Bastle House project, filling in the gaps

        The building phase is over and now it's time for paint-prep. The first step is the apply a coat of wallboard compound over the stonework to mimic the appearance of mortar between the stones. I do this by painting a thin layer of vinyl wallboard compound over the styrofoam bricks that I had covered the walls with. I apply it in a criss-cross pattern (very much like grouting tile) to fill in some of the spaces and generally soften the look. This is slightly less tedious that the actual stonework but decidedly more messy.

 

the stuff walls are made of

I use vinyl-based compound because it has a bit of flexibility and chips less

 

 

don't use your favorite brush for this, 

a broad brush with relatively stiff bristle seems to work best

 

 

apply the compound across the lines of the stonework at a 45 degree angle to work the spackle

 into the gaps, following the lines either horizontal or vertical 

will pull the compound out from between the bricks

 

 

the shingles were tricky, I had sliced the foam very thinly which made them a bit tender 

I ended up thinning the compound with a bit of water so that it would flow better into the gaps

 

side-by-side you can see how it fills the gaps and softens the edges

 

 

after about three hours work I had the two bastle houses ready for paint

       Next everything will get a coat of normal household latex paint. The paint seals the spackle and also acts to strengthen the foam. I hope to find a decent gray in my pile of "mistint" cans otherwise it will be off to Lowe's for a look at the custom paint aisle.