Painting brick building

[csxnscale]

Hi all,

I am assembling a DPM kit with a brick building.
I just wonder how to paint this kit.
Do I paint the building first in light grey and drybrush the brick color on it or,
Do I paint the brick color first and paint the light grey and clean it up with a paper towel to show the mortar ?

Paul

 

[Catt]

Paul,you'llhave to tell us.Either way works ,so its really up to you.Myself I would do the grey(white or whatever ) then drybrush the red,brown,tan colour over it.

 

[Gary Pfeil]

Paul, sorry for the non answer, but both ways are valid and have been done by many modelers. If there is a lot of window details, painting the mortar first may be easier. One thing I've done that I haven't seen mentioned here is to paint the mortar and use felt tip markers to apply brick color. Suitable markers are available in art supply stores. Just swipe the surface lightly and it will not run into the mortar lines. A little weathering will blend things nicely if you use a couple of close brick colors. This gives a realistic finish.

Gary

 

[Drew1125]

DPM buildings present a challenge because the windows & doors are molded in, & not seperate pieces.
No matter which way I paint them (I use different methods, including both of the ones you mention) I always have to go back & do some touch ups.
I've found that by using washes, both light & dark, in addition to weathering the structure, it tends to "blur" some of the painting goofs.

 

[Casey Feedwater]

A Third Option

As the others have pointed out, either way you have described will work just fine. But here's a third (and seldom used) method for depicting mortar lines.

Spray the sides with your basic/favorite brick color. After the paint has dried, spray the sides with Dull Coat. After the Dull Coat has dried, use a #000 or #0000 red sable pointed brush to carefully flow alcohol into the mortar lines. Let the alcohol spread through the lines by capillary action. This takes a very steady hand, and I highly recommend a lighted magnifier to work under, but the results are well worth the time and effort when done neatly.

Another use for the alcohol and Dull Coat combo is to depict lime scale and hard water deposits on tanks, plumbing lines, etc. , or to depict built up chemical residue on tankcars, hoppers, etc.

 

[shamus]

Here is the way I would tackle it if it were my structure. I would first of all paint/spray the whole structure (Before any windows are put in) a light grey/white for the mortar. When dry I would paint individually all bricks with various colours such as Red/Brown/Black. Might take a while, but the results will shout out at you later.

Here is one I did many years ago.

Shamus

 

[TR-Flyer]

Shamus:
You must be able to make time stop!

I LOVE the stuff you do.

Regards,
Ted

 

[csxnscale]

Thank you all guys for the help.
Maybe I will try both methods on different walls and see what works best for me to use.
The third method that Casey mentioned will not work with acrylic paint I guess.
And Shamus this picture looks so real, I have seen a barn in my neighborhood with the same colors you use, very impressive if I only had the time and the patience.....

Paul

 

[Casey Feedwater]

Originally posted by csxnscale

The third method that Casey mentioned will not work with acrylic paint I guess.
Paul

Paul, there's no reason why it won't work with acrylics. The chemical interaction is between the alcohol and the Dull Coat. An acrylic base color has no bearing on the final outcome.