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Shingles for Orchid?


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I was able to get my Orchid unpacked yesterday at I started priming to the wood sheets.  I was excited that the kit came with shingles, but that was until I saw them.  These shingles are literally paper thin and when I took them out of the box they started splitting and crumbling.  I'm beginning to think I will need to buy "aftermarket" shingles to get higher quality ones.  Has anyone else experienced these paper thin shingles?  Am I right in thinking that I will have to buy other shingles?

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They all are thin so it will match the scale properly.

If the kit is an older one, they could just be dry.  Perhaps some wood conditioner would add moisture back to them.

They always pack more in those bags than the number stated to account for breakage anyway. You will need some smaller pieces to fit in the angles and edges so don't throw them all away quite yet.

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I love those uber thin wood shingles!  If you stain them with an oil-based stain it should help recondition the wood, and you might want to stain them before applying them to the roof.  I didn't use the shingles with my wood version of the kit, because I had seen a RL lozenge-shape shingle pattern I wanted to use instead, and sandpaper replicated it nicely.  I have used those shingles on subsequent builds.

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I was just wondering the same thing. Same house, too. I used a thicker, sturdier shingle for another house, but that house was bigger and beefier anyway, so they seemed to suit it. I have some octo shingles that are sort of in between the two, and was thinking of using them for the Orchid. I'm going to try staining a handful of the thin shingles first, though.   

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  • 2 months later...

I have a shingle update if Vickie is interested. I used the kit shingles, and it's turning out fine. I trimmed and sanded the edges of EVERY SINGLE ONE which was a huge chore, but they were unusable out of the box. After all of that, stained them, then gluing them on one by one, and it looks much better than I expected. The super thin shingles are very easy to trim with scissors, so no other cutting tools are needed. I set them with maybe a 1/16"-1/8" overhang. Any more than that and they get too fragile on the edge. I also used more glue along each edge shingle, to make it more secure, all of the rest are glued on with two dots of glue. There's a pic of the start of the roof in my gallery. And yes, keep any broken shingles and trimmings from the edges, I used them to fill in when I just needed a sliver of wood, rather than cutting up a whole shingle.  

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Sable, it was a lot of sanding! I sanded raw wood with 180 grit, then primed everything with shellac. Then rolled on a few coats of gesso, using a 6" foam roller, sanding lightly in between. The foam roller gives a tiny bit of a "slapbrush" type texture, just like real drywall. The goal wasn't really a textured wall, but more to just obliterate the wood grain. I also used either flat or eggshell finish paint (2 coats), which helps to cover a lot of sins.  Really thin drywall mud would probably work, too.

I really wish the kit makers would use the smoother side of the wood for the interior. Not everyone wants to use wallpaper, and most people cover the exterior with siding, or some other applied finish anyway. Or better yet, make both sides smooth!   

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  • 2 months later...

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