Hello,
Recently I got a Walthers Cornerstone brick mission-style Santa Fe depot kit. It's molded with brick wall effects, but the slits between the bricks are too small for my brushes to paint the cement color. Then I tried to paint the cement color first and then apply the wall color, but it didn't work out well either.
Does anyone here have a good idea on how to create a realistic wall brick with these molded kits?
Thanks.
I usually first spray with a brick color like red-brown primer. When that's dry, I rub on drywall compound and rub most of it off, leaving the cracks full but the bricks uncovered.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I tried this and ended up having both layers rubbed off...
Maybe you rubbed to hard. Think of it as grouting tile. You want the joint filled, but the tile exposed, so let the joint filler set a while, and slowly start removing the excess.
Mike.
My You Tube
I paint the brick and then make a wash the color of the mortar I want, mix alcohol into that wash and brush it onto your brick (laying flat). The wash will settle into the mortar lines.
It will lighten the brick color some.
I paint the entire wall black first. I then spray paint the brick color at an angle. As if the wall were upright I want the angle from above or pointing down. This leaves a nice shadow line at the mortar joints without trying to paint each line or using some sort of wash.
CRH380ALI tried this and ended up having both layers rubbed off...
I'm thinking, maybe, You didn't allow the paint to cure, overnite at least. And you ued way too mutch forcre/pressure when wipeing.
I've used both the white paint wash, and the wall joint compound. Got good resulits either way. You do need to ''play'' with it ,to get the hang of it.
If useing water based products,just wash it off,start over
CRH380AL I tried this and ended up having both layers rubbed off...
I've actually had success doing just the opposite of what's already been posted. I paint the entire wall the color of the mortar. Then after letting it dry for a few days, I come back and dry brush the brick color on the tops of the bricks, leaving the mortar lines untouched.
Scott
sschnabl I've actually had success doing just the opposite of what's already been posted. I paint the entire wall the color of the mortar. Then after letting it dry for a few days, I come back and dry brush the brick color on the tops of the bricks, leaving the mortar lines untouched. Scott
I will have to give the drywall mud method a try the next time I'm building a brick structure. I'm all for doing anything easier.
How do you guys prepare and apply the drywall mud?
Russ
Modeling the early '50s Erie in Paterson, NJ. Here's the link to my railroad postcard collection: https://railroadpostcards.blogspot.com/
Erie1951 How do you guys prepare and apply the drywall mud?
The brick buildings on my lay out represent painted buildings, so the mortar is the same as the rest of the building.
If I was to model a building that hasn't been painted, I'd use the mud method.
You might be able to experiment with colored mortar using non sanded tile grout. I've never tried it, but it might work.
Great picture Stix!
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/m/mrr-layouts/2289595.aspx
I tried to post the picture by copying the address, but that didn't work, must be an inter forum thing.
Thanks for your input on using wallboard mud, Guys! Once it's applied to the painted brick, what's the best way of removing it so that only the mud stays in the mortar lines?
I remember when I was a kid my brother had an HO roundhouse model with pre-colored pieces. He painted the plastic brick panels with testors model paint, one at a time. A light powder gray color as I recall.
Just when the paint was dry enough to the touch. He took a plastic Domino and pinched a piece of sheet around it tight. He dipped it in paint thinner and dabbed it onto a paper towel to remove most of the excess thinner. Then he rubbed it round and round on the surface of the brick material. Replacing a piece of sheet every time before it got too gummed up.
He had very good results because the plastic domino was so flat with the sheet pinched tight. It did not rub out the mortar joints and looked very good.
I would like to retry this method sometime. I would also like to try some of the other methods suggested here when I get to it.
TF
It wasn't until I read this thread, that it sparked the memory of my brothers model technique. Could have been my N scale model though
Erie1951 Once it's applied to the painted brick, what's the best way of removing it so that only the mud stays in the mortar lines?
I used a rag,an old wash cloth if I recall. Once the mud is dry it should just rub off as dust. Too mutch pressure and you will dig out the mortor .A ''damp'' cloth will clean it up a little more.
BTW I have used craft paint to tint the mud
Erie1951 Thanks for your input on using wallboard mud, Guys! Once it's applied to the painted brick, what's the best way of removing it so that only the mud stays in the mortar lines?
Thank you Wayne! That explains it completely.
There is a commercial product for this - Robert's Mortar. Paint brick color, let dry. Paint mortar on building, let dry. Wipe off mortar from bricks, grout is left. Sounds much like the drywall procedure.
doctorwayneThere's a semi "how-to" starting HERE at the large factory and the first photo of Tucketts Tobacco near the bottom of the page and continuing, with a few somewhat-related things. over that page and the two following it. The entire process is covered if you don't mind the interruptions.
I cut and pasted the info into one document so I can print it out for my file. Very useful, Doctor Wayne. And as always, wonderful modeling to illustrate the points. (How do you get all this modeling done if you photograph and post all these tutorials on multiple forums?)
[Those photos using the rag to apply the drywall compound look like frosting on a sheet cake! No wonder the removal stage creates a bit of debris. I noted the later mention of a stiff paintbrush for lighter applications.]
One technique that used to be popular before Robert's Mortar came on the scene was to paint the brick the color you want (or darker, since this and other methods tends to lighten the brick too) and then use liquid easy-to-apply white shoe polish (actually not polish, but the stuff used to revive the white of white sneakers and tennis shoes and other canvas shoes). It comes with its own sponge applicator, and then wiping it off the brick surface with a rag. To avoid digging into -- and removing the "white" from -- the mortar cracks, wrap the rag around a block of wood or a large pink pearl type eraser with a sizable flat surface. This might be easier to do if the building is painted and weathered and "mortarized" (have I just coined a word?) before the structure is built and the parts can be laid flat and pressed down on.
You know, with some (prototype) brick buildings you notice the "white" of the mortar lines quite clearly, even from a fair distance away - and with others it is barely noticable even if you get pretty close to the brick. I tend not to emphasize the mortar for building kits where the brick is oversized (and that is a lot of kits).
Dave Nelson
Thanks for your kind comments, Dave.
Your point about the oversize bricks is good advice - no need to emphasise them with highly contrasting mortar, or, in some cases, any mortar at all.
As you can see from the almost-finished (it still needs a big sign on the roof of the main building) Tuckett's building, I weathered it to tone down the contrast, using some well-diluted Pollyscale, with a drop or two of dish detergent added to make it flow better. I used a soft 1/2" brush to apply it generously (before the doors and windows were added) and as it ran down the walls and collected at the bottom, used a paper towel to siphon-off the excess. If the first application isn't dark enough, let it dry, then repeat with another wash (or two).
If I'm not mistaken, a high lime content was the key to creating white mortar on the prototype, and on many older structures, especially outside of big cities, that mortar is still almost as white as the day it was mixed.I'd guess that if one wanted mortar that wasn't white, it might be possible to tint the pre-mixed drywall mud using craft paints from the dollar store.
I have several structures with the mortar "suggested" simply by applying a wash of well-thinned water-based paint, with a drop or two of dish detergent added. This one might be from Magnuson - it was in pieces (not unassembled, but disassembled, and none too carefully, either) in a plastic bag when I got it for a couple dollars at a nearby hobbyshop. After assembling the useable pieces and airbrushing it with Floquil Reefer Orange, I brush-painted the stonework and window frames, then gave the brick grey wash...
...some of the windows (cast as part of the walls) were broken, so the repair made them partially open...
The offices of the John Bertram Machine Works are in a re-worked LifeLike "Bottling Plant", and I used a black wash to delineate the mortar lines...
I used a slightly different brick colour for the Evell Casket Company, but it got a black wash for mortar, too...
The car shop at Lowbanks is one of those "big bricks" buildings, and I highlighted them (hey, the railway imported them, all the way from Germany ) using a dark wash....
I can't recall for sure, but I think that National Grocers got the drywall mud treatment, followed by several washes of grey...
The Korber roundhouse on the upper level got drywall mud for mortar, too...
...followed by several dark washes...
Wayne