Brick Mortar Questions. How do I do this?

[gatrhumpy]

I need to try the hard paint pen. I will first have to work on my Master's Degree.

I want to get a perfectly-painted building, then weather it to my liking.

[gatrhumpy]

I might have to try the painting using a hard paint pen when I get home. I have to first work on my Master's Degree. Priorities!

I would like a perfectly painted structure, and then I can weather it from there.

[secondhandmodeler]

If you really want the mortar lines to show up perfectly, you may need to reverse your process.  The reverse involves painting your structure the mortar color then coloring each individual brick.  I believe colored pencils are involved.  When I did my buildings, I didn't want the mortar to show up perfectly.  Before I weathered it, it looked like Packers building.  Then I toned it down with a few dark washes to darken the bricks.  Are you trying to build a 'new' building, or an older one?

[gatrhumpy]

It seems like I can't win.

I tried to go to Home Depot to get some Window glazing putty, the non-drying kind, and tried rubbing it on the brick face. I even warmed it up by rubbing it in my hands a couple of minutes. No go. The putty was waaay to sticky and would not adhere to the brick surface.

Even tried a wash of diluted off-white paint with water, and then tried wiping off the face of the brick once the wash was applied. The result was crap. The wash was not consistent and when I wiped it took away some of white mortar lines. I was wiping perpendicular to the mortar lines, and then even tried at a 45 degree angle, with horrible results.

Why can't I get a consistent mortar line on N scale brick?

[ChrisNH]

Mike, that looks very convincing. I will definitely try doing that on one of my "test" walls.

Chris

[NSlover92]

I use the method you said first I paint the brick all a oxide red, i let that dry good for a day or so, and then I take concrete colored paint, and put it on, then I whip it off, worked good for me, if your bricks dont look good enough to you, you can then use different red tints of colored pencils and color random bricks. Mike

[mikelhh]

 Loads of good ideas on here.

 

 I used artists pastels [chalks] to do  mine :

 Powder the chalk with a blade, rub it on, blow away the excess and gently spray with artists fixative or matt varnish. I like to be a bit hit and miss with the chalk.

 

 

 Mike 

 

[jbone]

TomKat - I'm so glad you mentioned using chalk. I started to built my first brick model building the other night and decided that I wanted to "weather" the walls before putting it together. I had NO idea how to do it. I did remember someone had mentioned using chalk....soooo I grabbed my daughters box of Pastel Chalks and set to it....being completely cluesless. I tried using a brush and it took forever and the chalk didn't stay. So here's a stupidly simple way that I found worked much better. I used an off-white color and really pressed the end of the chalk into the mortor lines. Then I blew away the excess and rubbed it in with a damp finger. That was it. I then put some streaks of black chalk on the brick faces and again worked it in hard with a damp finger. I highlighted areas under the windows and other places and it looks fantastic. I was shocked. I tried to see how durable it was by wiping it off with a wet finger and it would not come off. I've since completed 3 other building using chalk and it really is simple. Certainly anywhere I used black appears to be permanent. Hopefully the other colors will stay also.

[Packer]

I used thinned white laytex paint. I put it in a cap and added some water to the mix. Brush paint on a side of a building, then wipe it off.

I may have over-did it.

[CNE Runner]

I recently began my first laser-cut craftsman type structure (hang in there as I will get to the point). In an attempt to get some additional information, I emailed FOS structures - attempting to find out if their line of fine structures was suitable for a "craftsman newbie". They recommended a DVD by Scotty Mason called Building Craftsman Structure Kits - Volume One. Honestly, I learned more in the first 15 minutes of this outstanding video than I could ever have gained on my own. Scotty is an excellent instructor and the quality of the production is first rate.

More to the point: Scotty describes how to deal with brick walls. His method is easy and suitable for any modeler. Mr. Mason's DVD's (there are a total of 3 in the set...I only bought the first one - something I will correct ASAP) can be bought from his website www.scottymason.com . I think I paid about $40 for Volume 1...money very well spent. Trust me, you will want to eventually move to laser kits (nothing resembles wood quite like....wood). Many of today's craftsman kits can be assembled by anyone with minimal skills, a willingness to learn, and a dash of adventure. I just finished Northeastern Scale Models "Cheese Factory" and found it to be straight-forward and enjoyable to build. Yes, I built it before I sent for Scotty's DVD - made some mistakes; but resolve to do better on the next kit.

[perlaursen]

I bought a can of Roberts Brick Mortar Formula from Caboose Hobbies to try it out, and I will never use anything else anymore. This product is the easiest way I ever did mortar lines, no hassle, no mess, just brush it on, let it dry and wipe the brick faces. It looks really good and works well on both bare plastic walls and painted walls. I can only recommend it.

Per, Summit Customcuts

 

[loathar]

Secondhand-I love that curb/sidewalk in front of those buildings! How did you make that?

[tomkat-13]

Rub, press the chalk into the lines & with a lightly damp cloth whipe the bricks off.

OK, so when you seal it with Dullcote, does it go away? I tried the chalk, however, I didn't wipe it off with a damp towel. I will have to try that method.

I do not use Dullcote.......First I use a flat paint in a brick color.....(sometimes I use a light India ink wash)....then I use a chalk mixture (white with gray, or tan)....rub and/or press some in between the bricks.... some plastic models hold the chalk better than others (if the lines between the brick do not hold the chalk, a paint or ink wash will do better)....after you can whipe the bricks with an old all cotton T-shirt rag....sometimes I get it lightly damp. Rub off the bricks to get the effect you want.....do not do all your buildings the same way.....try different brick & mortar colors.

 

[ndbprr]

I don't like using paper towells because they seem to wick away more mortar then I want.  I prefer an antique white because with age mortar turns beige.  because of model railroad lighting or lack thereof that seems to be too dark to me.  So I take some acrylic antique white and dip my finger in water and then lightly in the paint and just squeegee it into the mortar joints.  It leaves a little residue on the bricks but it varies their color as in real life.  I do this after painting the wall a solid brick color with an airbrush.  Is this method #17?

[rolleiman]

Here is a tutorial I wrote several years ago (with pictures) that'll take you through the steps of painting, assembling, brick mortor, signage, weathering that I often use on buildings.

Enjoy..

http://www.rolleiman.com/trains/clinic1.html

(made active by selector)

 

[gatrhumpy]

Rub, press the chalk into the lines & with a lightly damp cloth whipe the bricks off.

OK, so when you seal it with Dullcote, does it go away? I tried the chalk, however, I didn't wipe it off with a damp towel. I will have to try that method.

[tomkat-13]

Rub, press the chalk into the lines & with a lightly damp cloth whipe the bricks off.

[gatrhumpy]

Tomkat, how did you do the white and grey chalk building? That looks fantastic!

[tomkat-13]

White & gray chalk

White chalk on the brick bottom.

India ink wash.

[Lillen]

Use very small amounts each time and be prepared to many layers instead of one.

 

Most good painting is done with many, many layers of very thin paint.

 

Magnus

[ngartshore350]

I tried the wash method and it failed on me also!

I might try the wash method of using a water based wash rather than an oil based wash as when I wiped the wash off it took the brick colored paint with it.

Could it have been that I thinned the paint with mineral turpentine rather than thinners? It was all I had at the time!

[secondhandmodeler]

Blah! Tried the whitewash, and it didn't work too well. Some mortar lines didn't come through, and some of the whitewash dried on the brick.

I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

The whitewash was heavily diluted with 70% alcohol, and brushed on.

You may need to try another coat.  When I did it, the grout lines were not even.  The diluted paint did dry on the brick as well.  Here is a picture of the side.  As you can see, it certainly isn't perfect.  This was the reason for my washes of very diluted black paint.

[Lillen]

Blah! Tried the whitewash, and it didn't work too well. Some mortar lines didn't come through, and some of the whitewash dried on the brick.

I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

The whitewash was heavily diluted with 70% alcohol, and brushed on.

 

I use regular dishwashing liquid.

 

Magnus

[gatrhumpy]

Blah! Tried the whitewash, and it didn't work too well. Some mortar lines didn't come through, and some of the whitewash dried on the brick.

I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

The whitewash was heavily diluted with 70% alcohol, and brushed on.

[gatrhumpy]

I used the method of diluted, white paint.  I first sprayed the sections with rust colored primer in a can.  I then diluted white paint with alcohol and applied with a brush.  The alcohol lets the paint run down the contours of the brick.  One thing I would do in the future is use light gray instead of white.  After the white dried,  I had to add multiple washes of diluted black to tone everything down.  I prefer craft paint over ink washes because you can wipe off excess paint while it's drying.  Here is a picture of one of my projects.  I never did get around to finishing them before I dismantled my layout.

click on photo to enlarge

 

I may have to try that when I get home. Thanks!

[secondhandmodeler]

I used the method of diluted, white paint.  I first sprayed the sections with rust colored primer in a can.  I then diluted white paint with alcohol and applied with a brush.  The alcohol lets the paint run down the contours of the brick.  One thing I would do in the future is use light gray instead of white.  After the white dried,  I had to add multiple washes of diluted black to tone everything down.  I prefer craft paint over ink washes because you can wipe off excess paint while it's drying.  Here is a picture of one of my projects.  I never did get around to finishing them before I dismantled my layout.

click on photo to enlarge

[gatrhumpy]

I tried the drywall spackle method yesterday, and I failed miserably. I may have to paint the entire model again (N scale DPM) just to start over and get the spackle completely off.

 Has anyone tried the chalk method before?

[ChrisNH]

When looking at pictures of real buildings in contrast to model buildings the model buildings have to much white in general.

I agree completely. I have a brick building to paint but went a bought some sections of modular brick wall to experiment with. The pics I see of the "wipe off" method seem to leave the brick very light but I have to see it under actual layout lighting to get a feel for it. Most of the brick buildings around my way have been around a long time and have faded mortar and a deep red brick color.

I am inclined to think that painting the brick white and then dry brushing red will err on the side of brick rather then mortar and perhaps get what I am looking at.

I am terribly guilty of too much thinking and talking and not enough doing as far as this goes.. I will need to give it a try sometime soon! 

chris 

[Arjay1969]

The technique that has worked well for me is:

 1. Spray the walls with whatever brick color you want (I use the 97-cent cans of red primer from Wally World)

2. brush on a wash of whatever mortar color you want (shoe polish works well for this too).

3. to bring the brick color back out, LIGHTLY spray a mist of your brick color over the surface of the bricks.

 

I wish I had pictures to post, but I'm posting from work.