overwhelmedorchidbuilder Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hello. I am not yet ready to put on the shingles on the Orchid I am working on, but I have dollhouse on the brain, and was pondering this step while I planted bulbs in my yard this afternoon. After reading through the instructions I am somewhat concerned about how I am going to approach this step when the time comes. I figured I would post my concerns here and hopefully someone will be able to shed some light on the subject for me. The gables and dormers are what are giving me pause, and it seems confusing and difficult to me. How does everyone else do their shingles? Would gluing them on one by one be ridiculous? I am just not sure I get the procedure described in the instructions. I am planning on using a hot glue gun. Any tips to help make the shingle process easier to understand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris P. Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 On my Buttercup, I traced the roof pieces on a brown paper bag and cut those out. Then I used a ruler to draw lines where the shingles should go so the rows would be even. Next I glued the shingles to the paper not worrying about trimming the shingles to fit. After they were glued, I trimmed the edges by carefully cutting the shingles that went over the edge of the paper making the edge line nice and even. Finally, I glued the shingled paper to the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I lined up enough shingles for a row on a strip of masking tape (on the right side of the shingles near the bottom edge) and laid the taped row along the pencil line to trim to shapes needed. Pick up the strip; put down the glue line, and put the taped row of shingles back in place, Give it a bit for the glue to cool, and remove the tape. (The piece of tape was sticky enough for 3-4 rows before a new one was needed.) For the angles at the eaves, there is a waste triangular punchout from the gable that was useful to lay in the vee of the roof to cut the angles. A small pencil mark showed me the depth and angle needed. The lines you are directed to put on the bare roof are invaluable for even placement of the rows. Also, I found it was tidier to do the flat parts first, then the gables as you can cover the cut edges for a nicer finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I fold a piece of scrap paper to the angles needed, lay shingles to butt up against the angle, and then cut the remaining shingle/s for that row using my paper pattern. I don't use hot glue, though; with our weather down here in the southeast I don't relish watching the shingles shed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I use white glue (let it sit out for awhile, it gets tacky) and apply them one at a time using guide lines drawn on the roofs to line them up (although I forgot to draw the lines once and was almost finished when I realized it and they were lined up just fine. You get the hang of it real quickly :lol:). Paper patterns work really well for the angles you will need. On a dormer roof I start at the bottom front leading edge working back towards the house. This gives a nicer look and you can get the angled (last) piece just right. I cut to fit as I go for a smooth exterior edge. I tried the "cut last" approach once and it did not turn out well, but that's probably just me. I also will do a paper pattern to lay out the shingles when I am trying a design in the shingles. When I get the arrangement the way I want it then I transfer it to the house roof. I don't glue as I lay out the pattern, I just tape each row. As you can see by the posts, there's lots of ways to do this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdodyd Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 My neice who does carpentry showed me how to measure the roof to get the spacing of the shingles right and then we snapped out blue chalk lines. We used Quick Grab glue for wood shingles and laid down a line of glue just below the chalk lines and put each shingle on individually, cutting shingles at the edges to fit exactly. This procedure turned out to be much easier than I thought putting on a roof would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrchob Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I also draw the lines on the roof starting at the bottom and working up. The bottom row is the full height of the shingle. The above rows are less to provide an overlapping of the shingles. As I am working up the roof, everyother row I will start with 1/2 of a shingle width wise so that the shingles are not lined up in rows. The same for the dormer roofs, starting at the bottom front. I too use a pattern for the angled shingles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Minis Dollhouses Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I use paper templates of my roof panels and glue the shingles right onto them, making it a lot easier to work all those angles but applying them one by one right onto the dollhouse works also. Just remember to do the main panels first and dormers last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patkneazle Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I make a long stick with a little perpendicular piece glued on along one side. The depth of the stick is the depth of the layers of shingles. I can line the perpendicular piece up along the bottom of the previous row of shingles, run a bead of glue up from that a little bit, and push the shingles down against my stick. Keeps them nice and straight. It works well, if you now have the remotest idea of what I am talking about! Works for dormers too, as long as you cut the shingles at the angles to fit. For gable fronts, I use manila folder paper patterns and glue the shingles to that. I use tacky glue for shingles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blondie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I just did my first true dollhouse roof. In the past, I've had different roofing materials, so I was SCARED of the shingles! But it worked out just fine. I took the shingles and individually hot glued each one on because I heard white glue can make shingles warp. One little dot for each shingle. Then I used a baseboard piece to draw a line right above the first row and started over. It was much easier and less intimidating once I got into a groove. Put on a good TV show in the background, and you'll get in the zone in no time! When I was finished, I painted the shingles a grey color. Here are some pix. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 One note: I use wood glue to attach my shingles. Yes, they warp a little bit while they're wet. And they flatten back out when dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalesq Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 One note: I use wood glue to attach my shingles. Yes, they warp a little bit while they're wet. And they flatten back out when dry. Me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbytsdy Posted December 14, 2012 Share Posted December 14, 2012 I mark out all the lines ahead of time; quick grab glue and lots of masking tape. I have done the brown-paper-template method with good success, but these days I like to snip-and-fit as I go along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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