Painting brick walls - looking for advice

[Roger Holmes]

As the person who unintentionally started this furor let me say that my original post has been misinterpreted.  I was referencing that with most brick buildings that I see in real life I can't see the mortar detail. I work in a historic midwestern downtown area of mostly 2 to 4 story brick buildings that I view from my 10th floor office.  Even at sidewalk level I personally don't notice much mortar.  I am 68 and wear bifocals and am a year overdue for an eye exam.  My suggestion was ONLY that forum members go look at real brick buildings in their locale and see what you notice from different viewing distances.  My reference to a "three foot rule" was only meant to see what you can see at a comparable 1:1 distance.

I also have a personal 1 out of 10 rule.  That is, I actually do not post at least 9 out of 10 Railwire replies that I draft for fear something I say might be misinterpreted and start a sh%%storm.  I regret that my last post had this effect.  To the original poster I repeat that there are many valid opinions and techniques when dealing with the artistic endeavor of painting and weathering our N scale structures. Choose the one YOU like best.

I am going into the basement now which is where I find peace and relaxation when I run trains alone.

[dem34]

As the person who unintentionally started this furor let me say that my original post has been misinterpreted.  I was referencing that with most brick buildings that I see in real life I can't see the mortar detail. I work in a historic midwestern downtown area of mostly 2 to 4 story brick buildings that I view from my 10th floor office.  Even at sidewalk level I personally don't notice much mortar.  I am 68 and wear bifocals and am a year overdue for an eye exam.  My suggestion was ONLY that forum members go look at real brick buildings in their locale and see what you notice from different viewing distances.  My reference to a "three foot rule" was only meant to see what you can see at a comparable 1:1 distance.

I also have a personal 1 out of 10 rule.  That is, I actually do not post at least 9 out of 10 Railwire replies that I draft for fear something I say might be misinterpreted and start a sh%%storm.  I regret that my last post had this effect.  To the original poster I repeat that there are many valid opinions and techniques when dealing with the artistic endeavor of painting and weathering our N scale structures. Choose the one YOU like best.

I am going into the basement now which is where I find peace and relaxation when I run trains alone.

Dont feel bad, the discussion that resulted from the post was pretty educational if you look past the fact it got a little heated. Lot of good techniques put front and center.

[robert3985]

Just to set the record straight, I'm not "heated"...but my writing comes across like that a bit.  Maybe it's the flu I'm suffering from right now, but I don't want to make anybody feel bad about their posts or personal opinions.  I think that differences of opinions are good things, and can be discussed with good, sharp humor.  Yup, my language gets a bit salty...maybe from all those years in the US Navy eh??  Anyway, I highly appreciate my model railroad buddies here, even if sometimes, our opinions differ! 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Bob]

As the original poster I thank everyone for taking the time to offer their advice - this is a great thing about TRW!  I've already experimented with two of the techniques, and I'll be posting some photos once the next building is complete.

[Maletrain]

OK, now we have "Bob's Rule", which is to look good at a distance of 6.25" through an Optivisor.   Hopefully, folks will continue to post their works here, even if they don't meet that standard.   

[robert3985]

OK, now we have "Bob's Rule", which is to look good at a distance of 6.25" through an Optivisor.   Hopefully, folks will continue to post their works here, even if they don't meet that standard.   

Uhhhh...is it somehow intimidating for me to look closely at my N-scale models??  Did I tell anybody else to look at their models from 6.25"???  You forgot to mention my photos, taken from about 2" with both DSLR and smartphone camera...which is what I use (and have written about) as the ultimate critic, because sharp photos don't lie.   

"Bob's Rule" is that there isn't a rule.  Do what ya want to do to enjoy the hobby, and don't feel threatened if somebody happens to disagree with your modeling philosophy, or if there are old, grizzled modelers with decades of experience under their belts who happen to be better at an aspect of the hobby than you are.  One of the earliest lessons to learn is that there is always somebody better at something than you are.  It's one of the chief reasons I really like TRW, because of all those a$$hats here who I constantly learn from and banter with and who keep me on the top of my game with their digs and criticism, and photos of their fine work. 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[MK]

We were THAT CLOSE to a group hug!   

[NtheBasement]

Wow, talk about going sideways!  Lots of fantastic brickwork shots at the start of this thread, thanks for the pics.

Personally I appreciate fine detail, though its easier to enjoy in HO or O.  But placing a detailed model on pink foam doesn't float my boat.  I have a limited time budget each year to work on the layout, and I'm afraid that if I start microdetailing cars and buildings there will still be plywood showing years from now when the layout gets torn down.  My priority is to finish my layout, from smooth running track and ballast to non-cartoonish scenery, then go back and start detailing or replacing individual pieces.  That's where I see the best ROI for my time.

[thomasjmdavis]

Wow, talk about going sideways!  Lots of fantastic brickwork shots at the start of this thread, thanks for the pics.

Personally I appreciate fine detail, though its easier to enjoy in HO or O.  But placing a detailed model on pink foam doesn't float my boat.  I have a limited time budget each year to work on the layout, and I'm afraid that if I start microdetailing cars and buildings there will still be plywood showing years from now when the layout gets torn down.  My priority is to finish my layout, from smooth running track and ballast to non-cartoonish scenery, then go back and start detailing or replacing individual pieces.  That's where I see the best ROI for my time.

First thing I do on all my layouts (except the first 2 50 and 45 years ago, respectively), before any roadbed goes down or any scenery constructed, is to paint the foam and plywood black or dark gray.  That way, unfinished areas don't stand out, and become "shadows" behind the buildings and other finished areas.

[DKS]

To pull this thread back on topic, there was mention a while back that many of our N Scale models unfortunately have oversize brick thanks to very old tooling. Here are a couple of N Scale structures with closer-to-scale brick for comparison.

The ubiquitous Atlas tower:





Some heavily-bashed DPM kits:

[wazzou]

[Maletrain]

As I was driving around town this morning, I was looking at brick walls of a variety of ages.  The mortar stood out in nearly all of them.  A few had dark mortar that was darkened by age, mostly mold, rather than dye or paint.  So, my take on reality is that some sort of light colored mortar should be visible on most of my brick structures, but perhaps some really run down buildings or those in coal/soot contaminated areas could be closer to black.

Getting on to what to do about N scale structures that have HO sized brick "detail", I have noticed that many of those don't even have bricks of the same aspect ratio (width to height) as what are now common on real buildings.  That got me thinking about painting those "bricks" to be "dimensional stone" blocks, rather than bricks.  Has anybody looked into doing that, and how did it work out?

[CRL]

When I was growing up in my home town prior to 1970, most of the old brick buildings had been painted over the years, so the brick and mortar lines were not visible. However, nowadays exposed brick of old buildings is desirable, so these buildings are being refurbished. This is something you need to consider when modeling a specific era.

[Maletrain]

When I was growing up in my home town prior to 1970, most of the old brick buildings had been painted over the years, so the brick and mortar lines were not visible. However, nowadays exposed brick of old buildings is desirable, so these buildings are being refurbished. This is something you need to consider when modeling a specific era.

I model the early 1950s, and remember some painted brick store fronts, and some non-red bricks, too.  But, most of the backs and sides were usually never painted, unless they were visible from the streets - in which case some were painted with wall-covering advertising muriels.

[DKS]

...in which case some were painted with wall-covering advertising muriels.

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