I’ve been using PS “aged concrete” applied with a micro brush then wiped off the brick faces with a dry paper towel to fill in mortar lines on some plastic kits, is there an easier/better way to do this? Seems like I’m wasting a lot of paint this way
I use a wash of Polly S dust. Slop it on, let it dry for a few minutes, then wipe it off with a slightly dampened towel. Any light color should do just fine.
I have heard that Roberts Brick Mortar is the cat’s meow but I have not yet tried it. Looks like there are “how to’s” on the company web site.
Good luck!
That looks sweet! Just ordered a jar
I use real dry wall mud I got at Home Depot. I thin it down with water. Dip a rag in the mixture, whip it on the building side. When it dries, about 15min. I just wipe it off with a damp rag. Perfect mortor lines with the right color.
I got this tip from Wayne here, its an easy way of doing it with great results.
I use,vinyl ‘‘Spackle’’,put on with your finger tip,let dry,remove excess with a scuff pad,like one side of a dish sponge,leaving the mortar lines in the brick…You may also add latex paint to give the Spackle the tint,you’d like…A lot cheaper than any other way I’ve seen and it lasts…
Cheers,
Frank
Frank-- How much paint does it take to tint? I assume you use a gray or tan? I suppose I should have said this is on N scale (if that would matter with thicker products like spackle)
Size of the model does not matter,you can get a small plastic container and probably do every brick building you have and then…some The paint,buy the smallest one you can find,any color you want…get yourself a small plastic dish,take about a teaspoon of spackle,put it in the dish,a little bit of your color paint and mix to the shade you want. The Spackle is white and use your finger to put it on,rubbing it around…When dry use the scuff pad and the scuff pad should be dry too…Dust off with a paint brush and give it a coat of Dull-Coat or something similar…And don’t worry if there is still some dust on it,the brick,it will look more natural that way…Try it you like it…do a sample,it’s not hard at all and cheap…
Cheers,
Frank
I use white Acrylic Craft type paint (Cerocoat) mixed with a small amount of black to get a light grayish white. I keep a cup of water near and dip the brush into the water then in the paint and brush this on the brick wall. The idea is to get the paint so thin that it will only collect in the mortar lines, but may slightly tint the bricks, also. I have found this method the easiest of the many methods I’ve tried and far easier than brushing; or, whipping on joint compound. It takes some experimenting to get to where your getting the results your after; but, the beauty of this method is if you keep everything wet, you can simply rinse off bad results. You will get slightly different results every time you mix paint and can even mix in different colors for different effects. The slight tinting of the bricks gives a weathered look to the brick wall.
I just used diluted craft paint that was an appropriate color (purchased or mixed). Dabbed it on with a small brush, let it run in the mortar lines. If there was a little too much, a rag wiped off the excess.
Haven’t done many yet, but it sure improved the pre owned building I upgraded. Have a number of brick structures “in waiting”. May try some of the other methods too, just for variance.
Good luck,
Richard
In the past, I’ve had very good luck with the thinned craft paint method, but recently I can’t get the paint into the mortar lines without getting too much on the surface. I’m wondering if the difference may be the paint I used for the bricks. This one was primer, but I think I had better luck with a satin finish spray paint.
What brick paint do others use?
My brick buildings are all painted with Floquil with an airbrush. Very flat finish. If done correctly (yes, I have done it correctly…once in a while) it leaves a very thin coat of paint on the structure walls without filling the mortar lines.
Ditto to the vinyl spackle and/or joint compound. At only a few dollars per tub, they’re a lot cheaper than the Roberts Brick Mortar, and probably similar, if not the same, stuff. Does anyone know for sure what he’s using?
Steve S
I ordered a small bottle of the Roberts mortar this am, figured I’d give it a shot and see how it turns out
An old idea but still worth giving a try is the product used to restore a pristine white to white tennis shoes or other canvas type athletic shoes. It is like shoe polish: a plastic bottle that you shake and then apply using the built in spongy top. But it is a flat not glossy product so it is not a shoe polish.
The ease of application and relative cheapness of the product are in its favor. It does have a bit of an odor but once it dries that decreases. Best of all you might even have some already in the house.
Dave Nelson
Something I’d suggest…
Now, brick is something you can get away with brush painting. You can’t really see brush marks because of the grid. Also you’re going to get wasteful with paint, so hit the craft acrylics.
Buy or mix up some mortar colored paint. Mortar comes in plenty of colors, so look around you and figure out what you want. Thin is just a bit. Brands and even bottle to bottle vary on how thick the stuff is, but try to get it to a more fluid consistency. About what Polly S or your favorite brushing on paint is like. Paint the whole wall this color.
Then get some of those make up sponges they make. The wedge shaped ones. Get some brick colored paint (again, variety here) and do the same thinning process on it. Take the sponges and soak up some paint. Not a lot, but the sponge is going to eat up a good amount. Not enough that the thing drips or anything. Give it a gentle mash on something like a spare sheet of plastic. Nothing that can pick up lint like a paper towel. This’ll clear out excess paint so you don’t accidentally flood your work (sort of like drybrushing).
Now…start dabbing, gently, randomly around your work. If you trade off a couple colors and feather and blend a lot, you can introduce a lot of variety in the brickwork and look pretty god. Or you can just take that one color and keep on dabbing until you over the whole work. If you use the right touch, which takes a bit of practice, you can get the bricks painted without getting too much of the mortar painted over.
You’re going to waste a lot of paint, so buy cheap! But you can say that of a lot of ways to paint things.
Roberts Brick Mortar works very well on goes a long way. I’ve been using the same bottle for quite some time.
I don’t mean to steal the thread, but if you use a damp rag to wipe off the excess mortar after it dries, won’t you also wife off the acrlic paint that you painted the bricks with?
Example, I am building the Woodland Scenics Sicken Tire Co. (my first plastic building). I have primered it with gray automotive primer, I will then paint it a sorta yellow color,. then add mortar, but am affraid I will wife off the yellow. Then I will spray it flat clear.
Am I doing it right?
You could give it a coat of clear enamel spray before applying the mortar.
SteveS
I thought about that but was afraid I would end up filling the space for the mortar with clear coat.
A couple things…
Acrylic paint doesn’t stay soluble in water after it dries. Assuming it adhered properly to the substrate, it shouldn’t come off later with water-based weathering.
Also, I usually don’t employ acrylic for painting bricks, unless it’s something like the Liquitex spray acrylics that craft stores now sell. I’ll typically use enamel spray paint for the brick, which goes on smooth and renders the brick even more impervious to later weathering. If I need a special color I may mix that from various enamels and airbrush it. There’s certainly nothing wrong with using acrylic for bricks if that’s what you like though.