Fairfield Tower Roof Question

[astoppani]

Hi there, I just dry fit my tower roof, and it says I'm supposed to bend the sides so they are bowed slightly? Really? Is the wood glue strong enough to prevent them from popping back out? If they are bowed, won't that make it harder to shingle them?!!

thanks for some guidance,

Andrea

[fov]

The method described in the instructions didn't work for me. My boyfriend was building an airplane at the time (really!) and he helped me put it together using fiberglass and epoxy. We applied extremely thin fiberglass to the four seams as well as the top (which created a very sharp point, which we then sanded to make it flat and less dangerous).

If by chance you want to try this method, this is the fiberglass we used. We used this epoxy, which is top of the line and not what you would necessarily need, but you can get this stuff (and other brands) at boat stores. (Fiberglass is available at boat stores, too.)

There's probably a less extreme solution, but I was building the dollhouse at his hangar and these were the materials we had on hand.

[havanaholly]

Mine bent nicely, I forget what I used to hold it in place whilst it dried, besides lots of rubber bands. When it dried I went over it all with a coat of spackling compound and then sanded that, to take off the sharp edges. My FF tower roofs are/ will be copper, to match the Lighthouse (garden folly; I want to finish the second roof before I hit them with the verdigris & seagull "donations").

[Adorabelle]

Hello,

Sorry about this late reply; I never noticed this question.

Mine bent nicely too, but keeping the pieces bent was, for me, impossible using wood glue. My Fairfield roof is the only part of the house put together using a glue gun (don't worry; I have access to the old, extremely hot kind). I then plastered and sanded as well. In fact, in the end I was so proud of the curve I'd attained that I opted to paint it (matching the bay window and porch rooves) rather than shingle.

I wish you luck with this; I found it difficult but doable :welcome:

Adorabelle

[minifan]

that I opted to paint it (matching the bay window and porch rooves) rather than shingle.

This is a great idea, I've been trying to figure out how to cover it with the copper sheeting...

Mine didn't really bow out...it kinda fell together nicely though...it did help when I realized that there were two different sizes to the "triangles" and that they need to be opposite of one another...that made the assembly perfect for me...and I slopped it with glue and masking tape... :welcome:

[justmesue]

Mine went together like a cone shaped square. I then sanded the seams and rounded them off. I opted to paint the roof, but shingling would not have been a problem, 'cause the sides were flat.

[havanaholly]

Andrea, please show us pictures of the finished product!

[astoppani]

On 2/14/2010 at 4:31 AM, havanaholly said:

Andrea, please show us pictures of the finished product!

Holly, thanks for answering my tower question in the other thread!  I just found this note from you from 2010.  Yeah, same Fairfield, but finally now I have the momentum to finish it.  It sat in dry fit for 7 years, I made another attempt in 2017, no progress!  Now finally it is getting built, but I'm guessing we're still a few months away from completion.  It's in the middle of my family room on a work table though, so it will get done!