Saturday, January 28, 2012

THATCHING

Making a small cottage with a thatched roof. Decided on the standard method of using teddy bear fur. First, I cut pieces of fur a half inch or so larger than the sanded roof all the way around. Glued the fur to the roof being careful to ensure the nap direction of the fur ran from roof peak towards the bottom edge.

Once the glue was dry I trimmed the edges by barely cutting through the fur’s backing within a quarter inch of the edge and pulling the excess away.

Using a scrubbing motion to make sure the paint got into the fur I painted it a yellowish brown.


Before the paint dried I combed the roof to indicate individual thatch reeds…

Then jammed the comb against the nap to separate individual rows. Let it all dry.

 The roof looked too yellow to me so I washed it a grayish brown, drybrushed it a light gray, and snipped away errant bits to neaten it up.

ALTERNATE: Another method is to use a terry cloth. An excellent tutorial is at http://ryan.skow.org/city/greentree/ThatchedRoof.html. I decided not to have separate rows this time. I used an old green towel, which added an extra step of spray painting the roof black after the Scenic Cement had dried. The resulting roof is much different that the previous one.

8 comments:

  1. Nice tutorial and amazing site - well done!

    Frank
    http://adventuresinlead.blogspot.com.au/

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  2. This is definitely the best thatching I've been able to find. The normal teddy bear fur method looks like, well, teddy bear fur!

    I wonder what type you used here? It looks finer and to have more of a cotton wool quality about it- could you tell me where you got it, or a product name?

    Thanks, and keep up the good work!

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    1. James, I don't know specifically what brand or type of fur I used. I just went to a fabric store and got what looked best to me at the time but I do agree with you that some look a bit "rougher" than others. Thanks for the comments! -d..

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  3. This is really helpful - thanks. I have the 4Ground Great Hall model and want to make the thatch look as realistic as possible, while still using the teddy bear fur provided. Your post is a very useful reference, much appreciated!

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  4. This is really helpful - thanks. I have the 4Ground Great Hall model and want to make the thatch look as realistic as possible, while still using the teddy bear fur provided. Your post is a very useful reference, much appreciated!

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    Replies
    1. Glad the post helped, KB. But be aware the thatching takes quite awhile to dry since it's so absorbent. Good luck! -d.

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  5. This is a very nice post . I have visited the site many times and learn about Synthetic Thatch very nicely.


    We are the Largest Supplier of No. 1 Quality Synthetic Thatch Roofing Material and Artificial Bamboo products supplying top-quality Synthetic thatch & Artificial Bamboo products with 20 Year Warranty, UV-proof, Class A flame-retardant, Maintenance-free. You’ll be astonished at how well our Synthetic Thatch Roofings withstand ocean breeze, heavy rain, snow storm, intense sunlight and general wear & tear for more than 20 years while still looking amazing.

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