Could anyone give me any good materials to use for tiles on a ruined Ardennes farmhouse? The kit is verlinden. I've tried a few things but cant find one that looks good, can anyone offer up some ideas?

Welcome to Armorama Mortis. Things you can use to simulate flat roof tiles could be thin sheets of balsa wood cut into small squares. You could also use plastic sheets and again cut them into appropriate individual pieces. If you feel more adventurous you could also roll out thin sheets of self hardening clay, cut them into small squares and let them dry. This might give you the most realistic effect.

I didn't mean the flat type of tiles, I could have done that easily enough, thanks. I meant the strangely shaped ones that curve up in the middle like the ones you'd find on villas in the Mediterranean. The type sometimes made of terracotta or red pottery.

Welcome aboard Mortis.

You joined one of the ... what am I saying, simply the best online modeling community around

May this help you?

MAKING ROOF-TILES IN 1/35

That helps a lot roadkill. Thanks, for the tip and the welcome also.

Another method I saw somewhere was to use drinking straws. Use the type that has the lines on them ...... ie; Mc Donalds. Cut them in half, longways, using the stripe as a guide and then cut them into suitable lenghts. Then glue them onto a base as roadkills method describes in straight lines, overlapping them as you go. Paint as the previous method describes. No tool template to make up and the straws are free ....... to you!

Gday,

That Article looks good but won't show the whole reality especially if a ruined roof is required. Here's some extra info that you may find usefull.

The style of roof tiles are called canal tiles and the way the article shows them is litterally half the story. Canal tiles are a half cylinder made of clay. They are tapered in such a way that the smallest ends external diameter is the same as the larger ends internal diameter. When tiling with them the tile batons ran vertically ( up the rafters ) instead of horizontally like for flat tiles. The method of construction was to start at the bottom of the roof nearest the eaves and place the tiles downwards ( so from the end it looks like a series of U's UUUUUUUUU ) with the smallest diameter end at the downward side of the roofs slope. They would then work up to the ridge placing the smaller end overlapping. Once they were at the ridge then they would work back up the roof putting more tiles over the uprights of two U's . The smallest diameter end upslope. This may sound complex but if you visualise it it causes water to run off the curved tops into the U's and because the overlap is downslope the water doesn't seep into the roof.

If you want any more info on this or clarification email me and I'll try and do some sketches for you.

HTH

Tony

Nice posts guys. Lots of good information.

One additional resouce for what PB has mentioned are coffee stir sticks - the straw kinds. They come in a number of different diameters and one is is sure to be the right size.
The could also be used for the molds/base as in the article that Roadkill has pointed out.