I am new to the forum (obvious from my post count). My wife and I are just getting starting in the hobby and have a small N layout. We are starting to add structures and I have a question. I have the Cornerstone Santa Fe Brick Freight House kit and would like to add mortar to the stamped brick texture on the building. I was looking at a scenery book that recommended thinning paint to a wash-like consistency, applying the wash, then using a cloth with thinner to wipe off the wash from the bricks, leaving the wash in the mortar lines. Sounds like a good plan, but, being a newbie, I have a couple of questions. First, would the seasoned professionals here agree that this is an acceptable approach? Second, how much do I thin the paint to get it to the right consistency? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Richard
You are going to get a lot of viewpoints on this so get ready. There are several methods out there to achieve a good mortared look. The method you mentioned has worked well for me. I use a wash of acrylic paint of the proper mortar color mixed about 1:1 with distilled water. work in manageable areas and wipe well before the paint starts to set. Others have suggested using a wash of drywall mud but I haven't tried that.
Joe
Welcome.
I don't remember just how much I diluted to do mine. I used a close to concete color craft paint, diluted with water.
Might I suggest, if you have an older building or something you picked up cheaply at a rr show, pratice on that. You can also do a wall that will not be in normal viewing (usually a back wall) to give it a try and see how it goes.
I found it quite easy to do. By using a diluted paint, if I felt I had too much, I could quickly dab it off with a rag and try again.
Good luck,
Joe: You reminded me of another question. We were at the hobby shop getting paint and there was both enamel and acrylic model paints. It has been many, many years since I built a plastic model and back then it seems like enamel was the only choice. Am I better off using acrylic paints? (Hopefully I didn't open a can of worms with the question.)
Richard: First of all, let me congratulate your parents on their fine choice of a name.
I am in luck. The kit includes two side walls--one for a freestanding freight house and the other if it is being combined with the depot, both have bricks. I am all set to make my first mistake.
For washes such as I used for this, I used craft paints from my local craft store. They also carry acrylics in tubes. The only use I plan for them is work on the backdrop. Other folks may use them for other things. The hobby has both solvent based and water based paints. Both work, it almost gets to be a personal preference. However, the craft paints, mostly in smaller bottles (2 oz, some colors in 8 oz) are much less expensive.
Have fun,
Richard (Inhearated from grandfather)
RideOnRoad Joe: You reminded me of another question. We were at the hobby shop getting paint and there was both enamel and acrylic model paints. It has been many, many years since I built a plastic model and back then it seems like enamel was the only choice. Am I better off using acrylic paints? (Hopefully I didn't open a can of worms with the question.)
I prefer acrylic paints over solvent based enamels. I find them easier to work with and if I make a mistake I can correct it easily with a water or Windex wash off. Enamels require solvent clean up to correct oops. Enamels for me are just harder to work with.
Pre-mixed vinyl spackling works well for mortar. Rub it on, let it dry and wipe off the excess. I've found it's more forgiving than paint in that it's easier to remove if you think there's too much.
Vinyl Spackling
Steve S
RoR aka Richard,
How did you manage to get your wife interested in the hobby? I think it's great. I've been hinting at my wife to get into it, as she doesn't have any hobby at the moment, but no interest.
Lorne
@Lorne: First of all, we are recent "empty nesters" so we are finding we have more time for shared hobbies. We got interested in model trains the end of last year. We had some time to kill while in San Diego and ended up in the Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. I was enthralled by the trains and the layouts and my wife was fascinated with the structures and scenery. We started talking and decided this was something we would both like to get involved in. My grandfather was a brakeman on the Union Pacific line in Utah in the late 40's so this became the period for our layout. I bought my first engine, a Kato Union Pacific F3 engine with my Christmas money, and the rest is history.
I agree with Joe in PA. Acrylics allow you to wash it off if you don't like the look. Solvent paints are pretty well permanant. Also, I think spackling is too white for my liking but if that is the look one wants, why not try it.
I've tried a number of methods, including rubbing in ordinary baking flour and sealing it with Dull-Coat, and rubbing in Hydrocal powder and then misting with water to get it to set. After those experiments, I tried the acrylic wash, and I think it's the best so far.
I built a Walthers Merchants' Row kit. This kit models a group of attached buildings, so I did a lot of masking and painting to have different colors for each "structure," even though they were physically the same styrene wall. From this, and subsequent mortaring, I discovered that it works a lot better on a surface that's been sprayed with primer.
A recent issue of MR had an article that suggested mixing the paint with something called "flow enhancer." I found some at a craft store, but I haven't tried it yet.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MavrykRoR aka Richard, How did you manage to get your wife interested in the hobby? I think it's great. I've been hinting at my wife to get into it, as she doesn't have any hobby at the moment, but no interest. Lorne
At age 53, I've noticed from reading magazines and online forum posts etc. that model railroading is pretty rare in the female gene pool. From memory I can count the number of true female model railroad enthusasts on both hands, most notably the Cynthia Priest, Margaret Mansfield of MRG fame (RIP), the wife of Ken Patterson, and a few other isolated authors of articles over the years. I think the best most of us can hope for is a wife who enjoys our hobby from the sidelines or maybe participates in some side aspects of the hobby such as scenery or backdrops or perhaps helping us run trains. Or at least supports us in a positive way. My wife is supportive and comes to train shows with me and drags me around the show making sure I've covered all the vendors and enjoys looking at the layouts.
Back on topic,
I haven't tried adding morter yet, but since it is in recessed crevaces, it seems you could cover the surface with a mortor colored paint, perhaps dilute, and use a sponge or something to wife the surface clean leaving the mortor color in the crevaces?
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Just to be annoying, I'll point out I find it works best to do it the other way around. I paint the brick walls of the kit primer gray (inside and out) using Tamiya primer in a spray can, then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. The art marker's tip is hard enough that the color doesn't get down into the mortar lines, leaving the lines between the bricks gray. You can use a light tan instead of gray.
Keep in mind the plastic molding process often creates walls with "waves" in them that is very unrealistic. By painting the walls, you cover that up.
I'm going to chime in here to add another method that has worked well for me: I paint the entire wall with the brick color, then, with a seriously-thinned (4-5:1) wash of white or tan, or gray, touch the tip of a loaded brush to a mortar crevice. Capillary action will draw the mortar color into the mortar lines over a wide area. If you are using acrylics, thin with isopropyl alcohol to reduce surface tension in the wash. Have fun!
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
I add when O do a mortared building in N scale, I start by painting it Floquil Boxcar Red. It makes a nice brick color. Next, I coat the entire building with gray poster paint. It's readily available at Micheals or Hobby Lobby and its cheap. I then wipe most of it off with a paper towel. This leaves the mortar lines filled.
I used the technique on this Model Power Railroad Hotel kit:
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
wjstix Just to be annoying, I'll point out I find it works best to do it the other way around. I paint the brick walls of the kit primer gray (inside and out) using Tamiya primer in a spray can, then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. The art marker's tip is hard enough that the color doesn't get down into the mortar lines, leaving the lines between the bricks gray. You can use a light tan instead of gray. Keep in mind the plastic molding process often creates walls with "waves" in them that is very unrealistic. By painting the walls, you cover that up.
I'm just getting started back building structures. Today I was trying to do the mortar for my new building. I tried some of these ideas on the back side to see which I liked best. I liked this best which is stix's version. What do you think?
Wayne
wjstix I paint the brick walls of the kit primer gray (inside and out) using Tamiya primer in a spray can, then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. The art marker's tip is hard enough that the color doesn't get down into the mortar lines, leaving the lines between the bricks gray. You can use a light tan instead of gray.
I paint the brick walls of the kit primer gray (inside and out) using Tamiya primer in a spray can, then use a dark red or brown art marker to color the bricks. The art marker's tip is hard enough that the color doesn't get down into the mortar lines, leaving the lines between the bricks gray. You can use a light tan instead of gray.
Hi Stix, Any recommendation on brand of art marker? So far I have used drywall repair to fill the cracks. It looks nice but there is a lot of clean up related to using the method. So your method intrigues me the most.
To the OP, if you look at brick buildings in your area you will see variations in the color of individual bricks in a wall, I use colored pencils to shade the paint. So the model was sprayed with primer first then with a brick color. This has the Wathers inside details installed so it will be lighted. So another reason to paint inside and out is to avoid light leaks.
UP in CT,
I think the variation in color of brick is for newer brick. Seems to me brick from the early to mid 1900's was more uniform in most cases. I have tried both methods of just coloring the mortar joints and of using colored pencils to have different shades of bricks on the same wall. I like both of them. Guess it just depends on what look the modeler wants or what the original building looked like if one is trying to replicate it as close as possible.
I tried my hand and here is the result:
I used a grey primer, then a red base coat, then a grey wash. I tried using a cloth to wipe of the layer from the bricks, but it kept cleaning the grooves, so I ended up wiping it lightly with my finger. I am pretty happy with how it turned on, especially since I have never painted a model before (ever). Thanks to all for the suggestions.
Looks good, I am in the same boat as you. I am going to be doing my frist brick building soon. I hope it looks that good.