Pere Marquette, Flint, Michigan

[Spitfire]

So I started working on the roundhouse late last week. I began by washing and drying all the parts. I then prepared a mortar wash for the brick face walls. After applying the wash, I noticed something that has never happened before. The wash was not settling into the mortar lines, instead it left a concrete like haze on the brick faces. So, I washed and dried these4 parts again and re-applied the wash, same thing happened. I am stumped as to why this is happening. I think I am going to have to do it with an artist crayon, or a chalk. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Matt

Yes, and this is why I no longer use this technique - it was turning my bricks pink!

Instead, I use spackle (lightweight joint compound). Apply to painted bricks with your finger, or a "trowel" made from a piece of scrap styrene, so that it gets into the grooves between the bricks. Then, scrape across the surface with another piece of scrap styrene. The spackle remains in the grooves and looks just like mortar.

Here's an example of a building I did with that technique.


cheers
Val