grout lines

[Anonymous]

I am attempting to weather buildings for the first time, and wanted some input for bringing out the grout lines in the brick, as well as any other basic weathering tips. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

There are a few mortar products out there for doing this. They are a kind of paste with the color of the grout. You paint the wall, then rub the mortar all over the wall to work it into the lines. After it dries, you gently rub the residue off the high brick pattern and you have a pretty good mortar look. I tried to apply an india ink wa***o one building after this and it messed up the mortar a bit. I haven't figured that one out yet. BTW, HO scale buildings have deeper than scale mortar lines to provide the room necessary to put this mortar compound. If the lines were not deeper than they should be, you would hardly notice them at all. Good Luck - Ed

[JDCoop]

I use 2 different methods to add the grout lines depending on their depth. If the grout lines are deep or pronounced, then I spray the entire building with a concrete or aged concrete color. After letting it dry thorougly, I then dry bru***he brick color over that. When adding the brick color, make sure that you don't have very much paint loaded in the brush, or you will fill the grout lines with the brick color paint. The second method that I use for buildings with a smoother finish with lighter grout lines is to paint the building the brick color first. I let that thoroughly dry and then seal it with dullcote. I then take acrylic craft paint available at Wal-Mart..or other discount or craft stores, for approximately 78 cents. I dilute it with water..I use no particular mix..I just dilute until it looks right. I wa***he building with the diluted acrylic paint and wipe the excess off with a paper towel. The paint shoud settle in the grout lines, but it may require a second application if too much is wiped off. The beauty of either method is that if you are not satisfied with the results, you can start over with a new coat of paint.

I also detail all of the windows in my buildings. For an opaque looking glass, I simply apply scotch tape over the back of the window. The more layers of scotch tape you use, the more opaque the window looks. I use masking tape to make window shades. I don't put the sticky side to the plastic. Instead I put the non-sticky side to the back side of the window and attach the tape by some other method other than its own stickiness. Some other window treatments come from the glossy, color Sunday ads in the newspaper. Sometimes the curtains that are on sale can be cut out and mounted on the backside of the windows. I've also used snipets of bedspreads, pants, shirts, suits, tents, etc to make various styles of curtains and window shades. Small color pictures of air conditioners in the Sunday ads can also result in nice looking blinds...but the air conditioner needs to be small enough so that the a/c vents will be close enough together to look like scale blinds.

I hope these ideas work for you. The only limit on detailing and weathering your buildings is your imagination.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Here's a simple pre-mixed product!Robert's Brick Mortar Formula! PO Box 27057, Milwaukee Wi. 53227
Answering machine, 414-422-1371
A 4 oz jar, $8.00 bucks + $4.00 S & H. No mess, simple, water clean up, covers 20 sq ft.

[Anonymous]

I kinda' stumbled upon this one by accident, but it makes the most realistic "mortar" lines I've ever seen. My other hobby is rock tumbling. For those not familiar with this, you collect good polishable stones, usually agate, or conglomerates, and with water, process them in a "tumbler" for several weeks. After each sucessive grit polish, you have a "slurry" that needs to be disposed-of. You don't want to dump this stuff down the sink though, if you do, you'll be calling a plummer real soon. So, by chance, I had some of this "stuff" in a glass jar to dispose of later. At the same time, I was in the process of building a Walthers kit. I had painted the walls and needed "mortar", Well, there it was! After draining off the excess water, I had a thin paste-like natural "cement"!
Bru***his on, let it dry, then with a dry paper towel, gently expose the painted surface of the bricks. It is very easy at this stage to vary the effects of your "mortar". A few applications may be nesessary to achieve the desired effect, but once you are satisfied, hit it with a spray of "dull-coat" and it's set. If you don't have access to a rock tumbler, I could provide the slurry to anyone willing to pay the shipping costs.
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

By the way, if anyone wants this stuff, E-mail is:
[e-mail]
Todd C.