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Painting brick curtain buildings

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  • Member since
    November 2007
  • From: California
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Posted by HO-Velo on Thursday, November 3, 2022 6:53 PM

NorthsideChi
varying bricks

Mixed some paint a few shades lighter and darker than the primary color and randomly brush painted a bunch of individual bricks.

Thanks and regards, Peter

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Posted by NorthsideChi on Thursday, November 3, 2022 11:58 AM

^ what did you use to make the varying bricks?  Looks great!

  • Member since
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  • From: California
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Posted by HO-Velo on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 11:34 PM

Back when building a modified Walthers Northern Light & Power kit I painted the wall panels before assembly.  Brickwork airbrushed, then sills & top edges of the cornices brush painted.  Foundation laminated with Monster Modelworks concrete sheet.

Tried a technique from the Trollyville School, Modeling Tips, Room 6, Lesson 3, Paving Streets (part one), "painting brick sheet" by George Huckaby & Charles Hepperle.  School House  Basically, airbrush misting a few different colors in succession, and from a distance far enough away to lay down a slight grainy finish that gave some texture to the brick.  Though not sure how such a finish would affect a mortaring process.  

Lesson 3 also includes some good info about simulating concrete colors.  Though I only applied the above techniques with the recommended (and now discontinued) Floquil paints, seems that other piants would also work, or as mentioned, spray cans too.

Btw Doc Wayne, your structures are Dy-No-Mite!  

Happy masonry modeling.  Regards, Peter

 

 

 

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Posted by NorthsideChi on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 12:10 PM

I've built the roberts printing kit and American hardware 4 times now for myself and others.  The first two times I used a paint brush and did the concrete first.  I then set the pieces flat and painted the brick by "pushing" the paint into the corners and along edges.  tried masking originally but it damaged the brick paint or paint bled underneath

Later assembly, I spray painted the kits entirely a concrete color and then came back and painted the brick with a brush the same way.  

There's no right or wrong way.  Whatever you're most comfortable with and the method of painting. I'd recommend testing with a small wall piece first. 

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Posted by jjdamnit on Monday, October 31, 2022 3:32 PM

Hello All,

I kitbashed two (2) Walthers Northern Light & Power kits into one large structure.

The two (2) kits were identical in size but the "brick" color of the plastic was slightly different. 

I used rattle-can red primer to even out the brick color of the two (2) kits.

Next, I masked off the arches and lintels and airbrushed those a separate color. 

Once everything was dry I finished all the panels with a spray-on matt finish coat.

To highlight the morter lines, I spread a thin coat of lightweight patching plaster over them.

Before the plaster set, I used a sponge to remove the residue on the brick face.

Scrub harder, the more subtle the effect.

Leave more plaster in place mutes the brickwork.

Depending on the size of your structure, you can use both effects on the same structure.

Hope this helps.

"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"

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  • From: Canada, eh?
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Posted by doctorwayne on Sunday, October 30, 2022 1:39 PM

I originally painted this structure with red brick...

...but later realised that the prototype had orange brick, which was very common in much of Hamilton, Ontario.
I re-painted the brickwork with orange paint, applied with a brush, then, after the paint had dried, added mortar (pre-mixed drywall mud), which had not been part of the original version...

Even though the HO model is fairly large, it's nowhere near the scale of the real one, which was torn down quite a few years ago.

This one's even bigger, but only a freelanced version of one of the five Westinghouse factories that were located in Hamilton...

I don't recall if I painted the brick or the concrete first, but applying the mortar was more onerous due to the thickness of some of the concrete pilasters

Wayne.

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Posted by hbgatsf on Sunday, October 30, 2022 8:41 AM

hon30critter

 I think that the obvious answer would be to paint the brick first simply because masking the brick after painting it would be far easier than masking the concrete. The brick can be masked with simple flat strips of tape. Masking the concrete will require that the tape be fitted around all three sides of the concrete columns. That would be much harder to do.

Thanks.  After asking the question I thought of that.  When doing the brick first even if there is some leakage under the tape it will be close the to the color of the mortar so I am thinking it won't be very obvious.

Rick

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  • From: Bradford, Ontario
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Posted by hon30critter on Sunday, October 30, 2022 8:24 AM

hbgatsf
Is it best to paint the concrete first, tape, and then paint the brick or the other way around - brick first, tape, paint the concrete? 

Hi Rick,

I think that the obvious answer would be to paint the brick first simply because masking the brick after painting it would be far easier than masking the concrete. The brick can be masked with simple flat strips of tape. Masking the concrete will require that the tape be fitted around all three sides of the concrete columns. That would be much harder to do.

My 2 Cents

Cheers!!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by josephbw on Sunday, October 30, 2022 8:22 AM

I airbrushed the brick first, then brushed on the concrete. However I don't think there is any right or wrong way, just whatever works best for you.

Joe

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  • From: Harrisburg, PA
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Painting brick curtain buildings
Posted by hbgatsf on Sunday, October 30, 2022 6:48 AM

Here are two examples of this type of building:

Walthers George Robers Printing Company

City Classics 103 Smallman Street

Is it best to paint the concrete first, tape, and then paint the brick or the other way around - brick first, tape, paint the concrete? 

Rick

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