I have some GC Laser ones that come in strips. The roof I’m working on is a hip roof.
I read the instructions but have never done this before, let alone on a hip roof. Per the instructions I start at the bottom and work my way up overlapping the strips. I suppose with the hip roof I’ll cut the strips slightly longer across the width of the roof than necessary, working on one of the four sides at a time? And when the glue is dry, trim them off right on the ridge lines and then start on the next side?
Any tips, pointers? What’s a good way to may sure they are straight? I do have a CAD program at my disposal and could glue a paper template underneath with horizontal lines as the angle on the roof is an odd 42.184 degrees.
As an aside: Other than cedar shingles, I often find model railroad shingles look too thick. I hope that is not the case with these shingles.
Shingling a model is no different than shingling a real roof. Except for the fact that your model roof will get a lot more visual attention. As you do a row let the shingles run wild and trim them off on the ends. If you are going to do one side at a time, the paper template idea is a good one. Only apply the template to all four surfaces, making sure that all the lines meet at the corners. That way you can be assured that your shingles will be even across the entire structure. You don’t want to have 16 rows of shingles on one roof section, and 15 on the next. That will stick out like a sore thumb.
Just as a full scale roof is done. Just easier- dry fit mark and cut w/ scissors. Reference lines are a must, adjust the courses as you near the ridge to show a nearly full shingle showing acounting for the ridge cap. If cap shingle strips aren’t supplied, you will need to do them individually (very time consuming on a hip). Hip caps will hide any slight imperfections for the angled cut. Would recommend that those cuts be just slightly short of the hip seam- this will ensure that the hip caps will lay flat and not show any lumps or waves. Part time modeler full time general contractor.
Thanks for the input so far. I have two similar buildings I’m building but the other hip roof will have a slate roof with Kibri 34144 HO “Schieferdachplatte” .060" sheets cut for the actual roof and capped with half round stock on the seams. The half round will have .005" strip wrapped around with it open on the ends. It’s very effective. I just can’t get anymore 34144 anywhere right now for the second structure and it has to be done by July 29. I just hope the shingles don’t look too thick. I found some 34144 in Germany but paypal would not allow the transaction.
Correction: I used 1/4 round stock on this building with a slate roof. I didn’t wrap the stock with .005" and it looked OK, anyway.