Earth colored paint

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but...

If you're near one of the big home improvement stores....Home Depot, Lowe's, etc....go to their paint department and look for the "Oops!" (HD's name) area...paints that were tinted/mixed that didn't come out right, customer rejected, etc.  There'll be a blob of the paint on the lid to show the color.  Often you'll find a suitable color for this sort of purpose.  AND....the price will be absolutely pocket-friendly!!!!

FWIW, always...

KD

The other answer is the lawyer's answer..."it depends".

Are you looking for just a basic base color or are you looking for a color particular to a region?

Residential, farm or country will have more topsoil and be more brown than other areas with less topsoil. More sandy area? An area with red clay?

Even the same general area is not uniform in color.

So, as KD has suggested and I would expand upon, get two or three colors, dark, medium and light and blend them.

Marc,

I agree with KD with a twist. I took several samples of actual earth (dirt) into my local home improvement store. The paint department matched each perfectly. No complaints from me.

Are you looking for base color to then add ground foam or soil when the paint is still wet?

Anymore, I've been putting down ground cover so thick I don't see the base paint color anymore.  I've been using this brownish/tan color that our builder left with the house just to get rid of it.  

I think the color for "earth" varies too much for one good answer on color.

You have a decent amount of area to cover, so I would choose more than one base color so each area is different, and blend the areas with dry brushing where they meet.

Streaks of colored paint, even under added textured covers will give a more realistic look over only 1 solid color.

Don't mix the colors too well or you have a solid color again.

"big dip in black, little dip in brown, applied in one stroke to produce a brown streak in the black base"

Or better yet find a Bob Ross video and watch a mountain or something appear out of those smudges with a 2" brush!  I like to paint what I think the ground looks like under the grass, then add texture grass onto it. 

I like the combo of black, brown, and tan because that's what I see every day in lower Mi.

In the U.P. of Mi. I see light tan(sand), greens, and deep rich black.

Alabama, way more red and deep browns.(because that is clay, which is often damp, and slick, a gloss can be used)

 The Dakotas seemed brown and tan with grey/black. 

Etc ETC.

 As far as being pleased, the Wall Mart near me has Apple Barrel acrylic paint in the craft isle for 50¢ per 2ounce bottle that will 2 coat, about a 3' or 4' square on foam with each jar. At that price you can mix and repaint all day till your happy for only a few bucks.

 The have large bottles too for $2 or maybe $2.50 each (10-12 ounce?)

 I used jet black as my base coat. Then plain black(cant tell the difference), dark grey, & brown. Used both separately, and mixed together. Stippled and dry brushed on.

  Then I took thinned out paint and did tiny brush spatters with my thumb flicking the bristles using- antique white, red, dark green, and spring green.

  Flat or matte was used except for the thinned dark green & the red. Thinning killed the gloss for me on spatter dots.

 Gloss paints are available,  and I think metals, and satins too. 

I used some Apple Barrel bought elsewhere for much more than 50¢ on a plastic loco 3 or 4 years ago as an experiment to see what some looked like when dry (orange paint is pink when wet, etc). It has not chipped, cracked, flaked or faded and I never repainted because I loved the silliness I had created too much.(see crappy photos below for the silliness, "metal"(silver) is a Testors modeling paint, & no masking or touchups, I just painted it like I was a kid again) 

We use a color from Lowes called Tender Twig. 

Hi Marc,

I just checked my copy of Dave's book. The earth color that he speaks of is one of your own mix, which is based upon the desired color for the theme or region.

He cites some Benjamin Moore and Pittsburgh Paint colors specifically. His best suggestion was to grab the color swatches to consider at home.

A lot of what he does is targeted at land forms. There he uses washes and applies school grade acrylics with a dry brush method.

So, pick out a few shades that you like and mix\blend when applying. The flat acrylic latex house paint is different than the artist acrylics. It still works, but the application techniques require a different approach because it dries faster.

I recommend using a primer on large plywood tops to seal. It saves paint on the actual color application and provides a good surface for applying any scenic items. The colors will appear truer.

Are you painting a top completely or landforms?

Regarding the "oops" or "mistake" paint.  My son managed the local Benjamin Moore-Pittsburgh paint franchise before his promotion to regional sales manager (proud dad).  He told me that with a little time and effort he can take nearly any color of "mistake" paint and make it a "close" match to nearly any desired tint. 

In other words, he could take a green paint and make it more brown so that it was close to the brown you wanted to match...or blue to green or...you get the idea.

So, if you go to the big box home improvement center, before you simply "settle" for what mistakes they have at the time, ask if they can make it more "earth" or "dirt" and you will take it at the price shown.

I have painted my Homasote a flat black before putting the track on.  Over the years since then, it has faded and appears slightly more black than gray.  After I finish the track laying (well, it takes years to finish a model railroad, right?...and my finances demanded I take a part time job).  My current goal is to have the track in place by my birthday.  (I did not say what year!)

Later, I will buy some quarts of different earth and "grass tone" paint and apply after I get the track plan "just so".  But first, I intend to operate it "as is" to make sure I want the structures in those specific places.  Then as I paint open areas, I will add some ground cover while the paint is still wet.

One of Dave Frary's techniques for backdrops may be useful for my ground cover.  Considering my layout is an industrial switching district, there would not have been "vast areas of neatly maintained grass"...so I plan to use pieces of foam to "dob" paint over the "grayish" base coat.  I do not plan on nice, smooth paint lines from a brush, but "splotches".  I will likely use 2 or 3 earth tones...and I may mix some of those.  Then, when dry, I will repeat over those areas where grass might have taken a foot hold. 

This process worked with very reasonable results on my former HO layout in the house.  But Dave Frary made a couple of points worth mentioning...use irregular pieces of sponge or foam material...and make sure there are no straight edges...and finally, rotate the position of the sponge or foam.

If I can't get out to the train building in the back yard, at least I can do the mental exercise to work thru most of the stages of construction.

She:  "Honey are you taking another nap?" 

He:   "No dear, I am visualizing the railroad complete." 

She:  "Well, can you get that locomotive to the repair shop because it sounds like it has a really loud muffler...almost sounds like you snoring."

RATZ! Foiled again.

Oh...since my layout is an urban switching district, there will not be any "rock formations" or "mountains"...at least none that I recall from my field trips to Oklahoma City.

If it helps any.  click on my facebook link and you can see the mountain area I am working on.  Its still not finished as i have to fill in the gaps between the rocks and then i will start the paint..

I have been using Woodland Scenics Earth color. Mix 2 oz of color to 8 ozs of water. I then color the plaster. I have also been using Gypsolite from Scenic express which I find works better then the drywall compound I had been using. Sometimes I do numerous coats to get to where I want it. I then add my ground foam to that.....Paul

While reading this thread I was thinking the exact same thing about matching actual dirt samples. Glad to know it actually works and they matched it. I think it's a great idea.