Large Scale Central

What do you guys think? Opinions Please

Modeling
#1

What do you guys think? I’m working on a new building for my RR and am kinda stuck. The building will serve as a factory processing plant for a imagined industry the CCSSSCC. On the far side is a enclosed unloading area which will allow 2 hoppers to fit in. Doors will eventually be fitted. The visible side in the photo will be a covered loading dock. The roof to that will wrap around towards the back side. Question is: what colour should this building be painted? My theme is mostly a modern day backwoods RR that runs a couple of diesels for business then for fun and railfan trips the steamers are brought out. This building will mimic the construction of the switch tower I submitted for the build contest. It will have cedar plank over the plywood base. Most of the RR owned structures are painted a ruddy red like the switch tower is. I also have a independent factory that is brighter red with white trim on the windows. I also have a large coal operation that is natural wood and outer buildings being reddish. What were popular colours for buildings like this 100 years ago? I could do ruddy red with white trim and a black roof or grey with white and black roof or natural with no trim and a brown roof. I’m leaning towards a grey but with the grey cement cliff behind and the grey block wall next to it I don’t want the building to blend in too much. If I go with a colour I will build the windows one way but if natural then the windows get done another way. What do you guys think? Any suggestions for colour combos? Maybe a lite green with white trim black roof?

Thanks

#2

A photo might help the vision.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/capecodtodd/_forumfiles/NewBuilding21612s.jpg)

#3

I asked my buddy in Cali since he’s spent so much time on railroad paints, if he knew. His response was as follows (I think he was using his cell, that’s why it’s so choppy):

“factories paint would depend on the wealth of the company
red and white trim is common for old industrials because they are cheap colors
Grey and White is fine
“Boxcar Red” and white works
NO WHITE also works
an earthy brown color works
even black trim instead of white for those colors will work
for the roof it depends on the material
if the roof is metal, it’d be using a type of paint that would stick
if it is wood, it could be green, brown or any other sort of paint (not white obviously, but I know of a white painted sawmill or two)
finally depending on the era, this will push his hand towards color
if it is after 1900, you could paint he whole thing white, but if it is 19th century, white wouldn’t be as common”

#4

Colors became a bit brighter on industrial buildings by about the 1950s although most dated from before and retained the more conservative colors of the 30s and 40s. Several shades of grey and tan were widely used as was what can only be called Industrial Green which was a sort of greyish green generally in several shades. This color was especially common for interiors and was still around in the 60s & 70s. Iron Oxide was one of the cheapest pigmented colors and widely used by railroads especially.

Blue and bright red faded rapidly in the sun until paints improved by about the 1960s or so and while they might be used for retail establishments didn’t seem to show up much on industrial buildings since they were not painted as often. Here the paint was used primarily for protection rather than for attracting attention. Remember though that there were always exceptions so unless you want the “norm” you still have wide latitude. Remember the traditional red barn used in parts of the country?

100 years ago colors were normally very conservative on industrial buildings. I must disagree with Mik here about white. White paint and whitewash were very common on even fences as well as structures of all types. A written record from the War of 1812 remarks about the white villages they marched through in the eastern U.S. Of course if you lived in a more affluent neighborhood you could see several colors, many earth tones too, on houses and retail businesses. Small town, farms and industrial structures were usually very conservative however. Brick and stone were mainly kept natural although brick would sometimes be painted, very often white. Probably the most common sign color in the early 1900s was white lettering on a black field. Even street signs used black on white or white on black. No green with reflecting lettering then.

For your building there a med/light tan with a dark or medium brown lower band around it about a scale 4 feet in height would look good and contrast against the background grey wall without being obtrusive. Window frames could appropriately be white, dark brown or green for a nice coordinated look. If the roof were corrugated galvanized it would most likely be left natural as would shingles. Later metal roofs would most likely be painted as the panels come in almost any color you like. Dark brown would look good with a tan building for example or maybe green to go with green window trim. Color can be very subjective though.

#5

Todd
Go to Sherwin Williams paint store and pick up a Historic Pallet color scheme(preferably the victorian and arts and crafts colors). They are the same colors they had 100yrs ago and perhaps they will help you judge (don’t look at there color combination’s…like body,trim,sash ) just look at the colors in general.

#6

Hi Todd,
Just some thoughts.
You state that “My theme is mostly a modern day back woods RR” then ask “What were popular colors for buildings like this 100 years ago?”

What color if any that is still on the building after 100 years in the weather would be very hard to determine. Mostly brown/grey wood and rot would be my guess for a building that hasn’t been repainted in 100 years.
If the building was even moderately maintained it was probably repainted every 15-20 years during the 100 year lifespan. With a very good probability that the color was changed more than once. With this in mind a color combination that was popular in the 1980’s or 1990’s might be more correct. If the company has really fallen on hard times and the structure hasn’t seen any new paint since the late 1960’s then a combination from that era might be a better choice.

The problem I always have is trying to make a nice new paint job look 20-30 years old convincingly. A much older more dilapidated building finish is easier because the wood can be distressed and the paint wiped away while still wet.

For a very good example of a used but not abused building paint job take a look at Ray Dunakin’s Hotel thread.

Good luck with your project.
Rick

#7

Thanks guys you have given me lots of ideas to mull over. Right now I’m leaning towards a dark green. I have many gallons and quarts of paint from all sorts of projects in many different colours so I need to bust a few open to test.
I have earth tones as well so thsoe will be tested out too. I like Richards idea about a 2 tone but I might kinda have it already. The white board under the loading dock and along the front of the building is a textured plastic wood which will be painted grey to make it look like a stone foundation.
The planking began last night. More tests for window designs and colour tests will be done this weekend. I will keep you guys posted as to progress.
Todd

#8

Well, if you’re using diesels :o (yecch) :wink: then that was after the 1950’s. Shiny dark pine green was a popular colour for outdoor wood during the Kennedy years - early to mid sixties - and Victorian colours had been out of style for 100 years. If you go to your nearest public library you will find very good research on the exact colours that Victorians liked, and if you’re like me you will probably find them pretty ugly by today’s tastes.

Victorian tastes have somewhat come back recently - not the exact colours, but the painting styles, where all the details are painted in different so-called “Colonial”, or “Antique” colours.

Those dark green buildings of the sixties look a bit ugly and very dated to me, who lived through that period. But I’d certainly recognize them as authentic all right.

I prefer what appeals to my esthetic sense which is in line with the times we’re living in, and the heck with the facts of history, so I’d be painting in Colonial colours regardless of the time period, 'cos that’s what I like, darnitt . !

I think you have to go with your own personal preferences. If you choose authenticity for the 1950’s and '60’s, The green is good. Maybe you’ve seen it on old picnic tables. Barnboard red was also a biggie back then. Sometimes you’d see dark brown, somewhere between milk and dark chocolate. On buildings, white was also huge, especially on small buildings like houses and garages, but I never saw it on a factory. If they painted the building white, they’d put one of the other three big colours on the trim. I don’t recall ever seeing black or grey back then, but I was up here ln Canada where there wasn’t a whole lot of choice. Whenever I got down tho the ‘States, things looked much the same, though. I believe that in the backwoods and in New England, paints were practically identical to up here … (Lotsa’ white houses and churches!)

As for trim, by far most people painted their trim white. I mean any wooden factories as well as houses. If they chose another colour for their trim they might have been run out of town. They would have been thought of as very odd indeed. In the eighties I painted a small-town orange brick house moss green with black trim and that freaked out a lot of the towns people people because it wasn’t white… Really, they went out of their way to tell me how strange I was. In small towns most people don’t really tolerate the unexpected.

Hope all this helps.

Hope that industry turns out carloads of CCSSSCC :rolleyes: for you.

#9

Hello and an Update.
I have nearly completed the planking and found a colour that might work. I did a test on the “garage” section and it looks pretty good. No photos yet but it is coming along. Sunday I emerged from the workshop since it was a decent day and ended up running a train, then thought it was warm enough to kneel on the ground for a bit so I tore out 2 sections that were built using 8’ diameter curves and replaced them with 10’ diameter. Thsi is all part of my ongoing plan to help ease the tighter curves around my layout where I can. The reclaimed 8’s will replace where 5’ section were.
This mild winter is great, not so good for the idle rotary I built this Fall, but I wonder if I’m working outside now and finishing projects what I’m going to do come the Spring??
Todd

#10

Spring? Wassat? My layout is still buried under 6 inches of ice.

Sigh.

Somebody send some Glow Ball War Ming my way, quick!

#11

Ice you can keep it Steve but I sure would like 2-4" of the light fluffy stuff to test out the new rotary. Last year we were buried even down here on the Cape which is rare. Oh well like us Sox fans say “there is always next year”
Todd

#12

Update: Here is a photo of the progress on my new factory building. It has been planked and painted. I went with colours that I already had on hand from a donation of quarts that a client had bought for test purposes. The trim is a brownish bronze and the walls are a sage tone. I don’t have the specific names in front of me. I think the colours complement each other and make it look like a old building. The window grids are painted a ruddy red and I have 5 doors that will be going on that are also painted ruddy red. The roof panels are painted brown. It is getting there.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/capecodtodd/_forumfiles/Factory22712sized.jpg)

#13

Those colors look good. So does the building!

#14

I agree with Ken… Colors and building look good…

#15

The one word that comes to mind is “BIG”. But if you have the area to set it out then go for it. You might want a siding of both sides, move more loads that way.

Paul

#16
E. Paul Austin said:
The one word that comes to mind is "BIG". But if you have the area to set it out then go for it. You might want a siding of both sides, move more loads that way.

Paul


Well, I think it’s a big building, too, Paul. I only have a small city garden, and nearly all my industrial bldgs are flats against the fence or hedges; that’s where I set out my freightcars. But, hey, if you’ve got the space, I say flaunt it!

And I do like the colors - they appeal to my sense of modern colonial-type taste that you’d see these days in New England, where the folks have such good taste. Not authentic to the 1960’s, I’d say, but darn pretty to look at.

Overall design of the structure is a winner in my book, too. Model Railroading is a kind of folk art, isn’t it?

#17

Yep it is a BIG building much like my coal plant structure. I will keep this one in 3 pieces so it will be easier to move around. The roof sections and false doors are now on so I am working on details like smoke stack, roof top details, etc… Built some stairs last night. I’m still planning a dormer.
I am very happy with the colours. The plan has always been to have 2 tracks to this building. The site for it is in the first photo so I have plenty of room. The idea is the covered hoppers will go into the “garage” 2 at a time and drop their load. On the other side of the building is the loading dock where 2 boxcars can line up to be loaded.
John you hit the nail on the head “Model Railroading is a kind of folk art, isn’t it?” There are no set rules as to what can be made or even what it can be made out of. It can be simple or elaborate, cheap or expensive but the bottom line is if the builder is happy with it, it is good enough.
What a great hobby.
When the building is finished and sited (depends on the weather) I will post a few more pictures.
Thanks guys.
Todd

#18

Todd, that works for me, too. Not to step on toes, but for realism, I think building colors should be muted, not screaming out loud. One of the toughest things to do with buildings, locos or rollling stock is to make 'em look used by weathering them. But if you prowl the various boards and scan the model railroad magazines, you’ll find the most realistic layouts look like they’ve been around forever. If you can find it in a magazine, one of the most amazing HO model railroads is the Franklin and South Manchester.

#19

Todd Haskins said:
Update: Here is a photo of the progress on my new factory building. It has been planked and painted. I went with colours that I already had on hand from a donation of quarts that a client had bought for test purposes. The trim is a brownish bronze and the walls are a sage tone. I don’t have the specific names in front of me. I think the colours complement each other and make it look like a old building. The window grids are painted a ruddy red and I have 5 doors that will be going on that are also painted ruddy red. The roof panels are painted brown. It is getting there.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/capecodtodd/_forumfiles/Factory22712sized.jpg)

If its tan we must be in the 70s! :wink:

#20

UPdate
The building is pretty much done and sitting onsite but I am having a bit of trouble with the track work. The track through the “garage” is in place but bringing the track up to the loading dock plus a run around plus possibly a run around off the main has left me scratching my head a bit. Given what needs ot get down to operate I have a limited space. Trouble is I’m in the habit of running my trains one way but if I ran the other way I wouldn’t need all the run arounds and extra track work. I could just back in, drop and pick up cars.
I do however like switching cars but there is the maintenance of 6 switches to consider.
Would you guys go to all the trouble or just change directions of travel when servicing this business?
Todd