im sure this has been asked before but i am trying to regain lost techniques. Any one have some tips for adding mortar to all brick structures?
I add two drops Thunder gray, one drop khaki tan and just a smidgen of olive green (Acrylic folk art paint from Hobby Lobby) in a gulf ball amount of drywall compound.
Smear it into the brick perforations, let it set up just a little,. It doesn't take long, then just smear the brick surface clean with your fingers and maybe a dry sheet rag after it's dry.
TF
Another thing I have done in the past is to add thinset or grout to the paint. I was pleasantly surprised at the result. Experimentation is the key before you commit.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I like to paint the brick first then go over it with a wash of mortar color paint mixed with water and alcohol, about 50/50 mix. Brush it on and the mortar will fill in the lines. Residue on the brick lighgtens up the color and gives it a faded / weathered look which i like.
I assemble the brick structure first (just the walls - no doors, windows, trim, etc.). For the one shown below, I used orange paint, as much of the brick in my hometown was a very distinct orange (in most cases, though, it looked more black than orange, due to all the heavy industry).
(...the roof was set in place only for the photos).
The next step was to cover the entire structure in pre-mixed drywall mud. I apply it using a clean rag over my finger tips...
After it dries, take the structure outdoors, and use a clean rag, again over your fingertips, to rub the excess off the surface of the "bricks". Shake the dust out of the rag frequently. You may need to use an X-Acto blade (in its handle) to remove excess mortar from around three-dimensional details, such as the brick window sills.
Here it is, cleaned-up...
...and a close-up view...
Here it is with the doors and windows in place...
More or less finished...
I was never too fond of the paint colour on this one, nor of the "mortar", which was done with a paint wash....
Eventually, I decided to move it to another town, and after letting it sit for a while, decided that it needed to be re-done. The first task was to knock-out all of the doors and windows, so that I could add floors...
...next, it got a brush-applied coat of Floquil Reefer Orange...
...plus some drywall mud...
...and now I like it a lot better...
A small tub of pre-mixed drywall mud will do a lot of structures.
Wayne
Wayne, thanks for that post. Most informative. The close-up in that 4th photo really looks great. Totally believable.
I have never added brick mortar. It is interesting to me that you could go back after a structure is finished and add the mortar. But, first you have to knock out the windows and frames. Yikes. I am not sure that I could do that at this point without damaging wndow frames.
I wonder if adding brick mortar can be done after the fact without removing the window frames.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain Wayne, thanks for that post. Most informative. The close-up in that 4th photo really looks great. Totally believable. I have never added brick mortar. It is interesting to me that you could go back after a structure is finished and add the mortar. But, first you have to knock out the windows and frames. Yikes. I am not sure that I could do that at this point without damaging wndow frames. I wonder if adding brick mortar can be done after the fact without removing the window frames. Rich
Against some recommendations in assembling structure kits, I spray paint the windows while still on the sprues. I use only about 4 drops of testors to affix the windows to the inside of the structure. The paint prohibits proper melting of the plastic window to the plastic structure, so windows popping out occasionally when handling a finished structure does happen. No matter, just use a bit more glue and pop them back in (I don't model interiors so that big hole in the main floor works as access).
Not the most secure way of affixing windows, but it does help when you want to pop all of them out and respray and refinish the building.
But yes, I have added mortar to the bricks while the windows are in. Not the drywall method, but the paint wash method. If you wet the bricks, moisture will settle in the mortar lines and act as a wick that will carry the paint wash away from your brush. That way you don't have to put a paint brush near the windows. Takes a little practice.
- Douglas
For light mortar on a dark brick, I just use spackle. Scrape it across the brick, use a damp cloth or paper towel to clean up the brick to taste. Sometimes it looks good with some spackle residue here and there on the bricks. If I want the mortar darker, I then do a diluted black wash on the bricks.
It wouldn't be ideal, but I'm pretty sure I could go back and do it on a finished structure.
-Donn
I use a little water soluble paint that I put a drop on the building with my finger then dip my finger in water and spread it around. Tones diwn the brick color and migrates to the mortar depessrions in the wall
DoughlessAgainst some recommendations in assembling structure kits, I spray paint the windows while still on the sprues. I use only about 4 drops of testors to affix the windows to the inside of the structure. The paint prohibits proper melting of the plastic window to the plastic structure, so windows popping out occasionally when handling a finished structure does happen. No matter, just use a bit more glue and pop them back in (I don't model interiors so that big hole in the main floor works as access)...
Now that you mention it, I may have done the same thing for that last structure, as the windows were very easy to remove - some had already dropped-out on their own.
Nowadays, I usually paint the windows while they're still on the sprue, too, but because most sprues are fairly well-laid out, it's easy enough to mask-off the gluing surfaces.
I simply apply masking tape to the glass surface of my modelling desk, then use an X-Acto knife and straightedge to cut the strips into the widths needed for each portion of the sprue castings.In this view, grey primer has already been applied...
...I then re-sprayed it white, and removed the tape...
as you can see, the primer was necessary to aid in covering the dark green plastic.
Here's the structure in place on the layout, with windows pretty-well not removeable...