The Brickyard- DAS brick making Tutorial (Edit 24-10)

ScanmanDan · #1 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 00:12

I've been slowly working away making some bricks for a project I've wanted to do for a long time. I thought I'd share some pics of the old brickyard.

The brickyard

Just a big old white tile I used as a base, some DAS terracotta clay, a few tools and a brick form made out of some styrene strip. I tape the form to the tile, roll out a snake of clay and press it in the brick form. ( I'm making my bricks 12mm x 36mm for a 3 inch x 9 inch full scale brick. I've made the bricks only 5mm thick as once they are mortared in you can't see the lack of thickness.)

Adding some colour

The terracotta DAS is kinda of a brickish colour but I like to break up the uniform colour by dusting on some pastle chalks. The chalk will get dispersed once you add some texture to the bricks.

Adding Texture

While the clay is still in the form add some texture to the face of the bricks. I like to use a green scrubbing pad, old kitchen knife and anything else I can find to rough up the bricks and work the pastle chalk into the clay.

Cutting out.

I have marked the form every 36mm so its easy to mark the bricks for length. I then run a thin knife blade dipped in water around the form to seperate the bricks from the form.

Finishing off.

Once you get the form off use the thin blade to chop the bricks to length and to neaten up the edges.

The bricks will need to air dry for a day or so and will get considerebly lighter in colour as they dry. Once they are dry the ends and corners will nee a light sanding to knock off the squareness. ( I'm going for a used brick look.)

Putting the bricks to use.

I wanted to do a small brick fence post with a ball shaped finial on top. The bricks will be attached to a black foamcore core. I set out all the markings in white gel pen. I have found that silicon caulking works well to attach the bricks to the foamcore. I'm using a 2mm gap for the mortar which I'll put in with plaster of paris once all the bricks finished.

One of the hiccups I have found in using the thinner bricks is that when you go around an outside corner you have to make little cheater bricks to make up fo the lack of full depth bricks. Fortunately the dried DAS will bond with itself if you wet the join before adding new clay.

I don't know if anyone will be as nutty as me and try using any of this but maybe it might be of some use to someone. I'll add how I add the morar as I get the bricks finished. As always thanks for taking the time to have a look.

I'm back to making more bricks....

Only another 40 or so to make

Dan

Jediguy · #2 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 00:20

damn that is so cool lol

ActionMan · #3 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 00:41

Nice job. I was lucky enough to buy some cheap kids building kits which use a real brick. They weather up pretty well.

I took a rare look at the CH site yesterday - they are also making some 1/6th ruins

mgbb · #4 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 00:52

That looks excellently real! Thanks for sharing and looking forward to some high quality dio from you.

Tracker47 · #5 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 06:23

Dan, that is just top notch work. Well done.

Tommo · #6 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 06:44

They look fantastic, thanks for the tutorial.

Tony Barton · #7 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 07:30

Really excellent technique : but it must take a great deal of time : I should hate to tackle a whole wall !

idreamoftoshiba · #8 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 08:06

very useful. thanks for the tips.

Matiascg · #9 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 08:23

Excellent

pukingdog · #10 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 13:45

You've now officially joined LG2 on Madman Isle, LOL. The two of you are onesix construction material barons. You guys could contract Storm to do all the interior wood finishing.

egonzinc · #11 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 14:15

These look amazing?
Any thought of doing the whole brick and not just a "facade"?
What would be the dimensions of a full brick?
Would this material work ok if it were a full brick in terms of holding its shape and drying in its thicker application?

The texture you get on these bricks is amazing?

E

Hugh · #12 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 20:17

Yes thank you! I've been looking for a similar tutorial for some time now! THank you, thank you, and thank you!

RJMacReady16 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 20:23

Your patience and artistic commitment is commendable.

I envy and possibly hate you.

Great work!

Broadshore · #14 (**permalink**) 10-14-2007, 21:27

<whistles lowly> Not bad. Been looking for a good tutorial like this to build Brick walls for a Middle Eastern style Dio.

Great stuff!

ScanmanDan · #15 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 06:42

Jediguy -- Thanks

ActionMan -- Glad you like em. Can you give any information on the brick building kits you found? I have only seen one kit here in Australia and I stupidly didn't buy it! I've never seen another and I didn't write down the brand. I have been inspired by a model railroading gentelman Marcel Ackle(I think that's his name as I don't read Greman but thankfully pictures are universal!

)His website Marcels website has some really fantastic photos of his work in 1:22.5 scale. His brickwork, not to mention everything else he can do, is really something special and worth a look.

mgbb, Tracker47 & Tommo -- Thanks for your kind comments and I hope you can find some use in the tutorial.

Tony Barton -- Thanks so much for the encouragment. Yep, this way takes ages and I'm not one who likes to make two of anything let alone squillions of duplicates. I've gotten faster as I go but I can only turn out about 36 bricks at a sitting before I go a little wacko. I don't think a brick two story town house is in my future. Though a nice big brick wall with a grubby faded painted on advertising sign and a whole bunch of tactical paint markings......

idreamoftoshiba, Matiascg --Thanks guys.

pukingdog -- Oh what evil things we could get up to. Glad you approve

egonzinc -- Whole bricks are do-able. In fact I'm going to use them for the very top. DAS is very stable and doesn't warp or shrink much on drying. I'm using 36mm x 12mm x 18mm for a 9inch x 3inch x 4 1/2 inch bricks.

DYE-GSG90 -- Thanks, Glad to be of help.

Broadshore -- I hope it is of some help. Make sure you post your Middle eastern results as I'm sure they will be a little ripper.

Not much to report tonight but I think I've got my finail sorted out.

Finail on the left was my first choice but I think it's too small. It is a curtin rod end I bought at the craft store. On the right is the base cut off and a ubiquitous ping pong ball for the top bit. I think it looks more to scale. I have added some more bricks and I'm working on a form for some whole bricks. So little by little I'm getting there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Dan

ActionMan · #16 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 09:34

Here are the bricks I mentioned:

Partially built and weathered:

Dan, sorry to interrupt your thread. I think your work is absolutely amazing. I wish I had your skill and patience!

grizzerr · #17 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 13:46

Scanman...you are a madman!!!
Those look great, but believe i'd go cross eyed trying to make them.

Hugh · #18 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by ActionMan

Here are the bricks I mentioned:

Partially built and weathered:

Dan, sorry to interrupt your thread. I think your work is absolutely amazing. I wish I had your skill and patience!

Where'd you buy this kit? Is it available in the US or is it the kind of thing you have to special order online? Thanks!

ActionMan · #19 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 23:27

I bought three boxes from a department store (Jusco) here in Hong Kong. They were reduced to about US$6 each.

[Edited to add]

I just Googled for the product number "WO-2030502" and got plenty of hits.

~•ONEYE•~ · #20 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 23:34

I did something similar, but, I got the bricks off EBAY. Now with your inspiration, I may just make the bricks myself. This is a dungeon project, that I've put on the back burner for now.

Explanations:

My first attempt. I didn't like the look, I felt I needed to use some spacers for a little uniformity. The look I'm going for is a medieval dungeon. Initially, it was just going to be one wall and a base, then I decided to expand it to two connected walls (corner & deck). I wanted to add some props from various figures. Originally, this was only supposed to be a place where I can photograph horror type figures and use this as a background. I wish I could, but don't seem able to do anything simple/easy. I always make things more difficult for myself, in spite of my lack of abilities.

These are real concrete bricks, just in 1:6 scale. The pieces that don't break as I would like will still be used as street rubble for another diorama. I do my best to not throw away anything.

Just some of the props I'll use.

I'm a little bit of a neat freak. I went to Michael's. I didn't want a mess with the mortar, so I got a cake frosting decorator. I use it like they do, just with mortar.

This is the back side of dungeon wall 1. I used cheap thin wood dowels as spacers. This did two things for me, it allowed me to keep the spacing semi-equal throughout. The bricks and dowels are hot glued to the acrylic box frame (11x14"). The mortar can get expensive, so the wood & hot glue take up space which means less mortar is used without destroying the look of the wall.

This is the front of the wall. All that glue and the dowels will be covered up with mortar. Then I'll do a black India ink wash, as well as some mold. The floor (not shown) will have various washes as well.

Some of the props and Work In Progress (WIPs). Mongul is not done, but about 50% complete. I'll be using some Folk Art Metallic Sequin Black for the piping and bolts. His face and hands will be in a yellowish shade to keep in sync with some of his comic book aspects.

High Temp Hot Glue. High temperature since it allows you maximum time to get the placement just right before it sets. Burns the crap out fingers though. I use a big gun and big sticks. I like them big.

Sounds dirty, huh?

Solid Snake · #21 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 00:00

Cake Frosting Decorator = Piping Bag.

Sorry... My mom used to make wedding cakes for a living.

~•ONEYE•~ · #22 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 00:24

Oops.

Solid Snake · #23 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 00:26

I'm just saying. ;P

The more you know!

ActionMan · #24 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 00:35

An Icing bag (or piping bag) is a good idea.

The other thing is to build the wall FLAT on a level surface, and then raise it upright once it's set. That keeps the bricks straight, and it's a lot easier to construct.

ScanmanDan · #25 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 06:49

Thanks for the brick information ActionMan. I've got to look into maybe getting some of those for next time. Your right, making the walls flat would help enormously. The silicon caulking is working pretty well but it's kinda a pain working on all sides of the column at the same time. I've finished off with the bricks but I've got to find some time to put in the mortar. I wanted to make a little base with some stairs but got a little carried away.

The more I look at this the more I think I'll lose the finial and I might have to use thicker tube for the uprights in the iron part of the fence. Also need to lop off a tiny bit off the top as it just looks a bit odd. I'm hoping to add the stairs in using some white DAS and add some cobblestones. Here's where I'm at now.

Dan

MATSU@BE · #26 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 06:59

Nice Work!!!

ActionMan · #27 (**permalink**) 10-24-2007, 08:53

That really does look superb. Great work!

Johkaz · #28 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 16:05

Hi,

I have just tried this technique for a cobblestone road, i want on a base for my latest kitbash.
And using a frame to sculpt the clay makes the job a whole lot easier.

Excellent work and thanks for posting.

Gary

debauch · #29 (**permalink**) 06-28-2010, 17:32

Sorry for bumping a 2 year old thread, but I found a useful item for people looking to get some pre-made bricks. I was in the craft store today and stumbled upon 'Project Bricks'. They are Styrofoam pre-cut bricks, that can be shaped as the builder wants. The box was 11.99$ for 300 bricks, seemingly more than enough to build a few Dios.