled on, and as it dries quite quickly it leaves a slight textured surface.  Weathering: rust, stains and grime are represented too by gently dry brushing, and also using thinned 66 olive drab.