Modeling Slate Roofs An EduTRAIN™ Clinic EduTRAIN™

This is an EduTRAIN™ Clinic EduTRAIN™ Copyright © 2014, National Model Railroad Association, Inc. EduTRAIN™

Clinic Originally Prepared by: Bruce De Young NMRA’s Education Department Manager Garden State Division Member All Photos Taken by Author EduTRAIN™ Copyright © 2013, National Model Railroad Association, Inc.

Shouldn’t there be metal flashing on the outer edges of that hip roof? EduTRAIN™

By the end of this clinic, you will be familiar with how slate roofs are installed in the real world, and will be able to simulate those techniques on your models. EduTRAIN™

Clinic Overview Prototype Practices Modeling Techniques EduTRAIN™

Real World (Prototype) View Where do you find slate roofs? What kinds of structures had/have slate roofs? Facts about slate & slate roofs Slate roof artistry A look at slate roof practices –Ridges –Valleys –Hips (outside corners) –Snow Guards EduTRAIN™

Where do you find slate roofs? The main slate beds ranged from Virginia up to the Provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland. The closer you are to the source, the more common slate roofs are and the wider the variety of slate roofed structures you will find. Grand structures (churches, government buildings, schools/colleges, museums, etc.) can be found with slate roofs throughout the US and Canada EduTRAIN™

What kinds of structures had/have slate roofs? ‘Grand Structures’ – as mentioned Railroad Structures (Stations, Towers, Sheds, etc.) Houses - both large and small Barns Garages Sheds EduTRAIN™

Facts about Slate & Slate Roofs The way slate was formed made it so useful – cleavage planes Slate colors: black, gray, green, purple, red Roofing slate dimensions – 3/16” to ¼” thick –6” to 12” (or more) in width –10” to 16” (or more) in length EduTRAIN™

This slide shows a fairly thin slate EduTRAIN™

This roof has much thicker slates EduTRAIN™

An example of a wide slate EduTRAIN™

A medium width slate EduTRAIN™

A fairly narrow slate (fish scale)

Head Lap and the ‘reveal’ Generally a slate 10” long will have about a 3.5” reveal. For every inch longer a slate gets, you increase the reveal by about ½” – an 11” slate would have a 4” reveal – a 12” slate wouldhave a 4.5” reveal, etc. EduTRAIN™

Head Lap EduTRAIN™

Slates can be added over a solid sub-roof or horizontal battens EduTRAIN™

One of the distinctive characteristics of a slate roof is the variation in colors from slate to slate. This is something we need to capture when we move to the modeling phase. EduTRAIN™

Slate Roof Artistry Patterns with fish scale slates Fun with colors Other EduTRAIN™

A look at slate roof practices –Ridges –Valleys –Hips (outside corners) –Snow Guards EduTRAIN™

Ridges All slate –Slate saddle ridge –Strip saddle ridge –Combing ridge Metal ridge cap –Flat ridge cap –‘Rolled” ridge cap EduTRAIN™

Slate Saddle Ridge (Overlapping slates at ridge) EduTRAIN™

Strip Saddle Ridge (Slates butt at ridge) EduTRAIN™

Combing Ridge (Slates from one side extend above the roof line) EduTRAIN™

Flat Metal Ridge Cap EduTRAIN™

Ridge Roll EduTRAIN™

This gives a better view of a ridge roll. EduTRAIN™

Valleys Open Closed (mitered) EduTRAIN™

Open Valley EduTRAIN™

Closed (Mitered) Valley EduTRAIN™

Hips (Outside Corners) Slate covered –Saddle Hip –Mitered Hip Metal Covered –Flat Metal –Rolled Metal EduTRAIN™

Slate Covered Hips EduTRAIN™

Metal Covered Hips EduTRAIN™

Snow Guards Pad Style Rod/Pipe Style Misc EduTRAIN™

Pad Style Snow Guards EduTRAIN™

This is an example of a rod/pipe style snow guard. EduTRAIN™

Misc. Snow Guards EduTRAIN™

Is It Prototypical? EduTRAIN™

Wood Trimmed Slate Roofs EduTRAIN™

Clay Tile Ridge and Hip Caps EduTRAIN™

Time To Model Sub-roofs Slate Shingle Material Techniques EduTRAIN™

Sub-Roofs Styrene Wood Cardstock EduTRAIN™

Preparing the Roof Adding guide lines Taking Care of Valleys – Closed – Bright Copper – Weathered Metal EduTRAIN™

For Weathered Metal Use Paper or Index Cards Paint paper before installing on roof Paint dark gray or your favorite rust color Paint verdigris color (green patina of weathered copper) My recipe: – Paint first with Model Master Brass Paint – When dry, go over with a thin 50/50 mix of PolyScale Rust and PolyScale Rail Tie Brown –Finally add a wash of PolyScale Jade Green EduTRAIN™

Slate Shingle Material Printed paper Photo Etched Brass – Micron Art (Z-Scale) Styrene (Partial List) – Kibri – Model Builders Supply – Tichy Train Group – Volmer EduTRAIN™

Slate Shingle Material, Con’t. Laser-Cut Paper (Partial List) – Bollinger Edgerly Scale Trains – Northeastern Scale Models – Rusty Stumps Scale Models EduTRAIN™

Printed Paper EduTRAIN™

The remaining model photos feature Laser-Cut Paper Slate Shingles All the samples shown use slate shingles from Rusty Stumps Scale Models – as mentioned before, many other vendors produce similar materials EduTRAIN™

Rusty Stumps Slate Shingles EduTRAIN™

Adding Shingles to the Sub-Roof Self-Stick Glue Transfer Tape EduTRAIN™

3M Transfer Tape (#465) EduTRAIN™

Achieving Color Variation Prismacolor Markers EduTRAIN™

Prismacolor Markers EduTRAIN™

Take the Cool Grey 20% marker and color random slates using the fine tipped end Take the Warm Grey 30% and do the same with other random slates Finally take the Cool Grey 40% and color a few more random slates. At the end, I find that I have colored about 2/3rds of the slates – the rest I leave the original color EduTRAIN™

Modeling Ridges & Hips – Flat Metal EduTRAIN™

Flat Metal – Note use of fish scale shingles EduTRAIN™

Rolled Ridge Cap EduTRAIN™

Making the Ridge Roll (HO).047” diameter styrene rod Prime then paint the color of your flashing Cut to length and color the cut end(s) Use a few dabs of gel type ACC and glue rod to the exact peak of the roof. Cut pre-painted lengths of index card a scale 6” or 8” wide Glue these ‘legs’ of the ridge roll flat to the roof and up under the styrene rod. EduTRAIN™

Slate Saddle Ridge or Strip Saddle Ridge Cut pieces from the shingle sheets Use Shortline Chopper Add a little white glue to the back Start from one end Overlap each by about 1/3 rd for Saddle Ridge or Saddle Hip Glue adjacent to each other for a Strip Saddle EduTRAIN™

Mitered Hip Roof Use brand new single edged razor blade Glue slate shingles to the roof on one side of the hip and let them extend over the edge. Using the other roof of the hip, slide the razor blade along the edge cutting the excess off Repeat for other side(s) EduTRAIN™

This brings us back to where it all began EduTRAIN™