Chapter 99 - Two External Hanging Lanterns, Finishing for the Underside of the Eaves, Adding Shingles

September 8th - 14th 2014

Again I put aside the lantern pieces as I am waiting till I have all of them to paint at the same time.  I thought there were only four but actually there are six so the next chapter I will be making some lanterns finally. 

Next was working again on more eave decorating - cutting up the 10 strips into 55mm pieces to be placed 18mm apart.  As I worked on gluing these pieces on, I realized that it would have been smarter to apply these pieces before putting on the black paper roof covering simply because the underside wood was so thin and flexible, it didn’t allow some of the strips to lie flat against it.  I used little clamps but with the black paper on the other side interfered with trying to flatten out the sticks onto the underside of the eaves.  There was really not much I could do at this point.  So since this would be the back underside of the roof (so far the most obvious gaps were there) I’d just have to be happy with the way it looked. 

The bowing of the underside of the eaves.

I proceeded in attaching all the little strips just as I had done last time.  I then sanded down the lengths that seemed to overlap the lip too much and sanded the rough edges with the tiny file.  Then, again, I painted the tips with a bit of white paint.  The only thing left to do on the underside of the eaves is cut to fit the final strips to the corner pieces.  But that is in another chapter further along.
Next up was back to the tiling.

Adding more strips and painting the tips white.

I tiled only as per the instructions even if the top row didn’t reach the top part of the black paper (as per the instructions).  Since they mentioned there would be extra tiles in the kit later, instead of risking improper coverage, I left the last four tiles to be mounted on the opposite roof side.  I also imagined that there would be fitting of the top edge so, instead of gluing the final row of tiles now, I’d leave this row to be adjusted and fitted in the final stages.  I did have to sand down one of the pieces to straighten out the last row somewhat.  It sanded down easily even if it made quite a bit of dust.  I may have to wear a mask or something as even the kit warns agains inhaling the dust. 

Gluing the rows on the left roof peak.

Just the last few rows will be fitted later.

Last step in this chapter was gluing in the four tile pieces onto the right side peak.  Done and onto the next chapter.

Left side tiles in place.  Starting on the right side tiles.

Chapter 97 - Underside of the Eaves Framework, Roof Covering

August 28th - 3rd September 2014

The first thing was to sand down the usual imperfections and then paint the beam pieces and embellishments brown.  I then attached the two remaining long pieces and two short pieces to the front and back. 

Adding the two long decorative woodwork.

Next was adding the remaining wooden covering on the underside.  This took a while since I had to cut each to size, then glue while straightening the external framework.  I sanded some of the peak tips to accommodate where needed.  I also had to refit the space that had developed in the eaves framework as it got bigger (somehow) but that wasn’t the biggest problem.  I had mistakenly cut one of the covering pieces a cm short (distraction! I had a gecko running around in my attic and I was chasing mosquitoes too - they bite me while I work!) so now I had to be extra careful not to ruin the last three pieces of covering.  I ended up having to attach a smaller piece which would float in the middle but still covered the entire underside.  Once that was done, I just had to turn the whole thing over and trim the edges like last time.  So again, I had to wait till glue was dry.
Once I turned it over, I trimmed the edges and then sanded them down a bit to clean them up.  I then did some retouching with the brown paint to cover any gouges.

Finished eaves (gutter) covering.

Next up were some small square pieces (14 total) that needed to be inserted between the lower beam decoration and the underside framework covering.  Each one had to be fit to size.  I also decided to cover each of the underside junctions with masking tape (it looked cleaner) also because I had 1/4” masking tape that would work perfectly.  In an upcoming chapter, the underside will have more beam decorations so it made sense.  I omitted the corners because there were larger beam pieces there that really made the masking tape unnecessary.

Small middle decorations (14 total) and masking tape.

Once that was done, I began attaching the corner beams.  Obviously they did not lay as flat to the corners as I would have liked but that was ok as I could sand down the beams a bit and using clamps get them to lie flat against the wooden covering.  Overall they covered enough.  I then flipped the roof over and touched up more of the external woodwork and painted the tips of the beams white.

Adding the corner beams.

Next was starting on the roof covering which is made of heavy black paper.  First I had four support sections which fit between the front of the roof peaks.  These would serve as a superior edge for glueing the roof covering and tiles. Once fixed, I started to measure and mount the roof covering.  The kit gave me three standard pieces that would be used to cut out all the fitted pieces.  I found that the paper was so rigid that it was easier to make some paper templates which not only would fit the angles better but fit into the curve of the roof peaks and gutters as well.   Not only that, by making one, all I had to do was flip over the template and it would suffice later for the other half of the roof.

Adding the support sections.

Beginning installation of the black paper covering.

Making a template.

Another template section.

Fitting the cut pieces.

The roof covering in fact would be the eventual support for the tiles.  Even so, I wanted the covering to be as closely fitted as possible otherwise I’d have to cover the underlying wooden framework with tiles instead of paper.  This took quite a few days overall.  The templates did shorten the fitting time somewhat but each section needed to fit at various points and, most importantly, the gutter framework.  That meant I had to coax it into the slot in some places.  I also had to cut into the extra inserted piece of wood on the gutter frame to create the slot which would accommodate the covering.  I then sanded that down and repainted it.  

Making the added piece slotted and sanding it down.

After all of that, I made a template for the angles and did those in around an hour in the afternoon (although it was a bit longer - I had an allergy issue and sneezed around 50 times while trying to work - frustrating!).  And with that, this chapter is complete.   I can’t believe I still have 20 more chapters to do.  That’s a lot of tiling....

Corner pieces fitted.

Finished roof covering, beams and eaves framework.

Chapter 96 - Completion of the Beam Decorations, The Underside of the Eaves Framework

August 24th - 27th 2014

This chapter had me mounting the wooden details and corner covers for the underside of the eaves where the roof peaks and the eaves meet up.  I decided to mount those first so I painted them and then glued them in place once they were dry.  Two pieces were to be corner mounted on an inside corner so I had to paint the inside which I hadn’t done.  I also found a section of a roof piece on the outside that was only half painted in the buttermilk beige.  I don’t know how I mixed that one piece up with another - no biggie. I just painted the other half and then mounted the wooden decoration over it. 

Corner and lateral decorations.

Next up was more of the eaves framework.  Also here lots of the junctures were a bit short but I looked ahead and the entire framework will be reenforced with more wood underneath.  So I’m not panicking yet.  I cut out a small square to insert between the two ends and complete the straight edge.  Next was attachment of some other kind of framework.  They were trapezoid shaped frames.  It wasn’t very clear how to mount them so I just had to wing it.  The last four pieces that attach to the front part of the roof frame had to be cut to size as there were the corner beams to take into consideration.  I then let everything sit for a little since the next step would require some sanding and shaping and additional gluing.

Space that resulted after completing the eaves framework.

Adding a little piece to fill the space. 

Weird trapezoid piece.

Trimming to fit between the front beams.

Inserting the trapezoid pieces

Finished trapezoid pieces mounted.

First I had to take stock of how off the framework was to the corner protuberances of the peaks.  Some were pretty far off.  So, I will have to adapt and glue and sand to make them match up.  The kit also had me adjusting the corner pieces by shaving them back into a “V” shape - probably to be sure that the corner beams didn’t interfere with the placement of the lower board covering.  But as I tested each one, I decided if they really needed shaving or not as since they were already mounted, there was no realistic way of shaving them down (not with the tools I had).  But as each one presents itself, I’ll just figure out the best way to make the underside covering fit.  In the meantime, I painted the outside framework.

Painted outside eaves framework.

I had to cut each piece of lightweight laminate wood with 45° angles then fit them into each corner resting on the weird trapezoid pieces.  Nearly all the angles had to be worked with since the corner angle pieces were sitting right on the beams and didn’t allow for insertion space.  So, I just used my exacto knives and carved out a space above each corner piece, then was able to slide the super thin wood board covering.  After matching them up and allowing them to dry, I then trimmed them off.  I looked ahead and it seems that each of the junctures will be covered in another corner beam as well as perpendicular wooden embellishments like on the outside porch awnings.  So matching each seam between the covering didn’t seem to be an issue right now.  At least I am hoping....

Cutting the 45°angle on the board insertions.

Adding the board to the underside of the eaves.

Areas to be trimmed after gluing.

Finished front of the underside eaves.

Chapter 94 & 95 - Right Side Part of the Roof Base, Attaching the Right Side to the Center Roof Base, Making the Eaves Framework to the Left Side

August 21st - 22nd 2014

I glued together the roof peaks like the previous chapters and waited for the glue to set. 
Then I painted two pieces that would show up on the roof and waited for those to dry.  In the meantime, I read ahead a bit and saw that the construction was the same as the left side but with a slight difference.  The kit had me attaching the pieces that were switched around now to the right side.  Instead, I decided to finish the right side base first then fit the pieces that attach to the central support base.  Just to be sure they would fit correctly.  To do that, I had to combine these two chapters since the pieces were split between them.  I put together the first section and sanded for around 20 minutes to get the slots a little more opened up.  Painted what needed and then slid it into place no problem.  The second section was a little more complicated as the peak piece just doesn’t match up properly at first look.  In fact, I had glued this piece to it’s front wall base and then had to unglue and reglue again.  It’s an odd puzzle fit so I was pretty frustrated then realized what I did wrong.  But no harm, right?

Painting the areas that will be exposed.

Completion of Chapter 94 partial of the right side roof base.

Inserting the external section of the right side roof base.

I started to mount the pieces together but realized they weren’t fitting in at all.  The front section had to fit in with about 2mm overlapping under (like last time) for the attic flooring. But it wasn’t working.  I went back to the left roof base and did some measuring and low and behold, the pieces were not cut correctly.  The slots for the support beams were short by about 5-7mm.  That’s quite a bit! So I double checked my measurements and I was right.  The reason for my odd fitting before was because in fact the slots were not matching up like last time.  My brain probably realized there was something off then.  But now the pieces were together so I had to break out my trusty jeweler’s saw and was able to cut into the side slots.  I then chiseled out the excess wood, sanded it down and fit the pieces into the slots.  I glued them down and left everything to dry for a bit.  I did a bit of calculating and overall, I found three badly manufactured pieces or mistaken pieces (so far).  But two of which are in the final chapters for the roof.  That’s not bad for such a massive kit I must say.  But maybe they were getting sloppy towards the end (hopefully not like me!!)

Marking out the area to be removed.

Carving out the excess wood.

Using my saw to cut the vertical slice and chisel out the rest.

Fitting the inferior beam section into the new slot.

Completed roof base.

Next up were the eaves framework.  The corner pieces needed shaping and fitting. Then there were some long skinny pieces that needed fitting then gluing on the outside edges of the existing house roof frame.  I had to do lots of sanding for the corner pieces and glued the framework on the outside.  It looks pretty cool.  I have no idea how fragile this will be eventually.  Aaargh!  But the frame work is getting damn heavy!!

The corner supports before shaping.

Shaping the corner supports.

Adding the eaves framework.

Finished left side eaves framework.

Chapter 93 - Central Part of the Roof Base

August 20th - 21st 2014

This section had the same slots that needed sanding.  So I taped a few together and sanded open as much as I could without spending too much effort on it.  I figured I’d have to keep dry fitting them and preferred that the pieces slot in tightly than having to glue them all together.  Let’s hope that any heat in the upstairs room doesn’t cause things to bow out of shape over the years.

Sanding open the slots.

I had to paint to pieces (I assume front and back center) buttermilk beige and a few pieces brown like the rest of the external decorative beams.  That done, I let the paint set well enough so I could work on the installation without swollen wood.

Next up was to install two support pieces that had special slotted supports that had to match up on the inside.  I pulled out the left hand one and discovered it was not the right piece! But since I knew the next chapter would have me doing the same to the other side, I peeked inside the Chapter 94 blister pack and found the missing piece! They must have reversed the packaging.  Thank god since I had no idea how I was going to fashion the end bit to sustain the the roof beams.  So, I opened 94 and took the piece from there and switched it off the other one.  Problem solved.

Switched pieces.

Glued in place.  This was a major support piece so it had to fit correctly.

I then attached the two central wall pieces and the roof peaks.  I did do a dry fit first to be sure they would slide in fairly easily and the did so glued them up in slotted them in.  The last step was to add some decorative beams to the left roof base under what would eventually become the eaves.  The kit had two more pieces to put together for the next chapter which would be putting together the right roof base - exact opposite to the left.  So pretty much knew what needed to be done.

Adding the decoration

Completed pieces Chapter 93