I have seen many products either commercially available or scratch-built by modelers that are supposed to represent brick ruins. It seems to me that all of them look different when it comes to the brick layout/construction.

I would like to know how a brick building is actually built? Is it one or two layers thick? Do the two layers interlock somehow?

I would like to make a ruined brick building and would like to make it the right way. Please enlighten me and tell me what the correct way should be.

There are so many possibilities. But the normal, brick house would have two layers with a cavity between them, to insulate. Depending on time period and country it was also common to fill this cavity with dust/stones etc. Sometimes the houses were shuttered (timber mold and filled with concrete, then a brick layer on the outside. Brick outer layers with an inner timber frame is another option.
Bigger buildings probably would ahve a lot more than two layers of bricks and would have a series of pillars to strengthen.
I guess any of these could be considered. You would have to define more, like where and when and what type of building, what class, etc. etc.
Probably why a lot of the houses look different is the same reason why houses look different today. When were they built, what style, wealth of builder.
Depending on how accurate you want to build it, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Theres door and window lentils, joists for floors, plastered outsides and hardwalled insides, etc.
8)

Frank, thank your for your reply. You are right I should have been more specific about what I was looking for. I am interested in either a German or French WW2 era brick building. At this point I am not as worried about the windows, doors, floor joists etc. The project I am working on will only have a hint or two of a building at the edge of the base but I want it to be a brick building. I like you idea of two layers of bricks with bunch of junk in the middle. I think that makes sense. I will give that a shot.

Modern brick buildings have one or two layers of brick as exterior cladding. Then there
is an air gap to minimize condensation within the wall. There is also a layer of insulation and the interior wall finish.

But of course these walls are different from the way they were built durin ww2.
Maybe you can find some books in your local library on how walls were constructed back then.

Howdy Marty,

Both Plasticbattle and jonasaberg are steering you right. Their descriptions are accurate. But, if I may (?), I'd like to add a few points (I'll try to be brief).

Old structures actually used bricks as the supporting structure, that is not the case in today's homes (most regional codes won't allow it).
Anyway, a decent majority of the houses you are looking for have been covered by Plasticbattle's post. But, I have rarely seen "properly" built dio buildings. For some reason people are afraid to include floor joists, wall lathe strips, ceiling joists, dormer framing, exterior roof slats (old roofs did not have plywood 'skins', but were instead generally 1"x 6" strips laid out horizontally with approx. 1" gaps between each plank.
My point here is; If you really want to "make it the right way", then you have to include at least some of these elements.

...you probably hate me now...huh?

Tread.

Oh, one last little tidbit about the thermal 'space' between the bricks on European houses.....
Many people (especially the Jews who were being persecuted at the time) made use of this space to hide all manner of things.
A dio idea I have been 'ponging' around in my head for some time is to use this idea of a hidden 'cache' of ............something, being revealed by bomb damage.
Just a thought.

Keep in mind that a lot of the brick buildings of wwii are very old ones, and (more or less)the older the building, the bigger the bricks. Nowadays bricks are very small, compared to e.g. 17th century bricks. Even in the 18th century bricks could be as big as 24 cm on 6-8 cm, and some 10 cm deep (I'm guessing a bit, only the 24 I'm quite positive on).
Also, the houses of the 40's often had a layer of plaster, the bricks often didn't show (of course they do when you make a ruin )
I'm not sure, but I thought that until the 50's it never was the case that brick-buildings had a 'space' between the walls. I think they're always massive brick. Ashlar-walls usually were built in two 'layers' , and the gap was filled with rubble.
I might be wrong on this one, I ain't an architect

Hello Marty

I have found an article on the Modell Fan, issue 9, September 2002 about brick building constructions. It is a great article with a lot of pictures and drawings. But the article is in german. If you want, I can scan the article and send an e-mail to you.

pzgren

Here is a pic i use for brick layout, its from the era you want. Hope it helps.....

Tread, I like your reply and no I do not hate you I will include some of the timber normally found in a house bit it will be all part of the rubble strewn around the dio base.

Pzgren, thanks for the offer. If there are photos, then this article may be very useful but if it is mainly text and in German then I would have a very difficult time comprehending it as I do not speak or read German. I will send you a PM for a further inquiry.

Matrix, this is a great photo. What book did you get it from?

Im not too sure about acrost the pond, but here in america, the brick houses were generaly built with two wythes (layers) with a 1" airgap between, they were layed with 1/2" to 5/8" thick mortar. i dont remember if any studs were used in the construction of the brick house, but i do know that most homes that did include studs were framed with a type of framing that is called "baloon framing" where the studs were full height, and the floor was then framed in between the studs. was then lathe boards attached inside if i remember. that were then plastered over. insulation consisted of what ever news papers the builders found at the time.

Hidden cache....Brilliant Tread!

Cuhail Yarg!

The book is "Victorian brick and terra cotta arcitecture" its a good referance book to have.