Farmhouse Car Port - WIP

Again, I've been sidetracked on a different, yet related, project.  I decided to build the car port seen in another photo of the area around the house.  The garage is serving as a great prototype to test out the new brick painting technique on a little larger scale than the small test pieces used previously.  My theory that a smooth gloss seal vs the more rough Testor's Dullcote will make it easier to apply the grout and reduce the chalk look turned out to be true.

First, here is the reference photo:

Image from http://www.nrzam.org.uk/BobEglinton/BobLHS.htm

It would be great to find a 1/48th-1/60th scale model of the pictured vehicle, but I'm not sure what model it is nor am I aware of anyone who would make such a thing.  If anyone is aware of how to get one, please comment below.

Here are some photos of the building after the weathering powder had dried.  Once the ground gets a little color, I think the building will look pretty nice.

Front

Back

Left Side

Right Side

The walls are not completely done yet.  As seen in the reference photo, there is a reddish stain along the bottom parts of the walls due to the rain falling on the Zambian soil.  I'll try to replicate that with some Terra Cotta weathering pigment.  I then plan to seal everything with Liquitex Matte Varnish applied with an airbrush.  I've read that using Testor's Dullcote or many other varnishes has significant negative effects on the pigments.  Ounce per ounce, the Liquitex product will be less expensive than the Testor's anyway.

Here is how I colored the walls:

1. Base coat the walls with Delta Ceramcoat Sandstone.
2. Using a foam brush, gently brush on streaks and/or areas of Golden Brown, Burnt Sienna, and Dark Cherry.  Note that the foam brush is used sort of as a drybrush with most of the paint wiped off on a paper towel before applying to the wall.
3. Using a small brush (about as wide as a brick is), paint a few random bricks with white, Burnt Umber, and any of the other colors already used.  
4. Wash the entire wall with a Sepia wash.  I mix my own using Les' Wash Recipe over at AwesomePaintJob.com.
5. Seal with a clear gloss varnish from a spray can after the paint has had sufficient time to dry (I let it wait overnight before sealing).
6. Wait for the varnish to dry (probably overnight again) and apply pigment with a dry brush liberally to the first wall face. The wall will need to be lying in a horizontal position so the pigment doesn't just fall off.
7. Rub the pigment into the recessed grout lines with a finger.  There will be some residual pigment on the brick faces which we'll take care of later.  The pigments I use are non-toxic so I just use my bare finger - use gloves if you are using something that is toxic...
8. Apply rubbing alcohol with a different brush by dipping the brush in the alcohol and then just barely touching the face of one of a brick and letting the fluid wick into the recesses.
9. Give the alcohol a minute to start to set up and then go back with a slightly damp paper towel and gently rub the brick faces to remove excess pigment.  You will need to keep using new areas of the towel to avoid smearing pigment all over.  This part can get a big messy, but worked better than I expected.
10. Move on to the next wall and repeat steps 6-9. 

The pigments I'm using are from Earth Pigments by the way.  The grout is their 'Slate' mixed with some Titanium White.

Below is the balsa roof frame all ready to have tin applied.  The balsa is glued together with Loctite Super Glue Gel which works great for this type of application. Next I'll put the tin on the roof and then continue to use it as a painting prototype to learn from.

Roof Frame

Progress on these projects has been a bit non-existant in the last couple weeks due to me being out of the country on a mission trip.  Purely by coincidence, I happened to be in Zambia not more than 30km away from the house pictured in the photos.  I wasn't able to get to see it (or what is left of it), but being able to see some of the landscape, buildings, and the people was a real blessing.  The physical reason for me being over there was to build a pump house and water tower with the help of the people of a local village.  Strangely enough, some of my model making experience was actually useful in helping lay the blocks for the real pump house.  To the right is a photo that I took of my brother and one of the guys from the village in front of the tower we built.  We didn't know what exactly we would be doing before we got there and the tower went from design to as-pictured in about 8 days.  It was quite a challenge given the material and tool shortages we had.  From end to end it was a great experience and I hope this source of clean water will bless the village for a long time to come.