How to cap apex of wood structure shingle roof

[al07601]

This is my first attempt at a wood structure (Branchline Laser-Art #611 Madison House). I've applied the paper shingle courses as far up as I can go on the main roof and dormers, but now I have gaps at the apex. The gap is more pronounced on the left dormer; no doubt due to my shingle-laying inconsistencies. How do I cap the peaks?

 

Thanks...Al

[davidmurray]

Al

I have two small scratch build structues toped with strip shingles. (Canpbell I believe.) I just painted the shingles and the little bit of unlying structure a shingle colour.  No one has ever commented.

A friend built me one, and he capped the roof the same way your do a roof in the one to one world, namely a row of single tabs along the peak, over lapping each other.

Dave

[wp8thsub]

The kit roofing looks like asphalt 3-tab shingles. I'd search for some appropriate prototype images for inspiration and go from there.

Here's just one example I found.  You can cut ridge cap shingles from left over kit roofing material, or make your own from paper and paint them to match.  Some roofs use copper or other metal trim on the ridges, which is also simple to recreate using painted paper or styrene.

[hon30critter]

Do what the real roofers do. Cut the shingle strips into individual tabs and lay the tabs cross wise over the peak, overlapping them a bit. You don't have to cut off the 'hidden part of the tabs like the prototype does. Tedious work but it will produce realistic results. I would clamp a straight edge of some sort to the roof to keep the ridge cap properly aligned, or draw a very faint pencil line.

I would also suggest that you may have to add another row of shingles at the top of each peak. You will have to cut a portion of the 'hidden' part of the shingle strips off where it sticks up above the roof, but I would do that after the shingle glue has dried. You may not see much of that last row of tabs but by looking at your pictures I don't think the top row of shingles is close enough to the ridge for the ridge cap tabs to cover properly. You will be able to tell if you need another row simply by putting a ridge tab temporarily in place to see if it covers all of the part of the shingle strips that are supposed to be hidden.

Dave

(20 years in the real roofing business).

By the way, your valleys are going to leak badly! Next time put a strip of paper down the valleys first to simulate metal valley material, paint it,  and then cut the shingles slightly short of the center of the valley so the valley material shows a bit. Look at the picture Rob posted.

[rrebell]

The way I do it is to lay another row of shingles with glue, let dry and cut off the part that sticks up, then I glue stripwood in that V at the top, once stained it looks right. The problem with the shingle cap idea is the look of bulk, not that noticeable on layed shingles but as capping (because of the different angle) it is, now this is in HO scale.

[hon30critter]

OP and rrebell:

One way to stop the ridge cap from looking too thick is to photocopy the shingle strips and use the thinner copies for the ridge.

The use of stripwood could also be made to look prototypical if it were painted dull silver or medium grey, and maybe weathered with a bit of rust. Metal ridge caps were not uncommon in older construction in areas where the weather was extreme or where there was a problem with moss buildup, or birds roosting on the ridge. Galvanized tin gives off enough zinc oxide to kill any moss or bacteria that might try to grow on the roof, and it isn't damaged as much by bird poop.

Galvanized strips are still used to prevent the growth of gloeocapsa, which is the bacteria that causes asphalt roofs to develop dark stains over time. The strips are layed under the edge of the ridge cap with a couple of inches exposed to the weather. Betcha that was more info than you wanted!

Dave

 

[G Paine]

I built a similar Branchline kit about 6 months ago. I did not use their shingles, but there should be a wider strip in the paper shingles, maybe on the edge of the shingle strips that is used for the roof peaks.

An alternatative would to cut a piece of computer paper about the width of the shingle strip, paint it the same color of the shingles, crease down the center and install on the peaks.

[Beach Bill]

It looks to me that the Branchline Laser Art shingles are similar to the Campbell roll shingles in that there is a portion of the strip that is not cut to look like a shingle, and this flat area then adds to the visual problem.  I've done quite a few structures using the Campbell shingles and have had success with several alternatives:

• Very carefully trim the row of shingles to cut off all but a "smidge" of the connecting paper.  Use that for the last row to eliminate that flat area.
• A small piece of stripwood, like 1/32 square, can be laid into the crack at the top and stained to match (as has been previously suggested).
• Pieces of wood "corner" milled stock - such as Northeastern Scale Models item 5002 (a 1/16" angle) or 5003 (a 3/32" angle) can be cut to overlay the top of the ridge and stained to match
• Again, I have not used this particular brand of shingles.  The Campbell shingles have glue on one side that is moistened to allow application.  That glue often isn't strong enough to hold well when not using the normal width of the strip.  In an application similar to suggestion #1 above, I have cut the shingle strip to eliminate that flat area, then bent the remaining row of shingles over a crisp edge such as a metal ruler to form a row that is bent approximately 90 degrees.  I then brush Elmer's white glue onto the glue side so that there is more fixitive than just that on the shingles, and press that formed angle of shingles over the cap of the roof.  Once dry, a razor knife can be used to cut a couple of the "connecting" places left by the initial scissors work to make both sides of the roof cap look like individual shingles.

None of these processes are particularly quick, but the effort to install some sort of credible ridge cap is worth it.

Bill