Bricking it. Update 21st July

[roadskare63]

Oh Yeah Phil!!...I have seen a few folks do the brick by brick deal, and your effort is well worth the time as it/they look FANTASTIC!!
Keep up the awesome work man!
I have dabbled in very small projects with separate bricks...but I'm just a bit more fond of scribing them in...but I suppose it will be
determined by a particular need for a particular project!
Ciao4niao!!,
Carl

[gamer Mac]

Uter madness
Great work  

[Malebolgia]

Respect man. Once built a diorama (link: http://paintoholic.nl/images/tooquiet/house_front.jpg) with about 2000 bricks and almost went nuts  during the process (well nut-ter probably). Terrible, won't do that again. So each time I see a fellow bricker, I tip my hat!

[pistolpete]

why not just use sheet styrene with brick/paver pattern?  should be available from railroad shops.  but i'm way more lazy than you phil.

[gamer Mac]

The sheets of plastic card are too regular for some builds

[Hawkeye]

Is it possible, though, to make those sheets look less "regular" by distressing some bricks here and there, sanding some down here and there, and increasing the height/thickness of some of them with a layer of greenstuff, so that overall you get a sheet which of course is regular, but has enough irregularity to it to trick the eye into not seeing that it's mostly regular...or is that really too much work for the sort of effect you'd get? Just wondering, as I've scribed bricks into foam sheets in the past, and it's a real time-suck. Plus, plans for the future and all that, so any sort of information or ideas for alternative approaches help/s. Oh, I should say that both approaches look great here Phil! I think I might actually prefer the little bricks, rather than the scored foam (which of course still looks fantastic).

[flags_of_war]

I lreally love the first one.. What is fomex?

[6milPhil]

Thanks guys.

Respect man. Once built a diorama (link: http://paintoholic.nl/images/tooquiet/house_front.jpg)...

Cor, but how brilliant does that look?

why not just use sheet styrene with brick/paver pattern?  should be available from railroad shops.  but i'm way more lazy than you phil.

I have done that in the past, wanted to try a couple of new techniques. I think plasticard works well for standard wear, but for extreme wear I think scribing works better. I've also done a little bricklaying with hand-cut cork bricks in the past, which was a upright wall (rather than this sideways approach against a surface and using glue as a mortar line) and that was very much quicker.

Is it possible, though, to make those sheets look less "regular" by distressing some bricks here and there...

Absolutely. It's also a matter of time, plasticard is quickest, scribing next quickest and brick laying the slowest. Also concentration levels are similar, I really had to stick my tongue out of my mouth for the majority of the bricklaying.

I lreally love the first one.. What is fomex?

Foamex is a rigid, hard wearing PVC that is compressed and very durable. It's called Foamex as it's made with a foam PVC which is then turned into sheets, although there's no visible bubbles. It main advantage for me is I can cast straight off of it.

[FramFramson]

I've used the Noch foam brick sheets in the past and probably will again. The more rustic ones manage to avoid looking too regular.

[Hawkeye]

I like the "sticking the tongue out" index of how much concentration is needed for something, Phil. I do it all the time, particularly painting miniatures, building miniature terrain, and so on. My wife thinks it's hilarious, and that she's only ever seen kids doing it. I was happy to prove her wrong, although she did make me self-conscious about it for a while!
Excellent work here, in case I haven't already said it.

[flags_of_war]

Bought some foamex. I hope i bought the right stuff.

[6milPhil]

I've used the Noch foam brick sheets in the past and probably will again. The more rustic ones manage to avoid looking too regular.

I'm not familiar with that. Have you got a link?

I like the "sticking the tongue out" index of how much concentration is needed for something, Phil.

It's an official standard of measurement, like the metric system.  

Bought some foamex. I hope i bought the right stuff.

I hope so too! Did you buy it from the link I gave above?


This is an effort for neater, newer brickwork. I've cut it out of foamex using a scalpel and iron rule. Cast windows whalloped in, sills and lintels, and a door.


First cast of the ruin, I cast it a little thick to allow for a bit to the back of the planks. Not sure why now.  


Another cast but with some liquid greenstuff schlopped on.


It tends to sink into gaps rather than fill them, so for the plastered wall look I'm aiming for it falls a little short.


Even with sanding it's still a little ropey, but it does look like it's been painted so as an effect it's okay. Yes I am aware that I'm spending ages carving out detail and then going back and filling it in.  


Also made up a couple of columns for this one:


and a door for the front...

[Hawkeye]

Wow - excellent stuff, those castings. You didn't ask for an opinion, but I'm going to weigh in with one anyway - I really like the look of the liquid greenstuff on the casting as plastered brick. It's true that it might look a little more like whitewashed brick, but it's a wonderful effect. I'll be borrowing the liquid greenstuff idea - plus, on the sticking-the-tongue-out index I'd say it's probably only a 1 or a 2, which works for me.

[Malebolgia]

Wowie man! Excellent!

[FramFramson]

I'm not familiar with that. Have you got a link?

See here, pages 42-53: http://www.noch.com/de/katalog/2015/hauptkatalog/index.html