Beacon Hill Tower Roof (Step 1)

Today I put a second coat of paint on the roof shingles. They look much better and are probably ready for installation. I think I'll hold off on that until I have the four windows built and ready to install so the roof units can be dry fit before gluing.

Meanwhile, the copper foil arrived from Delphi. It's meant for copper-foiled stained glass work, but it's a good weight and adhesive backed, in 12" x 12" squares. Perfect for what I want to do. The first step is to cover the ribs. I cut a pattern and got two of the ribs covered tonight.

The black roof panel will also be copper. I'm going to make a template so I can apply the copper while it is flat on the worktable to avoid creasing. I still have to work out what to use to create the standing seams. I'm leaning toward string glued in place. A little experimentation is in order.

Beacon Hill Roof Trim

The white trim was too bland against the pastel shingle colors, so today I painted it black.  I like it much better. I first tried out a dark hunter green, but that just didn't cut the mustard.

The trim on the tower roof was also painted black. I think it will make a nice contrast to the copper sheathing. Both the shingles and the copper will be aged.

The jury is still out on what color to paint the window frames. The side ribs on the tower will be covered with copper foil, so they weren't repainted. The underside of the eaves will be painted a nice light blue on both the tower and the mansard roofing. 

If you click to enlarge the photo below, the sketchy paint job on the shingles will be obvious. They're not all that obvious in person, but oh, my, what the all-seeing eye of the camera reveals! The shingles are due for a second coat of paint. I'm so glad I haven't glued them in place yet. 

FYI, the wonky color is the result of using a flash for this photo. 

Beacon Hill Shingle Colors

Okay, friends on the Greenleaf Dollhouse Forum are supporting the copper tower top; the copper foil has been ordered. Now I'm wondering how to make the vertical seams, but that can wait until I have the foil to experiment.

The question of the day is what color to paint the shingles. Back in the day, I must have been leaning toward a light sage green for the house, as that's what color the chimney is painted.  I have a set of sample paints I got based on an Olympic paint palette; that green is one of them. Another of the colors is a creamy gray/green. I did a sample section (without priming). I'm thinking now that the larger shingles could be the darker tone, the smaller ones the lighter tone, and the main house siding could also be the lighter tone. The doctor is considering.  [Click to enlarge.]

The shingled panels are not glued. I think the next step is to prime the shingles with gesso and paint them. 

Here are the other colors in the palette. I can see the coral and blues as accent colors when it comes time to do the trims.

Raising the Roof

Work has begun on the mansard roof of the Beacon Hill. I like the mix of large and small shingles, so I worked out the pattern seen below. I don't recall if the roof pieces were black originally or if I painted them, but black they are. I want to paint the shingles in two similar shades of gray, so a band of subtly contrasting shade will create a band around the upper story. The first piece I did was the bit of roofing that will be tucked behind the tower wall, figuring that any goofs wouldn't be noticeable.

Gluing the shingles was tedious, but not difficult, as they were flat on the work surface. While working on them, the tower cap was staring me in the eye. I don't think I want to use the curved edge bits on the roof pieces (like the ones on the tower cap). When they're fitted into place, I'll use Spackle or caulk of something smaller to smooth the transition at the corners. 

I'm not sure I want to do shingles on the tower cap. I can make templates, so the shingling shouldn't be too difficult, but I wonder how the tower cap would look if it were covered with copper sheeting instead of shingles. I'd cover the curved white bits with copper, and maybe paint the top and bottom edges black. It's something to think about while the glue dries on the shingles.

Suggestions welcome!

The homeowner visits the Beacon Hill

This is the doctor, a free man of color (FMC), husband to the beautiful Sophia and as yet nameless, visiting his home under construction in the Garden District of New Orleans, a stately Beacon Hill. He is recently back from a trip to France, during which he studied under one of the preeminent surgeons of Paris. He is holding a copy of the plans for the house and wondering where the workers went. 

I happened to catch him standing on the front porch with sunlight from a nearby window providing dramatic lighting. He bears a startling resemblance to my husband's cousin Dave. :) 

Here is the beautiful Sophia, on her way to visit Marie Laveau for some kind of potion or gris gris. We don't know her purpose for sure, but after three years of marriage the couple remains childless, so we can speculate.