Brick structure

[AlexG]

Hello everybody,
And, first of anything, apologize for my written english, a bit scarce and not good all the time.
My name is Alex Giersch, 58 years old, from Romania. And I use to say that I'm a modeller ...
Well, until some time ago, I use to make masters for military models - 35th, 48th and 72nd scale. And use to say
that I like it and that I was one of the best ... I think I was just lieing my self.

I discovered your forum 2 or 3 years ago, I think by accident. Since that time, I was here every week to see what is new
and to search all topics. And I discovered what modelling means. And discovered a great number of not modellers but artist.
I have in my (dead) external HD hundreds of pics from here with so many interesting, useful and inspiring subjects. Now, I
have to save some in my pc, directly 
Little by little my opinions of modelling changed and I was very tempted to do something else.
I was in contact with Marc Reusser, asking him a lot of things but ... never do something. You have to know that my
technical, and not only, possibilities are quite small, I have no machine and my best tool are my hands. I gues ...
I was atracted by structures, most of all by brick structures.
And I started something, in 1/16. I use ordinary plaster, mixed with an amount of fine sand and coloured in mass with
iron oxid. I made my own mold and I'm casting now .... hundreds of bricks. Nice!
This is my very first attempt in such thing and I saw that is not so easy. That's why my first goal is to built straight and vertical.
You'll see, my structure is not very good.
The stains on it represent some weathering tests. Here I have also to work enough.
My bricks are not perfect and, after castings, I decided that is better. Derelict bricks ... 

Few pics of what I'm doing now.

















Sorry if I was to long, is not my nature. But I'm so excited to be here.
If you have any comment, of any kind, will be more than welcome.
Don't forget, I'm here to learn, in first place. And to arrive at some level, at least 1/100 of yours.

Cheers,
Alex

[Chuck Doan]

Welcome Alex! It looks like you are off to a good start. I will be following your progress with interest.

[artizen]

The bricks look good!

One tip - I always design my walls in full brick lengths to reduce the amount of cutting and fitting. (My old man was a bricklayer and not surprisingly, a lot of the buildings he worked on were designed that way.)

[Ray Dunakin]

Welcome aboard, Alex! I think you're off to a very good start. The bricks may be a little rough but should be fine to represent an older building with some decay. Or even a newer structure that was made from recycled bricks.

[lab-dad]

Welcome!
Another modeler in 1/16th!!! YEA we are growing!
-Marty

[finescalerr]

I'm glad to see your first post, Alex. Please keep posting photos as you build the model. -- Russ

[mad gerald]

Welcome to the forum, Alex ...

... Another modeler in 1/16th!!! YEA we are growing!

... especially as you are going to build in 1/16 scale too ... 

cheers

[Mr Potato Head]

Alex
The color and texture look good, don't be so hard on yourself, the best way to get better is to keep going, this group will be honest.
MPH

[AlexG]

Thanks, guys, for interest and comments. I count on your help and honesty!
I'll have in mind all you've told me. I know I still have a long, long way to go ...
Mistakes and things forgoten. I use to make hand drawings all the time, a small plan of the building.
This time the rush was the word of order.
Some work on the brick, as well, even I like their rough look.

I'll keep working in 1/16, is very suitable for my nowadays eyes . And very challenging.

Alex

[marc_reusser]

Alex,

Welcome to the forum. Nice to see you here. A great first post. The brick-work looks very nice. I look forward to seeing your progress, what you will be creating.
Please keep us posted/updated on your progress. I like the texture and quality of the bricks as well, they have a nice character.

No worries about the language or your writing.....here it is the modeling that speaks.

[AlexG]

Marc, thanks for your comment, very nice coming from you. But ...
I'm not content of what I've done, started these structures 2 times and also not content.
Something was going wrong - I used cardboard spacers with white glue ... The structure was wet and
I had to wait too much to dry. A problem was the mortar, how to do it and the aply technique.
I've read again some of the articles here, fragments of them and remeber me also of some things seen here.

Meanwhile, I made some concrete tests. I'll use it for a house entrance, in combination with bricks.
I also "discovered" a mortar recipe - also seen here, I remembered me about the white wood filler.
But now few pics with my concrete.

Alex

[artizen]

Hello Alex

Have you read the instructions on the Diorama Debris site for mortar?

Sticking Bricks and Blocks Together
Important: In most cases you will want the items you are casting to vary in colour, if so make sure to make enough to finish whatever it is you intend to build. This is important as in most cases you will not want a marked change in the variation of colours.
We normally stick bricks and stone blocks together using diluted Polyfilla ready mixed multipurpose filler which comes in a tube. Some of the other makes are a little bit too course for this purpose. When coloured with powder pigments and dry it looks like mortar.
To mix it:
 Squeeze some filler into a disposable plastic cup.
 Gradually add very small amounts of water until you reach the desired thickness (the thicker the mix the wider the mortar course will be).
 To make a mortar colour we normally add Yellow Ochre and a tiny amount of black (black is a very strong pigment so be careful).
 Wet some kitchen towel and place it over the plastic cup to stop the filler setting.
 With a small paint brush put some of the filler onto your base.
 Press the brick or block down onto the filler leaving the desired mortar thickness (1:35 scale would be about 0.5mm).
 The filler will turn solid within a few seconds as its moisture is soaked up by the dry plaster so you will need to position the brick or block fast. Although the filler has turned solid it will have very little strength at first. Slightly dampening the brick or block first will give you more time for adjustment.
 Use a cocktail stick to remove solidified filler that may interfere with laying your next brick or block.
 After about 5 mins remove any mortar that has pushed out the sides with the cocktail stick.
 Leave your wall section to harden, then paint some more filler over the mortar joints and when it has solidified remove the excess with a cocktail stick. If the filler dries too much and is hard to remove dampening it with a wet cloth will soften it. Do not try to wash the excess filler off with a damp cloth as you will just smear it over the surface and make harder to remove.

[AlexG]

Thanks Ian for these info. Very useful for me further.
I already found something like that, the name here is Polistick, a filler for wood and brick work.
Coloured already an amount in a jar ... with powder pigments - a sort of Ochre and Black, and I obtained
a light gray material. Have made some tests, fast and careless, as you see in the pict here.

[finescalerr]

You are heading in the right direction. -- Russ

[marc_reusser]

Alex,

At the scale you are working, and especially in comparison to the high quality of the bricks, the issue I have with the mortar is that it looks too "runny"....and there is not enough grit/grain/texture.