...that I did indeed drag out the San Fran and finish shingling: my Minwax golden pecan (oil-based) is almost gone now, but I think the shingles have some nice "pop" to them now.

You'll notice that I didn't cut the shingles to an angle to fit the tower slope; those shingles were not amenable to angle-cutting (they pretty much fell apart when I tried), so I decided to trim strategically there.

I have been wainscoting the Willowcrest rooms also, while waiting for me to get around to getting some suitable quarter-round so I can finish the baseplate:

That is a finely corrugated paper (Michael's) in the blue room; I have alot of white trim made up for it.