The rapid pace of production - figure out how to use it later

I have some techniques that I'm happy with, making the brick panels and assembling them later, but there are still new issues that have been realized that weren't problems before. Dry time for one. Since I have stopped putting the pigment and images into the mold and mixed concrete I now have to wait for the item to dry completely before applying any additional layers. I have also noticed that some materials don't seem to hit their maximum strength right away, so any handling is just going to cause breakage. Lastly the shrinkage issue. I have been using the shrinkage to my benefit, because the component parts are easier to remove from the wooden mold, but if I mount any of the pieces too early then the shrinkage is just going to add more internal stress or cause cracks. I've found a place in my yard to place a bunch of flat brick panels to dry and after a couple of weeks I'll check them out and see if they've matured to durable concrete brick panels that can be painted with acrylic, spray paint, resin and or epoxy. Another problem is that my tables haven't been perfectly stable or level, so many of these first brick panels are higher on one end than the other. I like that if I was going to use them as shingles that overlapped, but it isn't a feature that I want to have on a regular basis. So now I have to go back and redesign my work table to make consistently flat and even brick fresco panels. 2 steps forward, one step back.