I am having a hard time filling mortar lines

Hi scot, On some of the buildings a coat of flat paint or dullcote before the mortar works well. This helps helps mortar "grab".

Hi

 Like Rick says I my self spray most of my buildings with crylon red primer.

 It seams to be a great brick color and lets you work with the morter better.

A flat primer coat is a good idea; use Dullcote if you like the brick color.

 

Plastics often have a mold release agent clinging to them, also. Soap and water.

 

One word: too little mortar is better than too much mortar. I see buildings which ob-

viously took some time and labor, but have great "mortar" areas near windows and

other hard-to-sand areas. This destroys the illusion of brickwork.

 

Not all mortar is white.

 

I have successfully used diluted (with water and a little alcohol) cheap acrylic from Hobby Lobby, etc. Shake well.

I have had no problem using Floquil Reefer White paint on Ameri-town buildings.  Simply paint on the entire surface and wipe off with a clean cloth never using the same spot on the cloth more than once.  Do small areas at a time.  I have had no experience the product you are using.

 

Paul Edgar

In all painting, preparation of the surface is everything.  In this case, let the building parts soak overnight in warm (not hot) water and a little mild dishwashing liquid.  Rinse thoroughly then let them air dry.  Handle them as little as possible to keep oils from your hands going back on the parts.  Then follow the directions as above.  I find an off white acrylic, 50/50 with water and mixed well makes fine mortar. 

 I have tried most of the proven methods over the years. Sparkling compound, diluted latex paint and thined acrylic paint washes. One thing I've learned is every building isn't the same. The bricks are different sizes as well as the depth of the mortar lines. What looks good and works on one structure. May not on another.

 I recently painted some OGR Fronts. Started with red primer. Decided to try some antique white Badger pre mixed for spraying. It flowed well. It left the building with sort of a white haze. I tried dry brushing some Floquil roof brown on it to tone down the white haze and it looked great.  Never tried it before. Sometimes your best results come on the fly and often times you can't seem to duplicate it again.

 I mentioned the use of sparkling compound. Works great on some resin kits with deep a carved mortar lines. The results aren't the same working with say a plastic kit. Best advice is to experiment and try different colors on the buildings and such so that each one looks unique.

i did  a similar project with an MTH engine shed. I painted on white paint then wiped it off with a paper towel.  you go through a lot of towels but it gets the job done. I used the $0.99 plastic bottles of paint at Michael s. Afterwards I did some weathering

Nice project  enjoy

Steve

I just want to thank you guys for some great tips and I Will try to use most of the tips given today. Now I need to go to Ace and pick up some red primer and other materials that I need. Thank you guys.  Scot

If the brick has very little depth then pre painting may take up more depth thus making it more difficult. I just finished trying that Robart stuff on 3 buildings. Turned out OK. On one I did not pre-paint because the bricks had virtually no depth. The other two I painted a coat of soo line red and it turned out very nice. I also put about 7 drops of black india ink in the container to tone it down. In bricks with great depth in which to set the mortar I have actually used quick set cement patching stuff.(the stuff in the yellow tubs at home depot etc) Looked fantastic but is more difficult to do. But looks very very nice.

Thanks Scot for asking the question.

 

I am starting a small Kober kit.  I read where someone used white liquid shoe polish and wiped it off.

I am hoping to try one of the suggestions soon. I've had the walls on a flat surface for some time, just putting off the start account it would be my first mortar job.

 

Another question, do modelers use wood to stiffen the corners, like a half inch square piece of balsa or other wood?

 

Thanks to everyone for their ideas and links.

Dan

 

 

 

 

No dullcote needed.

DAP^® Fast 'N Final^® Lightweight Spackling

Here - http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=61

 

Should have the bldg. done in under 20 minutes.

 

Frank53 I love the photo you just posted. That is what I would like to do some time. Well this is my first build,so I guess all I can do is to keep trying till I get it correct. I love this forum for all the help you guys offer. Thanks    Scot

For shallow mortar lines, wrap the cloth you are rubbing the Roberts with around something flat, like a small piece of wood. Ameritowne lines are shallow, MTH buildings are deep. I don't like sloppy mortar lines, so except for MTH buildings, I tend to just paint the brick (flat red primer or a color to represent a painted brick building).

There is a product called Fast Fill that is supposed to be very good for this purpose.

Thank you all that replyed  there are many great suggestions given. I painted a small section today and after I get home from the DR. tomorrow I'll give it another shot. So wish me the best. Any other tips out there. Keep them coming.    Scot

I use spackle also Scot. The nice thing about it is if you screw up you can wash it off with water and a sponge and start over. I used it on the building to the right in the photo. Click on the photo and you can make the photo bigger. Don

I'm a novice mortar filler currently working on an IHC engine shed, and I have to say the lightweight spackle worked very well for me.  Much easier, at least, than the wash I tried first.  I got some nice clean mortar lines with minimal fuss... plus I used only a small amount of a $2.49 tub of spackle, so it's an economical solution.  I might try mixing some color with the spackle next time to see if I can get non-white grout. 

frissinbee, I have used a light gray tube of acrykic paint to change the color. Don't use too much. You can even use black but very little is needed. Just mix it up in a cup and your ready to go. Remember it dries lighter. Don

Yep...I am finding that the spackle works really well.  If you will right click on Don's picture above and then click on "open link in new window", you will get a beautiful full page view.  The nice thing about how Don did his mortar is that it appears uneven, thicker in some areas and thinner in others....just like an older brick building looks.  Not all mortar is perfect so your application does not have to be perfect either!

 

Alan

Thank you Alan. I think the best part of using spackle is it wipes off a little uneven. When I used paint the entire wall looked perfect. Nothing is perfect in old buildings. It's the cheapest and I think the best way to do a brick wall. Don

I have had pretty good luck with "oops" off-white latex paint picked up at Home Depot. Goes on easy and you can wipe off the excess until you get the look you want. A 1 quart size can lasts a long time.

If you mess it up you can simply rinse it all off using warm water, and start again.

 

Rod

This is my 2nd attempt at adding the motor lines  its a spare section that I will use only the top section of. I used DAP  dry dex  spackling. I seem to like this product better then the Roberts brick mortar formula. It may be better for deeper set mortar groves 

Good going Scot. I use a Scotch Brite scrub sponge, the hard side to very gently wet sand the area that has too much on the bricks. Add a little where you need some more at the left top. Next time try a can of Rust-Oleum spray paint first. I use "colonial red" satin. It's a good dark red and take to plastic well. Your doing fine. Remember, it shouldn't be even. If you can weather it a little when your finished that would be good. You did better than my first try. Keep at it. Don

Frank53  since this is a sample piece I now have it soaking in some warm water with some detergent. And it doesn't  seem like the DAP dry dex wants to come off, well I'll look at it in the morning. Plush tomorrow the say my package from the hobby shop with my Evergreen plastic strips will come in the mail.  Scot

Scale rail That's what I did I Sent my son over to ACE and had him pick me up some sand paper and some cans of spray paint. I am using KRYLON dual paint + primer cherry red.Like I said I have it soaking in some warm water and detergent till morning when I'll give it another try.   Scot

Scot;

Hope it works out.

You have been a member since 2001, or 2012?

 

Rod

Scot....looks like you are doing just fine.  I am like you and am just starting to mortar and weather my buildings and I found that the spackle works just about better than anything.  Some of the most convincing mortar joints are those that are off white and "aged".  Months ago, I took Don's advice of using paint first over the plastic.  Did this on the Korber Power Station complex.  The mortar actually seemed to adher better and looks better because the paint has a more realistic brick color.  By the way, I have used #400 or more wet sand paper to lightly sand off the mortar residue.  The bonus by doing this is that the bricks are dulled down and sometimes a small amount of texture is added.

 

Alan

Rod I've been a member sine 12/9/01  And have been going at it for the past year. I have had medical reasons that have kept me just reading for years. I have went on dialasis back in 2007  Then I lost my right leg back in January of 2011.then I had a Kidney transplant in august of 2011. and then had a 3 way bypass in October of 2011.So I have been around for years but just in the past year been busy trying to get my train layout up and someday running. I get great days  and lately some bad days with the leg. here is a photo sometime in the end of 2012  I am now almost complete with building the first level of this layout.

frissinbee, I have used a light gray tube of acrykic paint to change the color. Don't use too much. You can even use black but very little is needed. Just mix it up in a cup and your ready to go. Remember it dries lighter. Don

Don - Thank you for the color mixing tip.  I'll give that a try on my next (to be determined) brick building.  I can't built too many (and those I do make have to be made sturdy) since we tend to move every few years.  I'm working out a design to add more internal strength to the IHC kit.

 

The Atlas/IHC Engine House is a really good project and the molding lends itself particularly well to the use of spackle. The "too perfect" grey walls I posted above are also Atlas/IHC wall sections.

Of course, once weathered, the mortar lines become less evident. Use chalks of even misted spray paint to add a weather beaten look to your project. But keep in mind, weather beating runs vertically down and some splash up from the ground. You will also have staining under and around the windows.

Weathering doesn't run horizontally.

 

Frank - Your advice is also much appreciated.  Your engine house was actually the reason why I chose the IHC/atlas kit.  I like the flexibility you demonstrated with the kit (plus major alterations, and the way you re-purposed the side building) and was impressed by the realism you were able to achieve.

 

-Dustin

 

Dustin, funny you mentioned moving and the IHC kit. In our long move one of the few building that broke was the IHC engine house. All the Korber and other buildings made it fine. I would put strong wood strips and glue them to all corners and across the long sides. Also fill the building with foam peanuts when you box them up. Don

Well today my mom & sister were over today and I planted some Astilbe plants and some other plants that are used for making trees for the layout. Plush when I was showing my mom the building kit I'm working on she started to give me tips on cleaning up the work I've done on the test sample in the post above. My mom used to work making floral arrangements. So I did not get much done with the kit today but had fun with my mom and sister. Remember my mom is in her 70's . So you never know were you may get tips from

This is a great post with a lot of good tips! Thanks everyone.

I've done little in this area, but last night I tried my hand using drywall mud or whatever you want to call it. That was the quickest, easiest thing to do, and the results were great! I'm still not the expert, but this was a huge timesaver over the few projects I've done before. And, it was very, very easy to fix mistakes and clean up! Again, Thank you! Terry

Chck out the tunnel portal going under the layout.

covered the face of the portal with plaster. Let dry,

but still moist. carve stone into face of plaster.

let dry hard over night.

paint entire surface of portal with gray paint.

let dry complete. make a wash(more water

than paint) of black paint and "wash" the surface

of the plaster face with washed down black paint.

black will "run" into mortar lines and crevices.

Use wide heavy bristle brush.

Let dry and enjoy