I’m building my first real structure, Walthers Conerstone two stall enginehouse.
I’ve already asked how to achieve the morter look and have been given many answers. I plan on using Acrylic paint. Thin it, apply it to the brick, then it off.
Once I get the effect I’m looking for can I use Solvent Based Floquil Matt finish as a last coat to dull and seal it?
Bill
I built that same engine house and the mortar joints are wider than a lot of kits so I got a very good mortar effect. Kits with thin joints are more difficult to get visible mortar lines.
First, do your mortaring while the walls are lying flat. If you try to do it after assembly and the walls are vertical, the mortar will run down the sides and disappear.
Second, don’t over thin your mortar wash. I’ve found that mortar that looks great wet becomes barely noticeable when dry. If it looks too thick when wet, it will probably be just right when dry. As long as the brick still shows through when wet, it should be OK. If you have a spare piece of brick siding, you can experiment to determine how thick you need to apply it.
Lastly, plan on doing some additional weathering after the mortar dries. I’ve found that the mortar will leave a film when it dries. You can remove some of this with a slightly damp cloth or paper towel. Then apply some type of weathering. I’ve used alcohol/India ink wash in the past with good effect. I do this after assembly with the walls vertical so it creates the effect of grime that has washed down the sides by rain water. Lately, I’ve been using weathering powders because the different colors can be used to create a variety of effects.
Yes. Just make sure all your paint and mortar are completely dry before dull coating.
I have done the same process on a background building that I am finishing. The process I feel turned out really well and I spotted my mortar across the building which I feel made it show much better. I also added a darker wash from the corners of the windows to reflect the stains from years of weather. I need to yet dullcote the building but I think this process will find its way along the other buildings. I plan on hitting my engine house a little harder with the weathering as it is sure to have been exposed to much abuse.
Years ago, while visiting a friend, he took out an old AHM (Pola? Heljan?) hotel he’d just finished, and it had beautiful mortar lines in the brick courses. It didn’t look like the method I’d used, from an article in RMC by Noel Holley, back in the '70s, of painting the walls in my favorite brick color and inserting the prepainted windows and doors, then lying the walls flat, brushing on water–then applying dry plaster with a touch of black dry poster paint in it. Done in dry weather, it dries quickly, but you brushed the loose plaster away with a soft cloth, using diagonal strokes to avoid dislodging the plaster in the mortar lines.
My friend, Don Frederickson, used a much simpler method: he applied white shoe polish and wiped it off with those same diagonal strokes, leaving the chalky shoe polish in the mortar lines! I never tried it, as I loved the realism of Holley’s method. However, I believe I did use a similar method on a brick chimney or two, using Floquil’s Polly S Reefer Gray, full strength, so I see no reason why acrylic paints wouldn’t work the same way. Wiping diagonally, you might leave a ghost coating of very thin paint on the bricks, but Don’s white shoe polish and my Polly S did the same thing–and it gave a nice weathered effect.
Dean-58