discussion Plaster cast and card brick walls

[toto]

So ..... I need some brick walls for my Pushing Back diorama and thought I'd do a seperate thread for this part rather than clog up the diorama thread itself.

The build will start this weekend coming and It will be using the following materials to form a sectional composite brich wall.

Plaster cast brickwork sections cast from Diorama debri silicone moulds.
Blue foam
Thick card
Plaster grout
Plaster cast lintel / capping stones cast from Diorama debri silicone moulds.
Acrylic paints
Various washes and scatter materials.

Not rocket science .... I hope, but another first real attempt for me. I have used the moulds before but never incorporated any of the finished products into anything.just testing the moulds out.

I have a few moulds cast and should realy be able to hit the groud running when I get home this weekend. I will need t cut down some blue foam into an apropriate thickness to fill the cavity created in the wall ( not a complete neccesity but added for strength ) and I'll cut fhe card layer trepresent a stucco plaster finish to the walls exterior. Even though th3 brickwork will be substantially covered by the card on the exterior, the brickwork will still receive a weathering and grouting layer as the stucco effect will be interupted in places to show the underlying exposed brickwork.

I'll be sticking tothe main brick wall sections with maybe some peers etc and leave any potential gates, iron work etc until I have the mainbrickwork sections completed to size.

Just one of a few sub-projects that will arise from the main diorama build ..... hope to have you with me on the journey as usual.

Toto

 

[toto]

So ..... I started the brick wall build as described above .....



I am using my brick wall section moulds from Diorama Debri as the starting point for the wall .....



and a mock up of two sides of bricks with two brickwork returns ... one either end ....



and another image from a different angle showing the return section.

This is a test section only to see if all the materials I intend to use are going to work together. The actual build shall be several sections long and possible use brick piers every so often.



and hopefully a better shot of the cavity which will be filled with blue foam for strength and a mortar " fill " at any exposed ends.



and said blue foam waiting to be cut to the correct thickness.



with this ....



and there we have it .....



lots of it ....



blue foam glud both sides and sandwiched in between the two brick layers and one return fixed as well.



The second return section glued and about to be put in place.

I'll need to come back ..... 10 image limit.

back soon

toto

 

[toto]

and back again with one final image of the brick wall as progressed so far.



as the sharp eyed amongst you will pick up on..... I managed to break the second return section slightly but for the purposes of this " test piece " I will carry on regardless. the returns are notoriously easy to break. They are very fragile and sometimes don't even survive the casting process.

I will need to give this time to dry but this will allow me the time to look out the next load of materials / parts required and also make ready for grouting the brickwork.

cheers for now

toto

 

[toto]

A quick deek at what is being prepared as I await the wall section to dry sufficiently enough to work on further.



I think you can see where I am heading with this .....



I will probably end up breaking the " stucco " back a little further but lets wait until I am ready to progress. What I will do is chamfer the " broken edge with a sanding stick to disguise both the abrupt end and the actual thickness of the card as I think its a little over scale for what I want. The amazing ( lucky ) thing about this is the overall thickness of this composite build nearly matches the thickness of the plaster cast building walls. ..... how lucky is that.



a photo of the layers of materials making up the overall build.



and a precast Diorama Debri plaster / Concrete coping stone on the head of the wall.



and a bit of a shot of the end which will be finished in Daler board as well ..... at least whats left of it.

Hope its of interest

cheers for now

toto

 

[toto]

So ..... dry enough to work on as the shed is warm and the build up of heat is helping nicely here ....

I mixed up a witches potion of PVA, plaster, water and some white acrylic primer .... don't ask to what ratio ..... just some of each ...

and then applied to the brickwork once it had started to thicken / go off slightly



This was another trial piece ( read as waste ) that I made earlier rather than risk my latest creation.

I then wiped this down with a moist sponge to take most of the mixture of the top of the brick but leave a little on to retain the stucco look. I coated the final finish with more PVA to the back of the card and fixed to the finished brickwork and added clamps to keep it together whilst it drys ....



Note ... I forgot to chamfer the edge of the card with a sanding strip as I said I was going to do. Still ..... that can still be done.

Once dry, I will start breaking the brick away at the exposed end to portray a smashed wall end. The other end shall be given the card treatment and I will cut back the coping stone to take it back to where the brick damage starts and then the wall ( card ) is ready for a coat of paint and any exposed brick can have a black wash applied and some " mortar added to hide the inner exposed layers with a mortar effect.

More as it happens.

Toto