Something of a misnomer this... What I want to do is to have a 'demo piece' that I can take to exhibitions etc to show how the buildings are made. At the same time it can be used to demonstrate the three types of 'brick bond' commonly in use - and (hopefully) how they CORRECTLY relate to apertures, quoins (corners etc.).

Here is the 'demo sheet' with various markings on it. The sheet is 30 gsm ACID FREE white card - available from good art shops. The first thing to note is that there are no markings in the area that will contain the model. All reference making is done around the edge.

Detail 'A' shows the horizontal courses at 1mm (3") intervals. 'Pendon' is, of course, modelled in 4mm scale, and as a brick-course (including mortar) is approximately 3" high, so the model will contain 4 courses per 1 ft. (to those who work in metric - sorry but these were built in imperial units)! A word of warning! Early (Elizabethan and Jacobean) brickwork tended to be narrower -sometimes as little as 2.5 inches - so if modelling REALLY old buildings - check the brick dimensions (and good luck!).

Various 'special courses' (the cill/lintol heights etc) are also highlighted. The bottom horizontal line is the presumed ground-level. any markings below this are in the 'Basement' which allows the model to be set into the groundwork. Every 5th course is also emphasised - this will make scribing the courses easier as they provide a reference. This detail is repeated on the opposite side of the work

The lines in the 'basement' ('cse 1' & cse 2', 'header' & 'Stretcher') will be used to mark the vertical bonding and are repeated above the top of the work. Currently the actual brick courses have not been marked

Details 'B', 'C' & 'D' set out three identical wall layouts, with markings for the window & door apertures and a quoin (corner). The three types of brick course are also marked (mainly as an aide memoire for me!).

'Headers n Stretchers'.... (for those of you in the know - skip this bit!

A standard brick has four vertical faces - 2 sides - the stretchers - and two ends - the headers. A Standard brick, with mortar is 9" long, 3" high and 41/2" wide.

The three standard bonds are -

Stretcher - all bricks are laid as stretchers, but each course is offset half a brick so the vertical courses are not continuous. Where the courses turn a corner, alternate rows of brick become 'headers'.

Uses - modern house walls, as two thicknesses of brickwork with an insulating gap between, giving an overall thickness of 13 1/2" minimum. It is also used for 'single skin' walls for outbuildings, garden walls etc.

Flemish - in each course, the bricks alternate between 'header' & 'stretcher' and each vertical mortar course is offset from the one beneath it. This is achieved by offsetting each pair (header & stretcher) by half a header on the course below (confused? You soon will be!)

Uses - House walls to provide a 9"-thick solid brick wall. In older houses there would be a wood-stud inner wall, infilled with 'lath & plaster'. In modern walls the studding is covered with plasterboard.

English - recognised to be the strongest of the bonds, the bricks are laid in alternating courses of 'headers' and 'stretchers' with vertical bonding achieved by offsetting the 'stretcher' by half a 'header' (using the dimensions above, a 'stretcher will cover half a 'header', a full 'header' and another half stretcher)! Phew...

Uses - as in Flemish for house walling providing a very strong 9" thick solid wall. An internal skin might be of 'lath & plaster', brick, or latterly concrete blockwork.

Both the latter types can be used to form decorative patterns - during the firing process the 'Headers' often fire darken more than the 'stretchers' - these can be laid to achieve 'chequerboard' patterns (Flemish) and light/dark banding (English)

However, study the prototype well! All bonding can be adapted - for instance English bond can be laid with three 'header' course to one 'stretcher' course.

To those who are anal about their brickwork (and early 20thC building construction generally) I can thoroughly recommend the 'Cambridge University Press' series 'Architectural Building Construction' in three volumes by Jaggard & Drury . First penned in 1916, they were so good that various impressions were brought out up to at least 1945. My 'Volume 1 was released in 1932 - so is bang in date for the period I'm modelling. Search 'Amazon' - copies are generally on there & very reasonably priced. There's also a nice little surprise in the end pockets!

I'd also recommend (obviously!) 'Cottage Modelling for Pendon' by Chris Pilton. An excellent & detailed treatise on the subject which covers areas outside the scope of 'the council houses' (for example they wern't thatched!). Currently available through the Museum.

Right - now to open up the apertures, make up the vertical bonding & get scribing...

Regards

Ian