Thatched roof... please comment :)

[Christian]

Hi gang,

I've been working on a thatched roof for an adobe granary. I have been using teddy bear fur (harvested from real teddy bears) and I was just hoping for some feedback! The door hasn't been done yet.




I wanted to go for "dead" thatch, rather than the golden brown of the original fur (which you can still see if you look closely).

So, what do you guys think?

[Captain Blood]

  I used to work with a bloke who wore a wig like that.

If you put a pair of eyes on that, it would look like a muppet 

Seriously though, I think it passes muster.
There's something not quite right about it as thatch, but can't quite put my finger on what...  Maybe the 'fringe' is cut a bit short? Not sure...

[Christian]

Yeah... my first thoughts were Ringo Starr!

Then I tried this...



Thanks for the input I might give it another go down the track, or on another building.

[Calimero]

 

Seriously, would it be better if you trim the "hairs" a little to give it a "steps like" effect?

[Mancha]

I think you need to mat it down more.  It looks too much like hair (not good hair) all bushy like that.

[Supercollider]

I think it might be that the fibres are converging to a point?  If they were more parallel (or in this case all radiating out from the central point) it would look more like thatch?

[carlos marighela]

As last year's Miss (gay) Brazil was heard to defiantly say after a losing rival temporaily deprived her of her crown and flowing locks:

"With or without a wig, I am still Miss Brazil." 



Personally I think the one on your granary could do with a  trim, a little shooshing or maybe just the right conditioner.

[Bako]

 

[Hammers]

I used to work with a bloke who wore a wig like that.

If you put a pair of eyes on that, it would look like a muppet 

Seriously though, I think it passes muster.
There's something not quite right about it as thatch, but can't quite put my finger on what...  Maybe the 'fringe' is cut a bit short? Not sure...

This is nit picking but since you are asking I think the strands may be a little to long and loose. It reminds me of and unkempt Beatle. Thatch has, as I see it, more of a compact, almost velvet look.



The shag cut shorter might answer. I've seen several attempts with terry cloth which I think I will mimic in the future.

[Plynkes]

I don't think you want to go quite that far. You need to find a compromise between a heavily-manicured English thatched roof and one that looks like somebody's hair. Thatch in other parts of the world is not always as tight and tidy as that (those European-style ones are often in a mesh frame, and are trimmed to it).



The main thing is to stop it looking like hair, but not go so far as to make it look like a lawn.

[Svennn]

I think the building itself is too tall? I would expect to see the thatch coming down just above the door, like in Plynkes picture, and this would possibly give it a more complete look.

I hark back to the Capt. - it passes muster. It just may be better with some tweaking.

[Christian]

Thanks heaps for the input guys. A few minutes in Photoshop resulted in this:


It still looks a bit like someone's hair But I'll have a go at straightening it out. I agree that the height of the building also makes it looks odd, so I've shortened it in the pic. Does it still look like it could be used for storage?

Funnily enough I drove past an example of thatch similar to the one in Plynkes' photo.

The other question is: would it go well with another type of roofing?

I'm going to give this one a haircut and still use it for now, but the next one I make is definitely going to be stumpier and less Beatle-like!

[Silent Invader]

Hi Christian,

Very nice idea, reminds me of buildings I saw in Ibiza when it offered rural solitude rather than hedonistic delight (ie, decades ago!).

Regarding tweaking, if you want to bring more order to the thatch then you could try 'painting' it with some PVA.  I haven't done this myself but I imagine that the PVA would need diluting but not by very much, the aim being to have a consistency that will flow from the brush but not run down the work.  I'm guessing that if you then painted this onto the fibres you could set and hold them in the directions into which you want them to flow (ie, as in Plynkes reference piccie).   Experiment on some scrap fur just in case it doesn't work.

Imagine the careful application of hair gel to Boris Johnson's mop!

[HerbyF]

I think the thatch looks pretty good. Just needs to be flattened out a little more.

[Cheeky Monkey]

How in the world did you get Donald Trumps hair-piece on the top of that building