What’s the best way to bring out the mortar joints in HO plastic brick walls?
Ahh…the elusive best. This is my best, painted gray and dry brushed with a brick color. I don’t think I’d have the patience to do Dr Wayne’s Gern industries with the technique.
Usually I use a dilute wash of white paint, then scrub the paint off the bricks.
i use acrilic spackling tinted with acrlic paint
I’m guessing that would be a water based paint diluted by ?%
In my case, acrylic paint, not sure if I ever measured it, at least 1:4 paint to water, maybe more dilute than that.
Thanks.
Walt
There is a motar product, I’ve never used it. There is probably a thread on this site about it.
http://www.robertsbrickmortar.com/howto.html
There is also a partial video here of Gerry Leone using the paint technique
https://www.modelrailroadacademy.com/video/adding-mortar-lines-010650/
I’ve tried a few things, but the best is just drywall compound.
I use white chalk, apply lots and rub it of the surface of the bricks. not very perminate, I suppose you could cover it with Dulcote.
With the brick the color I want, I used a dilute wash of white craft paint, let it set for a few minutes, wipe off the excess. Simple.
Have fun,
Richard
I have mixed feelings about colouring the mortar. If it is done well, like Henry’s is, I think it looks great. However, too often the mortar is not thoroughly cleaned off of the bricks. That leaves a pasty white smear on the building which looks hideous IMHO. We have a couple of structures on our portable layout with that problem. I can hardly wait to get rid of them or at least repaint them.
I’m doing a Walthers roundhouse right now with red bricks, and guess what? It will have red mortar! I might do a few light mineral stains around the lower parts of the walls, but only here and there.
Dave
Henry, that looks great!
Dave, I’ve had that film too, I just keep wiping it with a damp rag until it’s clean.
On 1:1 masonry buildings, we wash it down with a diluted muriatic acid mix. I don’t think you need to go that far. [(-D]
Mike.
I have done the same thing but I was never happy with the look. Despite numerous attempts to clean the bricks they never regained the ‘crisp’ colour. I think Henry’s key to getting the accurate look that he did is that he dry brushed the brick colour on after the mortar was applied. I need to practice my dry brushing skills.[swg]
Dave
I use a thin slurry of joint compound in water, kinda like skim milk. After the brick-colored paint dries, I dampen it with a spray of water and then apply the slurry with a 1-inch brush. The moisture on the wall helps the slurry spread into every nook and cranny. I let it dry which usually doesn’t take long and then I remove the film of joint compound left on the brick surface with a damp sponge.
The sponge should be in good shape, not ragged, because you don’t want the rough edges gouging out the joint compound from the mortar grooves. You should lightly graze the sponge over the brick surface. The joint compound will get damp again, so you need to let it dry again to see if more joint compound needs to be removed.
You don’t want to scrub corners (like pillars and window ledges) with the sponge because that, too will gouge the joint compound out of the mortar grooves. I lightly scrape excess joint compound from those corners with an Xacto knife - ‘lightly’ being the key word.
Three things make this method appealing to me - you can apply washes and/or India ink in rubbing alcohol to the mortared wall and the joint compound will absorb it and take on a weathered look - and if you don’t like how it turns out, you can throw the wall in a bucket of water and it will all come off so you can try again. That won’t work with thinned paint. Finally, it’s cheap. You can get small tubs of joint compound for very little money and you can do many, many walls with it.
What’s not to like?
Jeff
Years ago, I used a method from an article by Noel Holly in RMC, back in the '70s. You paint the structure before assembly (I used Boxcar Red, as my AHM buildings were molded in an odd shade of plastic), lay the walls flat, wet it down with water with a drop of dish detergent in it, dust on joint compo
I use pre-mixed drywall mud for representing mortar.
The first job is to assemble the basic structure, without doors and windows installed along with any other non-brick detail parts. Leave the roof off, too.
Next, paint the structure using an appropriate “brick” colour. I apply it using my airbrush, and because many brick buildings in my hometown were built with very orange-coloured brick, I use colours such as Reefer Orange, Daylight Orange, etc.
Here’s the future home of Tuckett Tobacco, a real factory located in that city. The model is Walthers Greatland Sugar, built with both long walls facing the aisle on my around-the-room-layout. I also modified the outbuildings as annexes…
Once the paint, depending on type, has hardened (lacquers, like the Floquil used here) or fully cures (acrylic paints), it’s time to play bricklayer.
I use a soft rag over my finger tips, dipping into the surface of the pre-mixed drywall mud, then smearing it onto the walls. If the walls have raised details, such as window sills or cornices, make sure to work the mud into any depressions or other hard-to-get-into areas. It will dry fairly quickly, but do allow it time to do so, as it’s much easy to remove the excess after it has dried…
Use a clean, dry rag to rub-off the dried excess mud, working outdoors if possible, as this step creates a lot of dust. Shake out the rag often as you work. The plain brick is easiest to do, but alongside the raised details, such as the window sills or pilasters, you’ll need either your fingernails or the tip of a small screwdriver, covered by the rag, to get the excess mort
My freind Tomas did the mortar on the foundation of this little kit using common Wall Spackle. His technique is just like Wayne’s above.
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-Kevin
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I mist my wall sections with a little “wet water” similar to how you would apply ballast. It seems to allow the solids (pigments) of the paint settle into the mortar joint. I use thinned latex paint in lighter shades of gray for the mortar.
RH_grout1 by Edmund, on Flickr
After this has dried I’ll buff off the face of the brick and if needed repeat the process.
Some structures do not have well defined mortar lines so highlighting them makes for poor end results.
Good Luck, Ed
I haven’t tried this yet…I watched a video where the modeler used oil crayons. He painted the stucture the color that he wanted it to be, then used an oil crayon to fill the mortar lines. He then used a rag to wipe the oil crayon from the top of the bricks, leaving the mortar lines filled.
Oil crayons come in various colors and can be obtained from just about any art/hobby shop.
Terry
Thanks to all who replied. Bunch of great ideas and products I never knew existed, like oil crayons. I’ll try some ideas on scrap wall sections before I use on the main structure.
Walt