Results of mortar filling:

[davekelly]

Jetrock,

Excellent point about doing the walls while they are laying flat before assembly. Took me a couple of years to learn that one on my own! If they gave out degrees for learning things the hard way I would have about a dozen PhD's by now.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, for my next attempt at filling in the mortar it'll be on unassembled kits, definately.

Thanks, eng22, on the tip about the chalky appearance being eliminated by a coat of Dullcote. [:D]

My next attempt at this will, hopefully, be on two big Walthers industrial kits that I'm looking to buy at The Great American Train Show this weekend.

[Jetrock]

The drop or two of detergent helps things spread more. Try adding a little more paint--it should be about a 6:1 or 7:1 alcohol:paint ratio, at most.

How I do it: Instead of several coats, I try to do it in one fairly heavy coat. I use a foam brush, soaking up a lot of ink wash, and slather it on fairly heavily, so it fills the mortar cracks consistently all the way across the wall, and then some. Let it dry, repeat as necessary.

It normally works better if the walls are not yet assembled and you can lay them flat. Otherwise, doing each wall in turn, laying the model flat and letting it dry between coats, works.

[eng22]

I avoid the alcohol for the reason you mentioned, it leaves some surfaces a chalky color. (This can be eliminated with dullcoat) I have been happy using one part latex paint to seven parts water, and a drop of dishwashing soap. The soap does the trick for reducing the surface tention of the water and allows the paint to settle in the mortar lines. Depending on the bricks surface it may take several coats. One other note, I switched to 99% iso/alcohol for grime wash on rolling stock. It will still leave a chalky white film at times, but nowhere near as bad as the 70%. I believe this is due to a faster evaporation rate. Again, spray with dullcoat when dry.

[Anonymous]

I applied several layers as well, with the same reasoning as yours. And I believe that's why the building came out chalky-looking???[xx(]

It's just discouraging to look in MR at a picture of a brick building where the mortar lines look great and then look at mine and just.....shake my head.[V]

I'll try that window cleaner tip.

[davekelly]

Don't give up!! The mortar "neatly fills several lines after touching the tip of the bru***o the surface" is exactly as it works with mine. I often repeat the process several times using the reasoning that it is easier to build up the mortar then the other way around. To wipe any paint off the bricks I use window cleaner (ones that include amonia) after the mortar is dry.

Keep trying!

[Anonymous]

Well, today I tackled filling in mortar lines using 70% iso alcohol and gray Pollyscale paint instead of mixing water with the paint. I thinned it, just like I did when I used water, but the results still came out the same: a white chalky-looking building with a few select spots where the mortar-filling turned out perfect. Occasionally I added more paint if it seemed too thin, or more water if it seemed too thick. I also tried wiping the walls after a coat, waiting awhile for it to dry, but it would only either smear the paint or wipe it completely away from the lines, depending upon how long I waited.

Today I bought a Walthers built-up, the 'Silver Dollar Cafe',.and went to town on it, confident that it would turn out very good after reading everyone's advice on filling in the mortar. It seems like the paint neatly fills several lines of the mortar after touching the tip of the bru***o the surface, but then after a minute or so the paint disappears.

The ratio of alcohol or water-to-paint is what's screwing me up, I know.[xx(] It's hard to "eyeball" how much water or alcohol I should add to the paint mixture. And I'm not upset with anyone here on the forum who gave me advice on how to do this project. I thank everyone. I guess this mortar-filling sounds a lot easier than what it really is. As a newbie I'm convinced it takes a lot of talent or a knack/gift to accompli***his method of turning a plastic building into something more realistic-looking. [:(]

I just have a bad feeling that if I'm having this much trouble getting my buildings to look good, the rest of building my layout is going to be a nightmare instead of fun.[:(!][xx(] That's not what I wanted.