Brick texture in basswood

[Carlo]

Hello, all -
I just came across this company (ModelTech Studios) making sheets of brick and stone textures in basswood. They say it's not laser-engraved. It is pricey, though. http://mts.inline.net/merchant.ihtml?id=17&step=2

I looks pretty good, without the usual rounded edges that Russ hates so much. I wonder how they're doing it? Can any of you figger it out?

Carlo

[marc_reusser]

From the shape of the brick and "grout cavity", it appears to be embossed.  There is a guy on the Schmalspur forum (we have posted pics of his incredible wormanship here before), that CNC's his brick walls, and the edges are much sharper and crisper than these, which leads me to believe that these were not machined.


M

[finescalerr]

Precisely my own impression. -- Russ

[DaKra]

Good pun, Russ.   

I had some samples MTS gave away at Springfield.   Craftsman kits from the 1950s came with very similar stampings in them for brick/stone/shingle parts, so I wonder if they acquired old dies.   Possibly useful for restoring an old model.   

[BKLN]

Ahhhh, bricks!
That Modeltech stuff loks weird.

In my never ending quest for the perfect 1/87 brick I have tried many 1/87 brick sheets, but I always end up using plain old Walthers brick sheets. They have crisp mortar lines and a good size. I wish I could recommend some cool, hard-to-find stuff, but until VectorCut releases their brick, I would say that Walthers styrene brick sheet is the way to go.

Here is what I have tried so far:
Plastruct (US): too blurry and oversized

Rusty Stumps (US): decent, but has weird mortar lines. The detail sheet for arches is pretty good

Vollmer (Germany): I used their N-scale brick, which fits perfect for HO. Hard to get and only available in small sheets

N-Scale Architect (US): has good patterns, but lacks definition like Plastruct. Overrated.

Slaters (UK): oversized, because of british OO-scale and all my sheets were slightly warped, so the mortar lines didn't join up

Auhagen (Germany): good and crisp, come with some nice ornamental details, very hard to cut.

Walthers (US): my alltime favorite. Again, I wish I could recommend something more exotic, but their brick is pretty good.

[BKLN]

Here is some white-washed Walthers brick in the columns. The rough brick next to the window is a VectorCut sample.

[BKLN]

And here is a rougher version of Walthers brick. The window sections are some kitbashed leftover pieces, but the sections left and right of the windows are made from regular Walthers sheet.
I am having a hard time painting brick sheets other than Walthers.

[finescalerr]

Walthers' isn't bad but VectorCut's is considerably better; I would characterize the difference as between a mass produced representation versus a scale model.

Do I understand correctly that the VectorCut sample was hard to paint? (You wrote, "I am having a hard time painting brick sheets other than Walthers.")

Russ

[BKLN]

No, the beauty about the VectorCut brick is that it needs very little painting. Especially the rougher' older version of Dave's brick has so much texture that you just need some pigments for a good effect.

I think Dave is holding back, because he is a perfectionist and wants to deliver a full kit. But hopefully he'll offer his brick for sale soon. It really is beyond anything on the market. (damn, I don't mean to create a hype, but you gotta give credit were credit is due)

But my point is that you can get good results with "cheap" materials, too. The Walthers brick, by the way, is almost exactly the same brick you can find in Bachmann's Spectrum City Series. I can highly recommend those kits to anybody who is into urban structures. The "Ambassador Hotel" gives you a great toolbox for kitbashing. They were hard to find and pricey, but I think they are currently being re-released.

[finescalerr]

Okay, Dave, you heard the man: Get the lead out. Your orders are to create brick sheets in 1:87, 1:48, and 1:32. No complaints or excuses. -- Russ

[chester]

I've been using the Evergreen styrene brick sheets for some time with satisfactory but not spectacular results just for the reason stated above regarding the sameness in mass production. After having seen some of Dave's other stuff already, I hope the gears get oiled for offering the brick pattern too.

[davej]

Okay, Dave, you heard the man: Get the lead out. Your orders are to create brick sheets in 1:87, 1:48, and 1:32. No complaints or excuses. -- Russ

And 1:43.5 please...

[marc_reusser]

Ahem...forget 1/32...nobody models that scale .........do 1/35 instead (nudge: remember, that there is some potential armor market for this scale  )


Marc

[DaKra]

Thanks for the interest, VectorCut brick sheets are in the works.  The hang up has been due to my inexperience with resin casting.  However I'm now in touch with JohnP of the FSRR League of Perfectionists. He volunteered his expertise with resin and things are moving again.     

Dave