If it were me, I’d find a square tipped brush the same width as the shingles and paint them on the sprues doing random shingles across the 6" strip all in the same colour. By the time you have done one colour the paint will be dry on the strips where you started so you can dive in with the next colour. In fact personally I’d leave the next colour until I was in the mood again. Then you could go back with a smaller brush and add small touches of different colours to the already painted shingles to mimic the variations in the real thing. For that I’d dilute the second colour but not too thin.
I think that would be much faster than trying to paint them after they are applied. It would also guarantee that the bottom edges of the shingles were the right colour, and it would avoid getting the wrong colour on neighbouring shingles. Maybe I’m being too picky.
I can’t see a need to paint the bottom of the shingles so adhesion shouldn’t be a problem.
Let us know how stiff you are after painting all of those shingles![swg][(-D][(-D]
well, lol. Turns out the Tichy shingles come with instructions (they were missing in one box), and I finally noticed today. They recommend installing first and then painting. I think that’s what my plan is. I hadn’t received the N Scale Architect material yet nor was there any indication on my account page with them of any activity, so I finally dropped them an email. They said they were out of the office these past couple of weeks, and that the roofing sheets would ship out this coming Monday. [^o)]
So I’m tired of waiting, I think I’ll try the Tichy shingles on one of the smaller roofs and see how they look. The paints have come in, so time to experiment.
They do nice for slate, I myself desided to go with Campbell wood shingles instead of slate as I have rolls and rolls of it and would have to order more slate, but I did try out the tape method of applying them on a test mock up, works better than any other system I have tried for that as I finish with a wash and that seals together anything that might not stick to the tape because of layering.
okay, here’s what it looks like so far, decided to test on the smallest roof surface on the tower. Applying them beyond the edges and then snipping them flush with sprue cutters. It still leaves a bit of a rough edge that I’m not happy with, but I think the paint will tone down the raw styrene look and in the end nobody will notice. Not going crazy to make sure every course is exactly even to the .000ths, but they line up pretty well just going by eye. Any thoughts or suggestions for improvements, I’m all ears. I’ll probably finish the other side of the tower and then play with some kind of ridge cap and paint before moving on to the larger roof surfaces.
A little liquid styene cement should fix any rough edges, done that many times when an item is to fragile to sand, or sometimes to fix a goof. How you going to finish the top? I was going to do what I do with most roofs which is glue the last layer in place, then trim to the edge of the board peak and glue in a square peice od styene for the roof cap, if the right size is used it looks like it was capted by metal.
that’s a really nice idea for the ridge cap, I don’t think I have any square styrene stock on hand but it’s easy enought to get. And good tip about smoothing the edges with some cement. I’m going to go back and take another look at that NMRA slide show mentioned earlier, there’s some photos in it of different ways of finishing the ridge. I’ll figure something out.
here’s where it stands, I used plastic weld to glue the final course of shingles right up to the ridge, the material butts up nicely on each side to the other. On the NMRA slides, they show a saddle ridge which has slates overlapping each other the whole length of the ridge. An easier option is capping it with a metal strip or some kind of lookalike. I figure I can use the smallest Evergreen angle iron strips to cap the ridge, and then just paint it an oxidized copper color. So I think that’s probably my plan at this point for the ridges.
Quick update, I finally received the slate roofing material from the N Scale Architect, and I have to say it’s a disappointment. Unless they sent me a mis-marked package, it is simply a sheet of embossed brick–there are mortar lines on all four sides of each “slate.” I have an email into them to double check to see if it’s the right product, but if it is, it’s not worth the effort. Picture of it below. Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t wait for it to start the roof.
As far as the structure goes, I’ve finished the trackside main roof and think it looks pretty good. There is good texture to the shingles, and if you’re careful you can get it to lay pretty flat. As mentioned above, a bit of plastic weld between courses can get any stubborn strip to lay flat; I suppose one could glue every course and guarantee the flatness.
I will say Tichy’s coverage estimate is optimistic. I’ve gone through almost all of both boxes, and have the rear main roof and the small shed roof to do, so I’ve ordered another box to finish up. Another photo below of how it looks today.
You know what, you’re absolutely right, and they even say that on the box I think. [:$] I think I either made a basic math mistake or just didn’t want to order three boxes initially at $15/pop until I knew they would work. Either way, you’re right–their estimate is pretty much on the money. Sorry, Tichy!!! [:D]
