| After
examining the various roof shingles that could be purchased
commercially for miniature
houses,
we decided that they were not satisfactory because the grain size
was much to large to be realistic. An additional problem was that the
rough grains could easily
be rubbed off after a period of time. Therefore, we decided to cut
roof tiles from medium grade emery paper with a cloth backing. Strips 1
1/8" wide by 8" long were cut as shown in the photograph to the right.
Then 1/2"
squares were
cut out of these strips with a carpenter's utility knife. |
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| A test
section of roof tiles was then glued to a board to see that the pattern
was correct. This was then painted with a heavily diluted driftwood
water color paint, used as a wash, made by Floquil Railroad
Colors (sold in hobby shops for railroad modeling) to achieve the
weathered look. The color was then blotted with paper toweling so that
it adhered only to the low spots. The result is shown on the photograph
to the right. After the chimneys were mounted, the roof tiles were glued to the roof using household "Goop". Finally the entire roof was stained to achieve the proper weathered finish appearance. |
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| The cutting of the shingles was a
very time consuming and tedious job. As we were getting very close to
the date we were scheduled to move the house out to Michigan, we
enlisted Galo's younger son, Alex, to help in this effort. Alex cut
shingles
for a total of eleven hours over a two day period at his house while
Eve cut the same number on the miniature building site.
Unfortunately, the
cutting blades were quickly dulled by the emery cloth and they needed
to be changed after cutting every other eight inch strip. |
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| The variation in color was caused
by the fact that we had to use emery cloth from two different
manufacturers but, after painting, the color difference was no longer
noticeable. This view shows the ridge cap of a
shingled dormer. |
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