I spend quite a lot of my time looking at things and wondering what colour they are. Some are obvious, like locomotives. Some can be bodged with a bit of dirt, like bauxite colour railway wagons for which I always use red oxide spray primer.
Others are a mystery and in to this category, I consign paving slabs.
Some are grey(ish), some cream(ish) and others beige(ish). Looking at the photo taken from the overbridge at Dorridge, there are many different shades, all simialr but not the same.
Lighting plays a big part - the picture was taken aroun 8:30 on a warm and sunny morning.
Anyway, the answer comes in the form of this handy on-line tool. Loading my picture in allows the grabbing of individual colours along with suggested paints.
Model Master fabric tan is apparently pretty good for the browner slabs. For grey at the bottom of the shot, try Tamiya flat aluminium - I'd never have through of this.
The range of colours is huge however. Why can't these things just be grey?
It's a tiny bit easier if the slabs are made of slate, which they still are in many towns and cities. There were (relatively) few quarries producing slab, so if you are in Birmingham for instance, you could guess that the slab would probably have come from Corris, a lighter bluish grey slate. But then I guess we have to find a colour mix for that, and will it be damp or dry, as that affects the colour again. Not easy! I didn't know about the online colour matching tool, it's brilliant- thanks for that!
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