Quick & Easy Tar Roof Patches – Fine Scale Model Railroading Tips
This is a tip for our Tuesday Tip of the Week that everyone can do. We showed it on a tar paper roof made from black construction paper, but you can definitely use this effect on other types of roof. And with a little bit of experimentation, it can create some really awesome rooftop detail!
All you’ll need for this effect is some black acrylic paint, Elmer’s or similar brand white glue (not school glue), a pallet, and a paintbrush. You can use a matte or satin paint, matte will create a flatter (the white glue adds a little sheen) black tar look and the satin makes a more fresh & shiny looking tar patch effect.
Mix about 50/50 of the glue and black paint, and once it’s thoroughly mixed you can simply apply it with gentile and straight brush strokes.
I try to use a brush that allows me the have more control, a longer bristle brush with a rounded pointy tip is best for me (I’m sorry, definitely not one for the fancy names of brushes or tools, I often just make up the name because, well because I don’t care to remember the official name… And it’s fun to make your own names up).
But brush the tar mixture on the seams where the roof line meets the wall, this is where the tarpaper roof and wall meet, sealing it up as it would be in a real setting. You can also do this aroundt the base of roof vents, stacks, and chimneys.
A quick google search of the term “roof to wall intersections” will show you plenty of examples of this type of roof sealing. Use them to base your work on this if you’re looking for a photo sample.
The other awesome thing you can do on your roofs with the tar mixture is to paint it with a flat edge brush to create tar patches on roof surfaces where the old bituminous roof might have been failing and a tar patch was applied.
This is such a simple and fun little project you can do to your roofs to add some detail and depth. Try it out, start on a piece of scrap material or construction paper first, that way you don’t mess up your nice structure on the first shot at this technique! Trust us, we’ve been there, done that. It’s best to practice this or any other new technique on something you don’t mind getting messed up. Then graduate to your actual model or structure.
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