Bricks: I used this method to make the facade of a local masonry building before it was torn down. I needed brick walls in a couple of places. First I carved bricks into a sheet of 1/8" thick basswood. I sealed it with varnish then covered it with plaster of Paris to give it texture. I gave it a final sealing with a fixative. Over this I painted many layers of liquid latex. Once it all dried well I removed the latex and poured in plaster of Paris. I repeated the casting process until I had several dozen sheets of bricks about 3 inches high and six inches long. I cut out every other brick on each end so they would finger into the next sheet. I glued these bricks to the plywood wall with liquid nails. After the wall was built I cleaned up and aged the bricks then painted them brick color. (Use acrylics, they soak into the plaster best. To get a good brick effect I did not paint all bricks the same color -- some are darker than others. After the paint has dried well I gave the bricks a coating or Flat Deft spray. When the Deft has thoroughly dried I spread in the mortar and wiped it right off. The mortar will dull the gloss of the Deft.

Bill Hudson