Structure painting help needed!
Brian G. Mueller
Products. I want to get the mortar look, but so far am having a terrible
time. I am using Floquil paints.
Do I paint on the color I want the bricks to be and then paint over with the
mortar color (thinned) and wipe off the surface (this has so far resulted in
MUCH smearing and discoloration) or do I paint a base of the mortar color
and then drybrush very carefully with the brick color making sure it doesn't
fill in the mortar gaps?
Thanks for any help!
BGM
Trainman
Brian G. Mueller <choirbr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ugnp99b...@corp.supernews.com...
I use a very thin wash of ceramcoat and water for the mortar after the
bricks are painted.
Don
--
don.de...@prodigy.net
http://www.geocities.com/don_dellmann
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MainStHtge
I would add to Don's excellent advice:
>.... use a very thin wash of ceramcoat and water for the mortar after the
>bricks are painted.
That you must allow some time for the brick color to dry thoroughly--say at
least a day--whether it is solvent or acrylic based paint.
Then apply the thinned mortar color--Ceramcoat is excellent--carefully into the
mortar lines. It will spread naturally. You may get some smearing, especially
if you must wipe the brick surfaces, but just let it happen. You may need two
applications of the mortar color to get sufficient opacity, with drying between
applications.
Then, if needed, dry brush some thinned brick color onto the brick surfaces to
counteract the smearing and discoloration if it is bothersome.
This all takes some patience, practice, and trial and error. Also, prototype
brick walls have chalking and fading on the surfaces, so a little discoloration
can add to the realism IMHO. There is no right or wrong. Just keep at it
'till it looks good to you
Use an aged concrete color for mortar rather than white--I use Ceramcoat
"sandstone"
Good luck with your project.
Bruce West
Main Street Heritage Models
http://www.mainstreet-heritage.com
Toss "wospam" to e-mail
Stephen Foster
solvent based paint. It can be brush painted but airbrush gives better
results. Let it dry a week ( I know some will think this too long) to
thoroughly cure. In the meantime I work on other aspects of the structure
or something else.
Then come back with your acrylic mortar or a water based wash of light grey
or whatever mortar color you want. A wash is usually done one side at a
time with building on side so the color does not all run down. The paste
acrylics require a lot of cleaning with damp paper towels, scraping with
knife or razor (corners niches, etc.).
The paste mortar route is a lot of work, but I seem to get the best looking
results this way. If the structure has very light mortar lines in the
casting the wash method (for me) works better, but still not as good as
After this is all done I often use a light wash of oil colors using the
odorless turpentine substitute or an alcholol and black india ink wash.
Sometimes I use india ink with water but not as often. If you dullcote
finished structure do it AFTER your alcohol washes. Alcohol will fog
dullcote giving an unwanted whitish finish. You also should add your window
glazing after spraying dullcote, unless you want frosted-fogged windows.
The washes can be overdone so go easy on the strength of your mixes. You
can always add a second helping... but it is difficult if you get too much
to go back. Lamp black oil paint in alcohol or turp substitute also can be
used.
Dont be discouraged with your early efforts. Practice will most likely give
better results on your second and after effort.
If you need to add a decal over brickwork (or any dull surface) brush on a
bit of Future floor wax. Let dry. Decal. Then weather and dullcote. I
learned this from a book from Evergreen folks. Beats the heck out of
painting on a patch of gloss!
I dont consider myself an expert, but folks at the club continually ask me
how I get structures to look good and often have guys wanting me to build
for them.
--
Keep your rails shiny!
Stephen
"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar"
All Points North Model RR Club (Houston TX)
http://www.allpointsnorthmrrc.org
Stephen Foster
sand on the brick. Then use paint pens to individually color bricks. This
would be useful for structures that used to be built of varying color
bricks. It looks and probably is tedious.... but the photos I have seen are
quite startling and looks to be worthwhile.
This method is presented in the Evergreen book (the folks that produce and
package the white styrene in most hobby shops).
If you have access to some of the DPM module packages it might be a nice
idea to buy a pack or two to practice varying techniques on. Use a 50c (or
whatever they cost) vs a much costlier structure to practice on.
--
Keep your rails shiny!
Stephen
"If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar"
All Points North Model RR Club (Houston TX)
http://www.allpointsnorthmrrc.org
"Stephen Foster" <Waba...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:8xSO8.43770$UT.29...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
Brian G. Mueller
"Trainman" <dom.de...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:29SO8.1801$x92.77...@newssvr15.news.prodigy.com...
>
> I use a very thin wash of ceramcoat and water for the mortar after the
> bricks are painted.
>
> Don
>
This may be a silly question, but, what's ceramcoat?
I'm using Floquil Aged Concrete for the mortar at this time, but if
ceramcoat is easier to work with, well... :-)
BGM
Brian G. Mueller
>
> If you have access to some of the DPM module packages it might be a nice
> idea to buy a pack or two to practice varying techniques on. Use a 50c
(or
> whatever they cost) vs a much costlier structure to practice on.
>
> --
> Keep your rails shiny!
>
> Stephen
>
> "If it ain't steam, it's a powered boxcar"
>
Great idea, Stephen! I am running trial and error tests on an inexpensive
Rix building, but styrene flats would be even more cost effective!
BGM
MainStHtge
Ceramcoat is a craft acrylic paint that is available at Micheal's, Walmart (I
believe), etc. It is used by tole painters and for other craft uses.
I comes in small bottles for 88 cents to about $1.29--much cheaper than
Floquil.
I would not use it on rolling stock, but it is perfect for scenery and
structure applications.
Bruce
Brian G. Mueller
"MainStHtge" <mains...@aol.comwospam> wrote in message
news:20020616003023...@mb-fg.aol.com...
Thanks!!
BGM
panentilt
look at your structure and evaluate the brick etching and determine what
type of brick finish you want - old, aged, etc. If it's deep and pro-
nounced, the "paint, wash, and wipe off" method would work very well.
You can also "paint and bleed" the mortar on. That is, after you paint the
brick color and let it cure, bleed a mixture of turpentine or lacquer thinner
and mortar color with a fine tip brush into the joints and let capillary action
go to work. This will get you a "new" brick finish. You can use tempera
colors for mortar and wipe off with plain water. After you get the majority
of the mortar off, use a Q-tip to touch up the bricks.
Sloppy will get you aged brick (my favorite). A neat effect is to go back
and paint a few bricks here and there with clean brick color to indicate
"patches". Or stagger brick color variants at random. The wipe-off
smudges will virtually disappear when you start painting patches of brick
different shades of your brick color.
Just a few ideas that worked for me.
Hope they work for you!
Ctyclsscs
that could be explained just a wee bit better.
The reason you don't want to use Floquil paint over Floquil paint, Brian, is
because the second coat will react with the first and create a smeary
mess.Floquil paints are lacquer based and will react with or attack many
surfaces (except metal).
You generally don't have the compatiblity problem with acrylic paints like
Pollyscale as long as the first coat is completely dry or if you use Pollyscale
paint over Floquil paint.
The only thing I don't like about using a wash of Pollyscale, is that I have
found it difficult to wipe off at times. It will start to dry in spots before
you can wipe it all away, which doesn't give you a very even finish. To be
honest, I have yet to find a method that I am totally satisfied with in all
situations.
I haven't tried it myself, but I know some folks that have used spackling
compuound with good results. I think they rub it into the brick surface and
wipe off any excess.
It's probably similar to some of the commercial "mortar mixes." I want to try
this method soon.
Another possibility is white shoe polish.
I've also used light gray artist chalk (not oil pastels) ground into a fine
powder and rubbed into the mortar lines. The chalk can then be wiped away from
the brick surface using a damp cloth or your damp fingertip. I like chalk
because it's easy to wash off and redo until you get what you're after.
The only drawback is that chalk definitely needs a coat of Dullocte to fix it
in place and if you put it on too wet, the chalk will absorb the spray and
disappear.
Just a few more things you may wanna try!
Jim
MainStHtge
> am painting an HO plastic kit from the Smalltown USA series by Rix
>> Products.
If I am not mistaken, the brick pattern in these kits is somewhat finer--and
more difficult to work with--than Walthers or City Classics or DPM.
Someone suggested getting some blank walls from DPM to experiment with--they
are part of the modular line. Walthers sells their brick sheets separately
too. These products have a deeper and larger brick pattern based roughly on
coursing of a scale 3" high brick, rather than 2 1/4" high brick (the prototype
size).
Small town is almost exactly to scale.
The larger brick may be more forgiving during the learning process.
Just a thought.
Bruce
Douglas Dressler
I always painted the basic brick color first, and then filled the mortar lines
in with tile grout that was tinted gray with India Ink. The excess grout would
be wiped off easily with a paper towel. Individual bricks were then touched
up with varying shades using felt tip pens and cotton swabs.
BTW: You WANT to fill in most plastic brick patterns. The indentation on
some are a scale inch or more.
David J. Starr
>
> I've also used light gray artist chalk (not oil pastels) ground into a fine
> powder and rubbed into the mortar lines. The chalk can then be wiped away from
> the brick surface using a damp cloth or your damp fingertip. I like chalk
> because it's easy to wash off and redo until you get what you're after.
>
> The only drawback is that chalk definitely needs a coat of Dullocte to fix it
> in place and if you put it on too wet, the chalk will absorb the spray and
> disappear.
>
> Just a few more things you may wanna try!
>
> Jim
>
>
I have had good luck with the chalk technique. I don't use Dull cote
to fix the chalk because the Dull Cote marries into the chalk and makes
it disappear. I figure structures don't get all that much handling, not
like rolling stock, and the chalk stays on. I used just plain old
school black board white chalk, powdered by rubbing it on a piece of
window screen.
--
David J. Starr
Dst...@TheWorld.com
Trainman
A brand of acrylic craft paints, made by Delta. You can buy them at most
home improvement stores, any craft store, even Wal-Mart.
They come in a small bottle for under a buck, dry TOTALLY flat, and once you
try them you'll never go back.