Moss on the Roof

The standalone haunted house model is almost complete. I’ve finished the white dry-brush/dusting around the woodwork and turned my attention back onto the roof. I felt it needed a little something, and that was a greenish tint for moss. I got the idea after missing my train on Saturday and whilst stood on the platform at Romford, I found myself looking out onto a roof that was tinted in such a way. So using a deep moss green paint, which I also picked up from a pound store as part of that shopping trip, I mixed with it some PVA glue and a sprinkle of dark green flock and proceeded to tint the roof in patches. In most cases it was a fast flick of the wrist in downward strokes using the paint in the same dry-brushing approach, and on occasions picking up a little of the thicker mix just to add that little extra depth where the moss has actually taken.

I also gave the front tower a light brush with the green as well just to age the tower up and make that feel slightly more decayed than the rest. Something more sinister about the tower, maybe?

I’ll take some more photos in outdoor light before and after I varnish.

Finally I’ve glued the stone pillar in place on the bottom corner, and now I’m leaving that to dry before making a final check prior to varnishing. My next stage will be to build a baseboard to set the model off in its grounds, maybe a crumbling outer wall and an old gate, an over grown path leading up to the front door.  Who knows?

For anyone who might be interested in the first volume of my trilogy, a heads up, the first volume will be available at a discounted price for a week starting this Friday, 28^th August. It will be part of the Kindle Countdown Deals which will have the greatest discount at the start of the offer but then the discount is reduced as the week goes on. That will be on Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk from Friday morning.

Previous post in the Haunted House series: Woodwork Painting

Next post: Coming soon

Stonework Painting

Today was very wet, so there was no chance of working out on the table to start the painting of the stonework. So the painting work was brought inside. I built up the layers of varying shades of grey. 

Although over several hours I managed to cover several rounds I was unable to complete the whole cycle in one go, so a further session will be needed. I decided to also use the grey layers for the roof tiles as well, rather than the terracotta I usually go for with roof tiles.

As this is such a large model, holding it and painting it is quite a task. I have found a way to support it and paint it whilst in the living room, a bean bag. The model can be held in a snug embrace by the bean bag keeping it in position whilst I work on it. It also allows me to take interesting angled photos. 

Previous article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:
Haunted Undercoat

Next article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:

Woodwork Painting

Weekend Roofing

I took a long weekend off work last weekend, spending Saturday in the company of several Doctors from a certain long running BBC science fiction series, at the Day of the Doctors convention in Slough.

Sunday was some dutiful housework, but Monday I had intended to venture into the garden and make a start on the spring clean up. The weekend prior had been very nice, weather wise, but Sunday never got light and Monday was little better – a few glimmers of sunlight every now and then to tease - but certainly no chance to drag everything out of the shed or attempt to mow the grass.

So I turned my attention back to the haunted house model. Before starting on the new idea for the windows, I wanted to get the roof finished first. However I had to admit that the roof on one tower was not as I would have liked it. That has had to come off, and get reshaped. Extra card glued inside along with an additional round of tiles at the bottom to attempt to get a better fit.

I also found several other areas where tiles did not hang correctly along edges of the various roof sections, so additional remedial work and extra tiles were added in various places. I think building the roof pieces separately and tiling them before putting them on might have been a bad move after all.

Once most of those patch ups were set I turned my attention to the edges of the roof sections, along the joins. I’ve still got some of that solid DAS putty left over from last year, I soaked it down and make it into a thick paste. I then added some PVA glue along the edges and moulded the paste along the gaps, shaping it as I went. I also added some additional shape to the top of the chimneys with the putty.

This has to then be left to dry out completely before anything else is done to the model. The dampness does spread along the cardboard tiles, but if left to dry, this does dry out ok, as I think you’ll see in one of the photos.

Now all I have to do is wait for the rebuilt piece of roof to dry out and then attempt to reattach it. At the moment it’s still clamped up. I seem to be having difficulty finding more of these claps in the local hardware/pound stores where I previous bought them. Somebody has suggested this might have something to do with a recent film release, but I wouldn’t like to comment.

Previous article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:

The House is Back

Next article in the Mystery Model / Haunted House series:
May Day, Breaking Windows

Mystery Model Takes Shape - Part Two

And the second session on the Mystery Model from Sunday.

Rear view of ground floor

The next piece to get my attention is numbered #4 in the grand scheme of things.

As you can probably guess this is the main roof for the building. Made in the same way as the last roof pieces from foam–board sides with an old cardboard envelope used as the main roof section. I used the existing fold in the cardboard at the apex of the roof. This made cutting the shape and size a bit easier since you are cutting both sides at once from the edge of the envelope.

Roof showing various stages of building

Each of the chimneys is made from two pieces of foam-board off cuts glued together with a V cut at the same angle as the roof slope. These were glued on before I tiled up to them, but were held in place with a couple of pins to allow be to continue work on them.

I then covered them in the DAS putty spread that I had reduced the old block down to, and like the walls, once semi dry I carved in the stones. The tiles are just more of the same small squares cut from the remains of the same biscuit box used previously.

Now comes the exciting bit. Piece #2. Seen here in all its glory. First Floor.

Piece #2 Which up does it go?

I fooled myself when I marked this piece up. I wrote the details and number on upside down. It took me a while to figure out when I went to glue it in place what was wrong. Then it struck me, it was upside down. What seemed to be the top was the bottom, once I had this figured out I was able to glue it in place. This is the main part of the first floor of the building. I wanted to get this in place before I put the wood work on the exterior of the ground floor so that they sit snugly in place.

Piece #2 now fixed in place

(Oh & BTW -  it appears that the local council do not care that they have missed collecting the garden waste from an entire street and we now have to wait another 2 weeks before they can be bothered to have another attempt  - just thought you’d like to know.)

Next article in this series: Piece #7 the Corner Tower.

Previous article in this series: Mystery Model Takes Shape

New Mystery Model, parts #9, #16 & #18

or “The Pointy Bits”

It’s probably quite easy to guess what these are. 

Pyramid Power

The working names for these parts are:

#9 Front Tower Roof

#16 Rear Tower Roof

#18 Second Floor, Left Side, Rear Tower Roof.

Opposite sides tiled first

This suggests that there are going to be three towers to this model, whatever it turns out to be. I do have plans and designs I’m just keeping them to myself for a little while longer.

These are all made from cardboard, cut from the remains of an Amazon delivery package, and covered in tiles in the same way as the other roof pieces from the small cereal bar box. 

Opposite sides trimmed before adding remaining tiles

That small box has made all the tiles for these pieces so far, but what’s left will not be enough for the main roof piece of the model.

Pieces #9 & #18 were cut out as four matching triangles and glued together.

Piece #16 has two pairs of different size triangles making for a thinner tower rather than the square tower of the other two.

All sides trimmed

I stuck the tiles onto opposite sides and allowed them to dry before trimming the sides up, then I added the other two sides of tiles. 

Once these were dry those sides were trimmed.

So far the best guesses have been:

• A city ruined by an earthquake.
• A brothel.

Next article in this series: Mystery model parts #13 & #14

Previous article in this series: New Mystery Model, parts #6, #10 & #12

New Mystery Model, parts #6, #10 & #12

Three more roof related pieces of the new mystery model today – the weather was a bit windy and rainy so working out on the table in the garden was really not an option. 

This means I usually look for smaller scale pieces to work on and sticking roof tiles is about the simplest option.

These three parts have the working numbers and names as follows:

#6 Front reception roof

#10 Second floor, right side, centre piece

#12 Second floor, right side, rear roof.

Two are triangles of foam board with cardboard roof covered in tiles, whilst the other piece is an L shape made from foam board with a slanted piece of card going partially up leaving a small side of wall exposed.

Piece #12 also has a lip to the roof so that the tiles will over hang the front slightly. This will be to the front of the final building.

The biscuit box is now fully cut up into tiles, it was used on these three pieces and will still have enough for the other three small roof pieces that I’ll be working on next.





Next article in this series: New Mystery Model, parts #9, #16 & #18
Previous article in this series: New Mystery Model section #20

New Mystery Model section #20

Here is the first piece of the large mystery model, no I‘m afraid it’s not a city in ruins – not this time, but I might head down that route one day.  

Mystery Model piece #20 plus uncut roof tiles.

This is actually piece numbered 20 on my list of pieces, affectingly known as: SECOND FLOOR, FRONT LEFT SIDE ROOF. It’s basically a rectangle of card approx 135x105mm cut from an old Amazon delivery package, and the tiles are cut from cereal packet, in this case the box for some Nature Valley biscuits.

Roof tiles cut and ready

I do find cutting these tiles and sticking them down quite laborious so I’ve decided to do some of the roof pieces early in the process. The average size of the tiles is 10x10mm but not measured exactly and a few variations to give it some character, but not too much larger. 

The tiles have been cut and glued down and once the glue is fully dry I’ll trim up the overlapping pieces that are sticking out around the edge of the roof plate.

Piece #20 Front Side with tiles added

Piece #20 Reverse side

Next article in this series: New Mystery Model, parts #6, #10 & #12

Previous article in this series: New Mystery Model

Raising The Roof

Again I should start with an apology for the lack of postings recently, this is some work carried out over the last bank holiday.

I finished the work on the two coffee stick houses and sat the roof pieces in place to find that they were not such a good fit after all.

During the process they had become slightly misshapen. The larger of the two fitted reasonably well but not perfectly.

I decided with this one to glue it into place in the end ensuring that the roof sat properly and added a few extra remedial sticks around the join.

The smaller of the two was a disaster. There was no way it would be suitable. Rather than throwing the roof away I sliced off the sides and glued these with a supporting beam on to the main structure.














Using some card from a recently delivery I made a new roof gluing and pinning the card in place until it set.

The remaining V shaped roof I cut a new base for from foam board, gluing the roof in place during the build. So now this small project has increased by 50% overnight, and I was trying not to fill the kitchen with half finished models this year.

A quick round of coffee sticks over the bank holiday weekend and the base structure was finished, although working with the roof in place is not as easy – it’s a lot easier with the roof off to allow clamps to be put in place to hold the sticks to the walls as the glue dries.

In future I think I will work the bases roofless to allow the application of the clamps but will continue to glue the roof pieces on at a later stage.

Old roof, new base & new roof, old base

This project now 50% larger than when I started

Raising the Roof

So that New Year’s resolution goes out of the window, well, sort of, the one where I was determined to post more updates this year. There again, there has not been much progress in the last few weeks to speak of.  A busy couple of weekends left me with little time, and this week I managed to either trap a nerve or pull a muscle in my back which has left me pretty unable to do much. Before anyone asks, no I was not building a full sized house, swinging from the light fittings or anything else adventurous or suspect – I simply turned to speak to someone whist seated. So there you go. Anyway let’s get this actual post done before the pain killer wear off.

What I was going to talk about last week was Zandina’s house. I had decided to get some tiling done on the roof, when I unboxed the model and realised just how unhappy I was with the roof in general. There was a gaping hole along the edges, the roof itself was too much sunk in, so before tiling could begin some redial work had to take place.

I glued some more card inside the roof cavity to bolster up, and hold down the flapping roof edges, and added additional layers of card over the top of the existing roof to raise the level nearer to the side beams. 

I even had to raise part of the side of the porch tower roof and add a missing beam in. Oh the delights of rushing. Anyway, with all that left to dry the tiling could not start for another few days.

Now the tiling has begun and would you believe it, all the tiles I had previously cut have gone missing, I think they’re boxed up somewhere but I’ve had to cut extra.

Once I’ve added the chimney (whoops nearly forgot that too) and completed the tile coverage I think I’ll get away with it. The chimney will be added on as a couple of pieces of foam board over the roof top. What you might not be able to see on the photo is the text on the added pieces of card taken from an Amazon delivery. It states how to responsibly dispose of the cardboard packaging, I’m not sure this was their original idea.