I have used some modeling clay to simulate brick and want to add some morter between the bricks. I have tried some thick paint but this seems to smear the clay causing the lines to blur. Any ideas on a material I can use for morter or sealing the clay to allow thick paint to be used?

If you want to keep the colour of the clay as it is then you could try spraying a matt or satin varnish over it to seal it.
Alternately you could use a very thin layer of tissue paper soaked in PVA glue to cover all the clay.

Use a paintbrush to push the tissue paper in to the all the nooks and crannys.

Once it's dry you can paint over it without smearing the clay.

If you can get your hands on some strong tissue paper suitable for chinese lanterns it is resistant to tearing and when soaked with PVA becomes almost transparent so you still have the colour of the bricks coming through.

If you have any clay left try the paper method out before doing it on your model. Let me know how you get on.

Pat,

Thanks, I was thinking that spraying a acrylic sealer would work. I also have used the tissue paper option on stonework. Not sure how it would work on brick.

Mike

It might be a better idea to use somethng besides modeling clay, like 2-part epoxy putty with a slow dry time. You could also use plaster of paris; poured as a slab, then scribe the bricks into it. Modeling clay takes a long time to fully dry and has a tendency to crack as it does. It really isn't a good medium for making brickwork or other diorama elements.

I don't think using plaster would work for this particular application. Here is a image of what I'm talking about.



The clay has been applied to a cutout portion of the building and the brick pattern embeded into it with a screw driver. The brick is representing the portion of the building where the stucco portion is missing. I applied some future with a airbrush to the exposed clay and then applied a bit more air dry clay to represent the morter. It seemed to turn out ok. I think I will have to experiment a bit more to see if I can obtain better results.

Mike

Yes, you can do the same with plaster. Mix it thick and apply it. Once dry, which doesn't take long, sand it a little smooth to remove tool marks. Then you can scribe the brick lines in it as well.