Ideas for grouting brick

[woodman]

I am about to start building Walthers Railroad Shops HO scale #933-2970. I would like to give the brick building a look of grouted brick, I don't want the grout to jump out at you, just a light grouting if that is possible. I have been told to use white paint and then wipe it off, I tried that on some scrap brick parts and it was hard to get it to look right. I have thought of lightweight joint compound also, but I would like to get some ideas before I try any more things. Thanking you in advance for your help.

[skagitrailbird]

There is a product out there called Robert's Brick Mortar.  You slop it on, wait a few minutes and then rub it off.  You may need to either use a wetter rag to soften it or repeat the process if you want it to look heavier.  I have tried the product but am not sold on it but many people are.

What I do is first paint the bricks.  I always spray paint the walls, either with an air brush or rattle cans.  After letting that dry thoroughly (at least a couple of days) I slop on an off white acrylic water based paint.  Like the Robert's product, I then wipe it off.  Not much different that the Robert's product but I have had better results using paint.

I would think the solids in joint compound wound not be ground fine enough but since I haven't tried it I could be wrong.  You might want to test it on some scrap.  If you do, please share the results with us.

Good luck!

[John Busby]

Hi Woodman

Paint the walls in brick colour. leave to dry thoughrly

Then get a suitable citedal paints wash ( games workshop) something that will make the brick look mucky definatly not a white this will look way to clean for an industreal building. 

Mix the wash 50-50 with clean water really slosh it on don't skimp on it. leave it to dry at least 48 hours then lightly dry brush with the brick colour to bring out the brick pattern.

This assumes that windows and doors etc have not yet been attached to the walls but the walls are glued together

regards John

[doctorwayne]

I used regular pre-mixed drywall mud for mortar on the structures shown below.  Wrap a soft, clean rag around your fingertips, then dip into the mud.  Rub it onto the walls (no need to be neat) and make sure to work it in around any protruding details, such as window sills.  Allow it to dry (takes only a few minutes).  The next step is best done outdoors.   Use another clean soft rag to wipe away the excess material - rubbing diagonally across the brick pattern seems to leave more mortar in the grooves.  Shake-out the rag frequently, making sure that you're upwind.
All of the walls shown have been pre-painted - this allows you to have the brick colour appropriate for your locale and era.  The walls should be assembled, but no doors, windows or details installed. 
This is my first attempt, and I'm not overly fond of the brick colour (a mix of boxcar red and brown) nor of the concrete (the prototype was painted), but the mortar looks fairly similar to the high-lime content mortar which was once commonly used.  The building received no additional weathering, as it represents one fairly new:

...and a close-up of the same wall:

This one was airbrushed with Floquil Reefer Orange, a colour which replicates rather well the brick used in my hometown in the 19th and early 20th century.  It got the same drywall mud treatment as the first, but because the mortar lines are not cast as deeply, less mortar remained after wiping.  This was followed by a wash or two of thinned PollyScale - black and/or grey, likely with some brown thrown in:

Another Reefer Orange one, but this time on Revell's former Weekly Herald.  It was spawned from Superior Bakery, and prior to that, the Enginehouse, and is a copy, I believe, of John Allen's scratchbuilt enginehouse.  Modellers loved the brick detail.
While white mortar certainly would have been used on this building, many years alongside the tracks have taken a toll, so it received several heavy washes of thinned Pollyscale.  I was concerned that the mortar would all be washed away, and while some certainly ended up on the faces of the brick or the wet newspaper on which the work was done, I like the effect:

You could also skip the drywall mud and use a wash of well-thinned paint.  This one, I believe a Magnuson kit (it was in a plastic bag, with some pieces missing and some broken, on the "used" table of the LHS) doesn't have really distinct brick detail, and I was concerned that the drywall mud would end up either too wide or would be totally wiped off by the dry rag.  After the Reefer Orange had cured, I gave it a well-thinned wash of grey PollyScale.  If the wash is sufficently-thinned, you can allow it to dry, then re-do to obtain a more pronounced effect - this one took only one or two washes:

This is LifeLike's Bottling Plant, re-purposed as office space for Bertram's Machine Works.  Brick is a mixed boxcar red-ish.  I used no mud on this one either, merely a wash of thinned black - I wanted the grimey appearance often seen where heavy industry was located:

This is more of Bertam's:  shipping and receiving and the powerhouse.  Most of this is Roundhouse/MDC brick wall sections from their Three-in-One kits.  The black wash also helps to disguise the fact that the brick isn't the same size or style as that of the office or of the factory:

...and here's the factory where the tools are made (Walthers Vulcan Foundry).  Again, slightly different bricks, with the black wash to blend them in with the rest:

One more done with drywall mud.  I think that this is an IHC kit, but I've re-worked it a bit.  After the walls had been assembled, I used a rattle can to apply a coat of grey primer.  The individual stones were then painted, using a brush, in various shades of grey and brown.  The drywall mud was then applied, and once it had been wiped, the walls were Dullcoted.  This was in preparation for applying the large sign, which is a decal.    I next masked-off the wall in order to paint the sign area white.  When that had fully cured, the black decal, with clear lettering areas, was applied.  This required heavy applications of Solvaset to nestle the decal film into the mortar lines (hence the protective Dullcote).  The walls were then weathered with successive washes of thinned PollyScale, then the windows added, loading dock built, etc.

Stonework during painting:

Drywall mud applied:

...and after wiping:

Unweathered, the building looks almost like a '50s house built with "Angel Stone":

...and here it is completed:

Wayne

[wickman]

Its amazing  how many  different ways there  are to get the grout look. I've simply  used a pastel chalk sprinkled all over then wipe excess off the brick face leaving the chalk in the cracks.

[skagitrailbird]

Nice work, Wayne. I guess I was wrong about the drywall mud. 

[MisterBeasley]

I've tried a lot of different techniques, from baking flour sealed with Dull Coat to acrylic paint thinned with something called Flow-ease, I believe.  The one that works the best for me is drywall compound.  It' naturally a very light gray, but if you want to tone it down you can paint over the whole wall with an India Ink wash.

[zstripe]

I use ready mixed Vinyl Spackle right out of the container, rubbed on with my finger tip. Let dry, scrub off with dry scuff pad, like the type that is used for washing dishes, one side sponge, other side scuff pad. After that I either brush a coat of dull-coat over it or air brush. If I want a different color, I take a small amount and put in plastic cup and add WS pigments to get the color I want.

Works great for me.

Looks like Wayne's when done.

Take Care!

Frank

[slammin]

I use a thinned wash of flat light gray water based paint. Any excess can be wiped off. I also use drywall mud in small areas. It replicates areas where the original was "repointed".

[GP-9_Man11786]

I use grey poster paint. I coat the brick wall with it and then wipe most of it off with a paper towel. The good thing about poster paint is it's extremely cheap and if you make a mistake, it washes right off.

Here's a Model Power Railroad Hotel kit I did with it:

[wjstix]

Alternate method: Paint the building walls (before assembly) a light gray (inside and out), then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. A good art marker is stiff enough that it won't get down to the 'mortar' level. You're not coloring one brick at a time, a typical HO building side wall might take 15 min. to do. An advantage is you can also leave trim pieces (like above and below windows, ledges etc.) the light gray, that's easier than going back and trying to paint those separately.

The building in the background was done that way....yet again, link within MR website doesn't seem to want to work so you'll have to cut and paste.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/m/mrr-layouts/2289595.aspx

 

[Steven S]

zstripe

I use ready mixed Vinyl Spackle right out of the container

 

I've never used the Robert's Brick Mortar, but I suspect it's probably just the vinyl spackle, or something very similar, at an inflated price.  I've used the spackle with good results, although it's a bit too white for an old building.  I had to give it a wash of alcohol & ink.   The joint compound is probably better suited for this.  It's not pure white.

 

Steve S

[CTValleyRR]

wjstix

Alternate method: Paint the building walls (before assembly) a light gray (inside and out), then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. A good art marker is stiff enough that it won't get down to the 'mortar' level. You're not coloring one brick at a time, a typical HO building side wall might take 15 min. to do. An advantage is you can also leave trim pieces (like above and below windows, ledges etc.) the light gray, that's easier than going back and trying to paint those separately.

The building in the background was done that way....yet again, link within MR website doesn't seem to want to work so you'll have to cut and paste.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/m/mrr-layouts/2289595.aspx

 

 

You've got it bass ackwards.  Use a very fine brush (0000) or a very fine pen to color in the individual lines.

not really.  I use a light wash of acrylic paint inivory or dirty white, thinned 10:1.  Most will tun right to the cracks, the rest looks like weathering or efflouresence.

[wsdimenna]

something I tried recently was Hunterline white stain. It worked extremely well. It was the easiest way to do this that I ever tried. Also used the red/ brown color for a white brick building.

[bsteel4065]

Beautiful work Wayne.