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help for house roof needed in 1/48 scale


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I started a  *ahem* simple diorama for my 1/48 JS-2 soviet tank.  my biggest challenge is how to make a roof for the house.

any help is much appreciated :)

 

here's what I got so far

IMG_20210412_185545

 

and this is my reference photo

 

orig1685arbetarbostaden.jpg?preset=width

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Hi Moondrome,

I haven't zoomed in on that photo but those roof tiles look like the 'half-pipe' type terracotta tiles. I'm not sure if 'tile punches' exist to 'punch' those types of tile out, or what, but whatever I'd think about using corrugated cardboard.

There is a brand of cat food here in the UK, called 'Felix' which comes in pouches inside cardboard boxes. Those boxes have very fine corrugated sections in between the inner and outer surfaces of the cardboard and I used that to make sheets of corrugated iron in 1/35th. That suggests to me that they might be okay for roof tiles in 1/48th.  So have a look in supermarkets for boxes of pouched cat food and have a peek at the cardboard. If it's the right scale, let me know and I'll give you some tips on how to get the corrugated bits out without damaging it, and how best to cut them up to tile your roof.

 

Here's a link to the cat food I mean. I don't know if they sell this in your country but they might do.... or did do before Brexit lol. https://fetch.co.uk/felix-as-good-as-it-looks-cat-food-ocean-feasts-in-jelly-12-x-100g-27916011?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1arkt_r57wIVDCwYCh1FigDYEAQYAiABEgJj_PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

 

Hope that helps.

Badder

 

 

 

 

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Just zoomed in on the photo. Crikey, those are some weird tiles! I suspect that every single one of those tiles was hand made. By several people lol. You are NOT going to find tile-punches that can imitate those. And even corrugated cardboard is going to need a lot of work done to it to get it looking much like those in the photo. So, if it were me, I'd forget about trying to copy them at all and go for 'normal' tiles. Unless I was commissioned to make them exactly as they are, and then I'd probably carve a row of 6 tiles by hand, then make a latex mould of them and cast copies in plaster of paris.

 

Badder

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Those are not weird tiles, they are clay pantiles, admittedly not appearing of the best quality or condition.  They probably would have been made reasonably locally by the local brick makers at the time, a similar pattern can be seen across Northern Europe and into early brick areas of UK - probably imported from Holland initially (the bricks, tiles and/or the brick makers!).

 

sorry this doesn’t help with modelling them!

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thank you @Badder for your help 👍 luckily I don't need to make an accurate replica of this building, I just want to make a roof that look in scale. I forgot to say I have some silicon moulds for 1/35 roof tiles, maybe they don't look too wrong. trying won't harm anyone!

 

thanks @malpaso for historical background :) . you are right about northern europe ,  making some further research it seems this house is in sweden

 

https://www.sodertalje.se/kultur-och-fritid/torekallberget/vara-hus-tradgardar/Malargatan-4/

 

 time to get to work on my modelling bench 💪

 

 

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21 hours ago, Niall said:

I think Slaters Plastikard do a sheet of embossed plastikard in 1/48th(43rd?) scale - item 440 on this page -

https://slatersplastikard.com/plastikard/embossed.php

Embossed plasticard! I'll see if I can find in my local  model store 

 

IMG_20210416_101732

Here's my progress... Is not difficult but requires a lot of patience... And the mold is small so multiple casting is needed ...

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Excellent stuff Moondrome. That's looking most impressive.  Your patience will pay off massively and it's always good to invest in a mould.

 

I myself have built a roof, but in a collapsed state. However, I used 3 sheets of graph paper, glued together with CA glue, marked out columns of tiles side by side, then cut that sheet into columns. I then glued those columns onto another sheet with CA, and cut that sheet into horizontal strips. That gave me hundreds of tiles, each tile having been cut along the vertical and horizontal, but with every tile in a row stuck onto a backing, so I never had to stick individual tiles on, except for where all the other tiles around them had fallen off.

 

qqWYKH1.jpg

 

I look forward to seeing your roof painted up.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

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13 hours ago, Badder said:

Excellent stuff Moondrome. That's looking most impressive.  Your patience will pay off massively and it's always good to invest in a mould.

 

I myself have built a roof, but in a collapsed state. However, I used 3 sheets of graph paper, glued together with CA glue, marked out columns of tiles side by side, then cut that sheet into columns. I then glued those columns onto another sheet with CA, and cut that sheet into horizontal strips. That gave me hundreds of tiles, each tile having been cut along the vertical and horizontal, but with every tile in a row stuck onto a backing, so I never had to stick individual tiles on, except for where all the other tiles around them had fallen off.

 

qqWYKH1.jpg

 

I look forward to seeing your roof painted up.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

well maybe next time I'll try your method because i can see from the photo you posted that the result is great ,  thanks for sharing 👍

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On 4/17/2021 at 9:35 AM, moondrome said:

well maybe next time I'll try your method because i can see from the photo you posted that the result is great ,  thanks for sharing 👍

No probs and thank you!

But your tiles are very effective as well.

Your building is looking excellent and your figure way better than I could do!

May I ask whether you are going to add the guttering and drainpipe and how are you going to make those? I've made a few myself but am always interested in how others do it.

A suggestion for you... make loads and loads of tiles, glue them to a sheet of paper, then give them dozens of coats of latex. You'll then have a mould which can churn out hundreds in one go. Because I get the feeling you may make some more buildings after this one?

 

 

Rearguards

Badder

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thank you @Badder

 

first I'll give a paint and finish the basic building then I'll think about details including the drainpipe . suggestions accepted :)

 

using latex for making mould sounds amazing, I have never tried.  but i'm sure it can be useful in many occasions

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20 hours ago, moondrome said:

I have started painting the house and road , quite happy with the result so far

Looking good Moondrome.

The road is looking good too. I love the drain and manhole covers. You've got some quite nice variation in the cobbles too. A little suggestion......... cobbles get polished over decades of wear and tear from shod horses, hobnail boots, clogs and JS-2 tank tracks lol, so I'd give them a polish, more along the centre of the road and the pavement, and the edges of the curb than anything.

But I wouldn't use varnish, or furniture polish. I'd sprinkle plaster of Paris powder over the road and pavement, not too much, say 4 thimbles full to cover everything. Then add a thimble full of water to one area, and go over it with a  brush. Spread the powder/water over as wide an area as you can, and down into the 'cracks' between the cobbles. Then move onto the next area. When it's all dry, get a STIFF DRY BRUSH and RUB the powder off the tops of the cobbles. Not all of them, just those that would be most trodden and driven and ridden on. If you carry on rubbing in certain spots, that'll put a shine on the cobbles. You can then add dark washes to 'down in the cracks between the cobbles. But don't do that everywhere, the polishing or the dark washes, try to keep some variation.

 

Hope that helps.

Badder

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2 hours ago, Badder said:

Looking good Moondrome.

The road is looking good too. I love the drain and manhole covers. You've got some quite nice variation in the cobbles too. A little suggestion......... cobbles get polished over decades of wear and tear from shod horses, hobnail boots, clogs and JS-2 tank tracks lol, so I'd give them a polish, more along the centre of the road and the pavement, and the edges of the curb than anything.

But I wouldn't use varnish, or furniture polish. I'd sprinkle plaster of Paris powder over the road and pavement, not too much, say 4 thimbles full to cover everything. Then add a thimble full of water to one area, and go over it with a  brush. Spread the powder/water over as wide an area as you can, and down into the 'cracks' between the cobbles. Then move onto the next area. When it's all dry, get a STIFF DRY BRUSH and RUB the powder off the tops of the cobbles. Not all of them, just those that would be most trodden and driven and ridden on. If you carry on rubbing in certain spots, that'll put a shine on the cobbles. You can then add dark washes to 'down in the cracks between the cobbles. But don't do that everywhere, the polishing or the dark washes, try to keep some variation.

 

Hope that helps.

Badder

hey thanks for the feedback Badder! 

 

polished cobbles you say, I didn't think about it before🤔. it makes sense, but I wouldn't try the method you suggest at this point. because I never tried this technique before and I fear I could make a mess.   but I have some graphite at hand.  I tried to rub a couple of cobbles , and it makes them shiny.

 

right now I'm making the window frames with plasticard. I'll get back to the cobbles later 👍

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18 hours ago, moondrome said:

hey thanks for the feedback Badder! 

 

polished cobbles you say, I didn't think about it before🤔. it makes sense, but I wouldn't try the method you suggest at this point. because I never tried this technique before and I fear I could make a mess.   but I have some graphite at hand.  I tried to rub a couple of cobbles , and it makes them shiny.

 

right now I'm making the window frames with plasticard. I'll get back to the cobbles later 👍

Hi Moondrome.

Yes, I understand your reluctance and of course, it's your diorama.

 

But bear it in mind for the future. It can be scary 'slapping a wash' on a model/diorama, but honestly, plaster, or more specifically plaster 'dust' washes wouldn't hurt a fly. You can take them off with a soft brush and some water 95 percent of the time, and use a stiff brush and water for the other 5 percent of the time. You just slap it on, and play around with it, let it dry and see what effect you've got.  If you don't like it you can re-wet it and take it off, or play around with it some more.  But somewhere during that process you will find an effect which is REALLY GOOD. I swear by the stuff for buildings, roads, and anything rocky or stony.

 

I'll just share a couple of photos with you........... all these were done with 'plaster-dust' washes'. That's the dust you get when you crush/sand/file a chunk of solid plaster. With some of these I put a wash on, then took it off (with a damp or wet brush, then put it on again and 'moved it around' until I got it looking just how I wanted it. Whatever, I COULD have taken the whole lot off and returned the object back to its original state.

 

First a close-up of 'brownstone' wall after a plaster-dust wash, with detergent added to get the bubbly 'lichen' effect.

oqx4iqh.jpg

 

Everything here was given a plaster dust wash, the walls, the woodblock flooring and the floorboards.

9DTQBGX.jpg

 

Here's what your road would look like if you applied the wash and then took the surface 'dust' off with a stiff brush. The stonework here is shiny/polished.

V3n1JQ6.jpg

 

Below is a wall, but that could just as easily be a cobbled street. This time I did some 'streaking', just running a damp brush down the plaster dust wash.

ZD7Eh9u.jpg

 

And the BEST bit about this, is, not only is it quick and easy, and not only is it impossible to 'mess up',  IT'S GREAT FUN!

I really do hope you give it a go, if not now, in the future.

 

Good luck with your windows by the way. I find them a total pain lol.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

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here's some new photos of my work.   progress is slow and there's a lot of trial and error strategy but result is not too bad I think.

I did a lot of things :

- I built a static grass applicator , and added grass

- I toned down the bright red roof tiles with a mix of tamiya brown+grey ( I think it looks much better now)

- I built the whole fence , house door and a little hut with balsa wood

- I added the window frames ( finally)

-I added the tree. trunk and branches are made from dry bamboo from my garden. and woodland scenics bush for the foliage.

- I added a net as a small detail ( because I found another old picture of the same house with this detail). see below.

- I added brown pigment to the cobbles and then cleaned with a brush and white spirit.

 

DSC_0262

 

DSC_0265

 

framfor-tjaders-gard.jpg?preset=width750

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On 01/05/2021 at 23:13, bar side said:

You can get terracotta style plastic roof tile sheets for o-gauge (1/43) buildings. Yours looks great but I was reminded of a pack of oo-gauge sheets in the roof with the train set 

 

https://www.railwayscenics.com/pantile-roof-tile-texture-sheet-download-p-1969.html

 

bpr23.jpg

This looks like a good option ! I'll keep in mind next time. Thanks for sharing 👍

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I feel a bit confused now.... take a look here

 

IMG_20210503_214106

 

IMG_20210503_214154

 

both these figures are from Tamiya in 1/48 scale ( from different sets, the painted one from luftwaffe crew, the other one from russian infantry crew)  but It seems to me the scale is not the same..... 

now I used the painted figure as reference for the diorama , but now I started working on the russian crew and they look like minions near the house ....

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Sadly not unusual.  I have 1/48 pilots ranging from little more than 1/72 up to some that look like Jaws from the James Bond movies.  I had one with legs too long to fit in a aircraft seat - I cut about 4mm off his legs to get him in a pilots seat.  I can understand getting the dimensions wrong on an aircraft but people tend to come in a fairly standard size range

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3 minutes ago, bar side said:

Sadly not unusual.  I have 1/48 pilots ranging from little more than 1/72 up to some that look like Jaws from the James Bond movies.  I had one with legs too long to fit in a aircraft seat - I cut about 4mm off his legs to get him in a pilots seat.  I can understand getting the dimensions wrong on an aircraft but people tend to come in a fairly standard size range

yes! someone might be shorter someone taller , but this is not the case they just look in different scale!! the painted figure is about 37 mm tall. that would be a 180 cm man in real life. I think the luftwaffe guy is in scale..   unfortunately I needed the russian figures for this diorama....😑

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We have debated the scale question a lot on here from time to time.  I mix 1/43, 1/46 and 1/50 on my 1/48 builds.  You can scale a building door frame to a sensible 1/48 height and person height & then find another figure who can’t get through the door.  In aircraft terms Monogram tend to be big & chunky, Airfix is a mixed bag depending on kit age, Heller & Fujimi are skinny & undersized, and so it goes on.  Really not sure who has it spot on. Most people are based off my Hasegawa ground crew

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