How to Create Brickwork for Small Scale Model Buildings

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Cut the façade out of 5mm feather board with a sharp scalpel blade.

   Draw the positions of windows and doors very precisely and lightly incise their openings using the scalpel.
   
   Once it's done, peel off the feather board from the side to be embossed by slipping the sharpened blade between the cardboard and the foam at one of the corners.
   
   Hold the sheet firmly with a large metal rule and then take off the cardboard, avoiding any possibility of the foam being torn away. , Make the punch matrix from an old brush with no more bristles
   - for 1:72 scale bricks, use an old fine No.3 brush.
   
   Hollow out the ferrule (the metal band that goes around the bristles) and shape the open edge to the desired size with a pair of small pliers.
   
   Then sharpen and refine the edge with a flat file to obtain a perfect rectangle., Begin without applying too much pressure into the foam.
   
   Do this in a staggered way using the metal rule as a guide for the embossing tool.
   
   To give a more realistic aspect for eroded brickwork, stamp deeper into the foam.
   
   This will create eroded joints in the brickwork's mortar.
   
   You can also carve off missing bricks or simulate fissures.
   
   Make these tricky operations in 1:72 scale with a refined point of a needle. , Paint the base of the façade as well as small details like wooden and metal lintels.
   
   At the same time build and add fittings like shutters, gutters, down pipes, grilles, and doors using styrene, brass tube, and copper wire., For a good, basic paint, use Humbrol Camouflage Grey
   28.
   
   Apply it with a wide brush so as to cover all the recesses.
   
   The foam is porous and will fully absorb the first coat of paint, so you do need a second coat.
   
   When the paint is dry, apply a generous overall wash of acrylic matt black.
   
   After 48 hours, when the foam is tough enough, gently sand it with 400-grade paper.
   
   This polishes the surface and gives the bricks a texture true to scale.
   
   Carefully wipe off the dust from the recesses with a soft wide brush. , Generally, it's best to use two shades of red
   - Burnt Sienna 411 and English Red
   339.
   
   Mix the paints with matt black or simply use these two colors to achieve the nuances of real bricks., Simulate the mortar by applying white pigments onto the surface of the bricks with an old wide brush.
   
   Blow away any excess pigment, and then embed whatever remains into the joints with your fingers.
   
   Finally, clean the bricks with a slightly dampened rag to remove excess pigment., Re-use the two red paints from above, but this time apply each shade alternatively to each brick with a fine No.2 size brush.
   
   This step will give infinitely more shades to the bricks and give them a definitive appearance., Show the places where rainwater or humidity have eroded the mortar in the courses and given the bricks a greenish aspect.
   
   To do this, apply black pigments into the mortar courses with a fine No.0 brush.
   
   Add light green pigments on the appropriate surfaces.
   
   Blow off the excess of powder and brush Sienna Earth-coloured pigments onto the raised parts of the bricks., Paint and age the final details you added using a micro painting technique, which gives a realistic old touch to the brickwork.
2. 2

   Step 2: Create a punch matrix the size of a single brick

3. 3

   Step 3: to emboss the surface in the foam.

4. 4

   Step 4: Emboss the bricks.

5. 5

   Step 5: Paint the façade.

6. 6

   Step 6: Apply two coats of enamel paint.

7. 7

   Step 7: Paint the brickwork with a wide brush and near dry paint

8. 8

   Step 8: much like a quick dry brushing.

9. 9

   Step 9: Now add mortar between the bricks.

10. 10

    Step 10: Shade and define the bricks.

11. 11

    Step 11: Apply an aging effect to the model's brickwork.

12. 12

    Step 12: Enhance the façade with small details.

Detailed Guide

About the Author