Finishing Your Structure Buildings finished as they stand still require filling to hide joints and sealing to protect them from the outside elements. There are structures that look much more realistic without highlighting or enhancement. An excellent example of this is the tower built by George Konrad. Shown at the right, it was featured on the cover of an earlier JigStones Newsletter. Dry-Brushing A second option after filling a completed structure is to dry-brush the stone face. This technique is particularly effective with either squared or random stone in bringing up textured details of the stone. Dry-brushing gets its name because it is done with a dirty brush. That is, you put the paint color you plan to use on the brush and then wipe off as much of it as you can on a towel or rag.
The brush is then used in this semi-dry state, and dragged or scrubbed over the surface of the stone in a diagonal direction (rather than vertical or horizontal) to keep your mortar lines clean.

When dry-brushing, I use a short, stiff-bristled brush. One that is intended for stenciling works well. I suggest a variety of earth tone shades normally found in nature, and recommend you stay away from gray which tends to dry bluish.

Before you finish and seal the building, remember that when stone buildings age they share a few common attributes. Stones age and darken above windows and doors, especially at the upper corners. Sides of entrances deepen from random hand oil, and areas hidden from the sun mildew and develop moss. This is especially true under roof lines along eaves, and along inside wall corners.

Daubing

John, Pam, and Kathy Hughes use a technique called daubing which gets its name from the tool used. A dauber is a strange little tool, used in stenciling, that looks like a short, fat, flat-bottomed sponge mounted on a dowel. The basic concept of dry brushing should be used when daubing. Rather than scrubbing along the surface of the stone with a semi-dry tool, you bounce the sponge along the stone as you work. It may take some practice, but as you will see from the results, it’s definitely worth a try.

Wash

Mix browns and greens to a watery mud. Then, saturate a large-bodied sable brush, with water and pick up some of the muddy paint and slop the color at an angle from top to bottom with a scrubbing motion. Mist the painted area with water, and stretch the color as far as you can over the entire structure. Refill the brush with either water or color as needed. Remember to vary your mud color between vine green and rich brown.

Once the entire building has been tinted, go back and refill the brush with color only. Select cool paint colors, i.e., paint with a yellow rather than blue base. Warm colors, especially brown, will result in a pink tone rather than weathered moss tones. Do not concern yourself with dribbling between the stones on the mortar lines. This is bound to happen and frankly is unavoidable.

Painting Glass & Plexiglass

Several glass painting/staining products are available on the market. The easiest to find seems to be Gallery Glass. I’ve seen it in craft, hobby, sewing shops, and even in the craft department at WalMart. I used this product on my greenhouse (before reading the disclaimer) and found that it does an outstanding job. The finished product resembles real stained glass. However, I hesitate to recommend it even though the results were great. Gallery Glass is a paint-and-peel product, and is NOT intended for an outdoor application. I suspect that the paint may peel off in the heat of the sun, but really don’t know for sure.

More appropriate glass painting products are available under some of the following trade names: Pebeo Vitrea, Pebeo Liquid Crystal, Deka Stained Glass, and Deka Translucent. All but one of these products must be baked in a 325° oven for 40 minutes to set the glaze, thereby making it both dishwasher and/or garden railway safe. If it is not heat treated, the finish will eventually flake or peel off in the abusive elements. (Note: Plexiglass will deform badly in the oven.)

PermEnamel, a Delta Technical coating product, is designed to use without the necessity of heat setting the colors. I found PermEnamel at AC Moore and Michaels. It costs US$2.99 for a 3-ounce jar. Roughly 15 to 20 or more colors are available in finishes that are transparent, satin, or metallic.

There is a labor intensive exchange for the luxury of not heat treating, with very specific, designated steps to that end.

Sealing

Finish all structures with several coats of exterior spray polyurethane or other sealant intended for cement.