Janice Lee Smith
02-06-2009, 02:05 PM
After asking many miniaturists for much help about making stones and bricks, I've come to the conclusion that many of us start with the basics and then add our own unique spin to the process. If I could cook, I would think it would be a lot like tinkering with recipes.
At any rate, I wanted a lot of individual bricks in a half-scale size, and combined many hints to come up with what works for me. I created a table in Word on my computer, customizing the individual cells to be the exact size I wanted for each brick. I taped wax paper over a print-out of the table to my work surface. ( Yes, the kitchen counter.) I run Paper Clay through my pasta maker for a noodle size that just about matches the width of brick I need--lay the strands onto my wax paper/table thingi, and use a sharp knife to cut the lengths. I want very used looking bricks, so I round the corners of each brick by hand and "pounce" it down on a very cheap and handy pumice stick from the cleaning aisle of our local grocery store. The pumice gives a great brick texture. I'm just working up to the washes to make my bricks look like bricks, so could use many hints on that process!
At any rate, I wanted a lot of individual bricks in a half-scale size, and combined many hints to come up with what works for me. I created a table in Word on my computer, customizing the individual cells to be the exact size I wanted for each brick. I taped wax paper over a print-out of the table to my work surface. ( Yes, the kitchen counter.) I run Paper Clay through my pasta maker for a noodle size that just about matches the width of brick I need--lay the strands onto my wax paper/table thingi, and use a sharp knife to cut the lengths. I want very used looking bricks, so I round the corners of each brick by hand and "pounce" it down on a very cheap and handy pumice stick from the cleaning aisle of our local grocery store. The pumice gives a great brick texture. I'm just working up to the washes to make my bricks look like bricks, so could use many hints on that process!