Laser-Art Structures DuBois Store

[Jerry]

Bob excellent job on that interior!!


Jerry

[Oldguy]

Thanks all.

Found a box of goodies by the front door as I headed to the train cave.  Inside was two boxes of hook up wire (love the holes for wire pulling), more LEDs, and some sub-miniature switches.

Now I can correct my wiring mistake.  I came up with a quick and dirty color code for multi colored wire knowing that the red and black won't last forever.  I had marked the negative LED wire with silver paint to make the update easier.  A bunch of quick clips and I am back soldering connections.  The helping hand jig sure made the job easier.  Covered all the joints with shrink tubing and, voila!  I like this so much better than what I originally had done.

Now I can mount the building on a base and get ready to add the roofing.

[Oldguy]

Got her planted on some 1/2" foam core so work can commence on the roof.    One issue with "thick" roof cards is the gap created at the peaks.  As it worked out I had some fractional size material that fit nearly perfectly.  Once they dried, it was just a matter of trimming each of the sides flush with the roof decks.  I did find some major gaps that need to be filled prior to adding the roofing.

When dealing with "rolled roofing", I like to cut it to prototype width (3') and length (33.3').  Normally, I would have started on the front edge, but as it will be a funky shaped piece, I started with a full row at the back side.  The next row was started with the cut off piece, and on down the roof.

Once this section has been done, then it is a matter of adding some flashing where the sloped section meets the flat roof and all of the valleys and then add the 3 tab shingles.

I decided to add some covered docks at the dock doors now it has been married to the base.  I used a piece of sticky note to visualize the size.

[postalkarl]

Hey Bob:

The roof is under way and looks great so far.

Karl

[PRR Modeler]

The roof is going to look great.

[Oldguy]

Flat roof done, so I added the flashing for the transition between it and the slopey roofs.  Then added the valley flashing.  I just spray painted some white paper with gray rattle can stuff.

Time to move on to the sloped roof sections.  For three tab shingles, one starts with a blank row, overlaid with the first three tab strip.  I mark where the strip meets the valley and cut appropriately.  I did make a cutting guide, bit I don't use it much and each strip has to be cut in place.

I can't use transfer tape as I need adhesive on the strip above the tabs to fully secure the material.

Just a semi-quick note on the RSLaser shingles.  First, I really love these.  But the instructions are a bit off.  There are 20 strips of shingles, not 23 per sheet.  The sheet maybe 4x6, but the shingle strips are 5 11/16 long.  So, given that each tab will cover 1/16", there are 20 of them, each sheet will cover 7.1 sq in or 28.4 sq in per package, not 24 sq in as advertised.  The main issue is the time involved.  The last photo contains one sheet of shingles, with some spare bits left over.  Do not trash the cut offs until the roof is complete.

I can only do one sheet at a work session, lest my eyes get cranky.  So I do have side project in the works that keeps be occupied.

[rslaserkits]

Thanks Bob, Happy you like them. Will change the directions as did not when I redid the files to better fit the packaging and fit on the material better for cutting. Rather give you more then what it says then less. Plus that allows for some waste when you trim the ends on the roof.
rich

[Oldguy]

Thanks Bob, Happy you like them. Will change the directions as did not when I redid the files to better fit the packaging and fit on the material better for cutting. Rather give you more then what it says then less. Plus that allows for some waste when you trim the ends on the roof.
rich

No problem.  Please also change "exposer" to "exposure".  Just my OCD kicking in.

[Oldguy]

I managed to get one of the gable roofs done.  The very last row does need to have a row of just the 3 tab shingles.  The blank material above them is just cut off using a new razor blade once the glue has grabbed.

With the small gable roof section, it is best to tackle it as you shingle the adjacent roof.  This will aid in getting both rows at the same roof elevation.

[PRR Modeler]

Looks very nice Bob.

[postalkarl]

Hey Bob:

The roof looks just great. Keep the photos flowing.

Karl

[Oldguy]

Interesting.  The shingle color is a dark green, but the camera sees blue.  Hmm.

When running tabbed shingles one concern is alignment.  I took care of the vertical component by drawing lines 1/16" apart on all roof cards.  The horizontal, when broken by a gable, can be more problematic.  I'll run one side of the roof up to the gable peak, just shy of the first full row.  What we need to do is to ensure that the tab alignment on the unworked side will match what was just completed.  I'll lay a full strip across to the edge of the roof edge.  I'll note how much of a shingle will over hang it and be cut off.  In this case, I got luck in that the overhangs are close to being a full tab width or close to a half tab.  I label each descending row on what it should be, full or half.  I do this until I get to the first row.  Now I have an idea of what I need, full tab or half tab at the roof edge to start the first row.

When that side is done, with any kind of luck, the first full row of shingles should not have any tab slots over each other.

One thing about these and other three tab shingle sheets.  The narrow piece is the starter row.  The first string of shingle tabs go over this piece.  If needed there is a second thin strip that can be used.  The wide strip, I cut and use for the ridge shingles.  Measure the depth of a shingle tab and cut to length.  Also note that there are some left over strips when all the shingle strips have been cut loose.  Save these to trim for ridge shingles as well.    I also save all shingle scraps that can be converted into ridge shingles as well.

[postalkarl]

hey Bob:

A little more progress on the roof. Looks just great so far.

Karl

[deemery]

This works well for setting the parallel lines for shingles:  https://incra.com/measuring_marking-trules.html

Another option is to draw them on the computer, glue the paper with the alignment lines to the roof stock, and then lay shingles on the paper.

dave

[GPdemayo]

Nice job with the shingles Bob.....