What to Use for Mortar on N Scale Brick?

I was wondering, what would be best for mortar on my many Design Preservation Models brick kits?

Has anyone used spackle successfully on DPM kits? I saw there is Roberts Brick Mortar, but it's pretty expensive.

All comments appreciated...

 

If the brick sheets are 'scored' at the mortar lines...maybe mortar colored water based paint.? Thin it...then like The Karate Kid..... 'Wipe on...wipe off'. A few clean damp cloths should take the water based paint off the brick itself leaving paint in the mortar lines...maybe.

Never tried it....Just thinking out loud.

 

Couple of things here. First, before you do anything, consider this. Go look at a brick building from about 500 feet away and decide if you can see the mortar lines. That 500 feet, when reduced to N scale (1:160), is about 3 feet (3.125 actual feet). That is generally accepted as the normal viewing distance for a layout.

Second, the N scale bricks on most buildings (like DPM kits) is oversized and the mortar lines far too deep.

Third, If you decide to do mortar lines do not use white for your mortar color. Mortar usually takes its color from the aggregate (sand) used and is rarely ever white. This is especially true for older buildings. Dark gray and brown are more prominent colors.

 

First of all.........RBM-104 Roberts Brick Mortar Formula (4 oz. Jar) (ALL Scales) Part #RBM-104 - Yankee Dabbler . You paint this stuff on, let it dry, then take a damp cloth and wipe as much or little as you want. I've used it quite a bit. I like it because if you screw up (very hard to do) you can wipe it completely off and start over.
As far as the brick size,yeah, most are oversized........but so are half the other things in N scale. If you only buy stuff that's true 1:160, you won't have much, starting with no locos, because every loco made has handrails that are oversized........not to mention that there is no track that is true to scale......so with no track and no locos, you won't have much of a railroad.
Inkaneer is correct about mortar color, but most of it eventually gets pretty light after a lot of years, so it somewhat depends on the age of your building. Also, you have to use a little "artistic license" and sometimes what is correct, doesn't yield the best results.

 

I'ld post a couple likes here but, I can't drink that much coffee waiting for results.

 

I've used assorted paint washes as well, and I've gotten good results, but the problem is you have to get everything the way you want it before it dries. Once it's dry it's paint and there's no going back short of dropping the building in a tray of paint thinner/alcohol and stripping it. One thing I haven't tried is putting some paint/dye into the Robert's product to tint it. I don't know if that will kill the "wipability" of the product or not.

 

I found plastic brick sheet in O scale (1:48). I painted it with the brick color of my choice and added mortar. I then took it to a copy center and reduced it to 1:160. Had to do a number of different reduction ratios to get to 1:160. In doing the reduction the overall size of the brick sheet was also reduced so I had to cut and paste a number of them together to get a full sheet of N scale brick. But I only had to do that once. Now I just make color copies of the final 'master' sheet. I should have made two or three 'master' sheets of different brick colors for some variety. However, 'back in the day' brick making was a local industry and was usually not shipped very far from the clay source. Today that is not the case. The brick sheet thus produced is glued to a structure. I don't worry about the mortar lines being flush with the brick. At best mortar lines are about 1/4 " deep which amounts to 0.0015 inches in N scale and if your eyesight is that good then I envy you.

As far as locomotive handrails go, Tichy Train Group sells .008 phosphor bronze wire which amounts to 1.28 inch diameter in N scale and looks a whole lot better than plastic. In track we have code 55 (.055 inches high) which approximates 8.8 inches in height. That is approximately the size of 152 lb. rail used by the PRR. We also have code 40 rail which approximates 6.4" in N scale. That can represent prototype rail ranging in size from 105-130 lbs. The majority of modelers don't use .008 PB wire or C40 rail as we are, in many respects, a prisoner of our scale. But if it really bugs the heck out of some people, like apparently truck mounted couplers do, it is doable.

Reference: Rail Products (txholdings.com)

 

Good idea on the printed brick sheets.........How do you deal with windows? I'm just wrapping up a large building with 102 windows and the thought of cutting all those out (especially since half are arched) sounds like a lot of work........I have to admit I'm not the most patient modeler.

 

I'm not gonna kill myself if the bricks on a model aren't exactly scale size. I just use paint to fill in the mortar lines and rub the paint off before it completely dries, leaving the paint in the mortar lines. Done.

Doug

 

Arched windows are not my favorite and I therefore avoid them. I am currently working on an Appalachian "coal patch" town wherein all of the houses were built by the coal company to one or two basic designs. In the town I am using for reference the homes were duplexes with a wood frame and had a siding material call "Insulbrick" which looked like brick but was really a shingle type covering. I plan to cover the entire side with the brick sheet then once it adheres to the styrene side I will cut out the windows from the brick paper. The windows would already be cut out from the styrene sides. Add four doors and twenty windows from Tichy Train. The houses are simple in design as the front and back are identical as are the two sides.

 

I just use drywall compound, tinted with a bit of acrylic paint, and then use a makeup sponge and by finger to clean the surface bricks. Even when dry the next day, you can use a wet sponge to remove even more if you don't like the results.



When I first applied it it was too white even with the tint, but a few washes later and it darkened right up.