Scratchin' an Itch - Brewery

[Kingred]

Hey! First thread here on Mod Forum...

Hoping to try out some techniques in Hydrocal and make up a background building. It will be a brewery.

Want to try and figure out how to cast walls with clean openings for windows. Decided to try Legos. Made a quick mold from my son's collection and then made up some hydrocal, a bit on the thin side so it would fill around all of the Lego piers in middle of mold.
Used a wet brush to put texture the hydrocal while it set up.


Now waiting on a Tichy window order to see what fits best in those openings...

Pretty happy so far. (Of course being impatient, I broke the wall in 5 places. Nothing some Gorilla Glue can't fix!) Spent several evenings scratching out some mortar lines and sills. Do these look convincing enough?

I need some tips on setting masonry windows in the recesses. Any photos where you've used "shims" in walls would be great!





Anyone have any experience with Woodland Scenics light Hydrocal? (I'm using Scenic Express Hydrocal - it's great, but man is it HARD!)

Also - would appreciate any suggestions for sealing this stuff without using a stinky aerosol (and we're not going outside anytime soon!) Was thinking of using Ceramcoat sealer - anyone tried it?

Thanks for looking in! Stay warm,
~Kingred

[Dave K.]

Welcome aboard...good-lookin' work! 👍

[coors2u]

Nice work so far. Here is a link that may be helpful.HOW TO ASSEMBLE, PAINT & WEATHER HYDROCAL STRUCTURE KIT

[moonlicht]

good tip to use the good old lego in that way
maybe it can help to put some thin layer of clingfilm around the lego bloks to get them out easyer ?
one of my build i used a electric cutter to make the holes, gives a lot of dust but it works

tichy has some windows for masenary walls, i have used those

for painting , i never used something to seal the walls, just painted with water based paint.
Cor

[GPdemayo]

Welcome Kingred.....thanks for sharing your build, great start, neat idea using the Lego's.....I'll be following along. 

[gnatshop]

Great work on the scribed stone walls!

[S&S RR]

Kindred


First, welcome to the forum.


I have been using acrylics on scenic express hydrocal for five years - no issues. I typically seal with the first coat of grey acrylic.  Reference above is a good one. Let us know if you have any questions.


I use emery boards and sandpaper to get the doors and window castings the right size. I like your molding fixture.

[UP Fan]

Kingred, great use for the Legos.  I use them to square up structure walls during construction.  Very nice job scribing the walls.  Very good start.  Can't wait to see the rest of the brewery.   As far as Woodland Scenics Light Hydrocal goes, I use it in their rubber rock molds.  The resulting pieces are very light, but can break easily if you don't use enough "wet water" prior to pouring the mold.  WS has a sturdier hydrocal, but I have never used it.  Good luck with the rest of your build.  And, BTW, welcome to the forum.

Bob
UP Fan

[Kingred]

Thanks for the kind comments and feedback - this place is certainly a source of inspiration and great advice.

Went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought some Ceramcoat sealer (since I use mostly Ceramcoat paints). Seemed to work great -


Tried setting up some molds for more walls (was toying with adding 2 stories below these).


Epic fail. Not sure if I needed more water, but the slurry set up so fast I couldn't get it to fill in the corner and crevices of the lego mold. Bummer, but such is modeling.

I did manage to get an end piece to salvage.
After gluing some bracing to the back, I got to wok with some painting. Trying to get some pink / rusty hues in the stone.




Starting to come together - need to add some dry-brushing and washes. Here are the basic walls, sitting in place at rear of scene.


Also starting to think of a header framing the top of the wall.


Any ideas for a rooftop structure / addition?
This baby needs a name too - thinking Beeches Brew (nod to Miles Davis), or Acorn Ales (our layout is named Oakville Junction). Any other suggestions?

Thanks for checking in,
~Kingred

[martin.ojaste]

Lego - the universal tool.  How about Burlington Mills Brewery?


Marty

[Kingred]

Got back on the walls last night and added some blue hues and drybrushed white. Looks more to my liking.

Made a lot of progress this eve - printed out some signs, got the fascia made up, and used some canned foods to help "can"vince the walls to stay straight.





Was able to salvage some parts from my lego mold fail, and decided to practice my hydrocal brick carving. Takes lots of patience and I learned I need better light. Some minor errors, but fine for my background stuff.

Any tips out there on how to accurately carve the curves over the window openings?



Set the whole structure up for some photos. I like the signage. I also think the brick 3rd floor will be interesting. Any suggestions what color to make it. (Just needs to hint at a roof, since its only 1/2" wide.)



The roof in photos is legos - what texture would y'all suggest?
Flat? Cedar shingles? Tarpaper? Rolled?



Thanks for your eyes and suggestions.
~Kingred

[gnatshop]

Just my personal opinion, but I think a light brown or a pinkish brown with a cedar shake roof would compliment
the building!

[Kingred]

Pretty much wrapping this one up. Took your advice, Gnat, and finished the rooftop / roof with your suggestions. I like the way it came out.



Used some transparency sheets I found and printed some window frames and carefully gut them to fit the openings. They look "fair" and I will likely not be doing that again - very time consuming. The price was right though.





Thanks for your suggestions, comments and tips.
~Kingred