Wooden Kit painting : Creating Mortar in Brickwork

[Blobrick]

I ve been working my way through some wooden kits l ve had saved for a rainy day. However l ve now hit a snag, as I m having problems creating a consistent Brickwork finish on one particular building.

Up until now. l ve not had any real problems using the usual method of painting the brickwork and using a mortar wash over same once the brick work has dried. Quite often any excess mortar can be removed with tissue etc. 

 

However on one building in particular, this just does not work. I m finding that when l wipe the excess mortar away it tends to leaves insufficient mortar between the brickwork.

I ve tried using two coats of mortar but this dulls down the brickwork to much.  Thinking Its possibly shallow mortar lines between the  brickwork, l ve tried  painting the area in a mortar wash first and then using a roller to apply the the brick colour. Unfortunately l can not get a consistent finish using this method either

 

Has anyone got any ideas please? 

 

Fingers crossed

 

Bob C

[ponthenry]

Whether I am painting a model constructed from wood, plastic or plaster castings, I always paint the mortar lines first and then when this is dry, pick out the individual bricks or stones with the appropriate colour(s).  Yes, this is more time consuming, but results in a more pleasing finish and a nice variety of shades, etc.  You don't say what scale you are modelling in.  I am modelling in 4mm, which I would suggest is probably the smallest scale you would like to try this in for the sake of your eyesight and your sanity!

[Blobrick]

6 minutes ago, ponthenry said:

Whether I am painting a model constructed from wood, plastic or plaster castings, I always paint the mortar lines first and then when this is dry, pick out the individual bricks or stones with the appropriate colour(s).  Yes, this is more time consuming, but results in a more pleasing finish and a nice variety of shades, etc.  You don't say what scale you are modelling in.  I am modelling in 4mm, which I would suggest is probably the smallest scale you would like to try this in for the sake of your eyesight and your sanity!

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion, to be fair l m muddling in 7mm, so you would think that it would be easier!!

I think l did try this approach in the past, might be time to revisit it?

 

Cheers

Bob C

[The Johnster]

It might be worth trying a coat of acrylic matt varnish before you put the mortar wash on, as this will give the mortar wash something rougher to key to, which may prevent too much of it being wiped off.

[Phil Parker]

Over on World of Railways technique section: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/techniques/how-to-paint-laser-cut-brickwork/

 

[Blobrick]

13 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

Over on World of Railways technique section: https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/techniques/how-to-paint-laser-cut-brickwork/

 

Thanks Phil

 

I ll take a look see

 

Cheers

 

Bob C

[Blobrick]

22 hours ago, The Johnster said:

It might be worth trying a coat of acrylic matt varnish before you put the mortar wash on, as this will give the mortar wash something rougher to key to, which may prevent too much of it being wiped off.

 

I like the sound of this, I ll give it a try next

 

Thanks for the tip

 

Cheers

 

Bob C

[phil_sutters]

22 hours ago, The Johnster said:

It might be worth trying a coat of acrylic matt varnish before you put the mortar wash on, as this will give the mortar wash something rougher to key to, which may prevent too much of it being wiped off.

Mightn't the varnish make the mortar channel even shallower?

[The Johnster]

31 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

Mightn't the varnish make the mortar channel even shallower?

Slightly, but one can dilute it a little since it's acrylic and the coat will be very thin indeed once it has dried, which only takes a few minutes.  Real mortar seems to occur in a variety of depths behind the brick surface, so there is a little wobble room for manoevre here; obviously the deeper the laser cut brickwork relief is the better, though!

[tom82]

I use fine filler from Wilkos with a touch of beige paint added in rather then a wash as I had issues with the wash soaking in to the wood and not leaving enough in the mortar joints.

I also found it just as easier to clean up after the filler was in place with a damp sponge this helped by getting rid of the bleached whiting that covers the brick surface sometimes and keeps the colors toned down.

[Suffolk Dave]

One method  I've used is to start by painting on the fairly thick mortar coloured acrylic. Leave this for about 5 minutes then gently wipe off the excess paint from the brick surface with a piece of damp kitchen roll. You won't remove 100% of it but that's ok because the next step is to dry brush your chosen brick colour over the surface, leaving the moral lines untouched. This can them be further enhanced by picking out individual bricks with a couple of complementary shades of brick colour. 

 

It's not a method I invented but picked it up from somewhere; the wonderful Martyn Welch, probably...

[doilum]

2 hours ago, Suffolk Dave said:

One method  I've used is to start by painting on the fairly thick mortar coloured acrylic. Leave this for about 5 minutes then gently wipe off the excess paint from the brick surface with a piece of damp kitchen roll. You won't remove 100% of it but that's ok because the next step is to dry brush your chosen brick colour over the surface, leaving the moral lines untouched. This can them be further enhanced by picking out individual bricks with a couple of complementary shades of brick colour. 

 

It's not a method I invented but picked it up from somewhere; the wonderful Martyn Welch, probably...

My preferred option too. Prepare to get your thumb dirty!