Colonial House

[Ssendam]

Hi All,

I've been working on a colonial house ...



I'm just at a loss with the roof. Corrugated Iron? Thatched?

Detailed progres pictures here ...

http://www.ssendam.org/blog/

http://www.ssendam.org/blog/?p=333

[gamer Mac]

Looking great
Both roof types would work well
I think of corrugated iron as more modern. I know it has been around for ages.
What kind of games is it for?

[Ssendam]

What kind of games is it for?

Well primarily it's for games using the "In the Heart Of Africa" rules which covers 1860-1899. However, I intend for it to be used right up to 1920's pulp games too.

I should mention that the roof lifts off to reveal 2 rooms (see the links in the first post for more pictures).

[OSHIROmodels]

Tiles should be fine. Watching Jeremy Paxman last night there was a few shots of colonial house in India and some of them had tiles. Just make sure they are clay and not slate 

cheers

James

[Plynkes]

Corrugated iron is fine for most of the 19th Century (invented 1820s I think), but came into common use in different places at different times.



British forts and outposts in Central and East Africa seem to have a majority of buildings with thatched rooves but with the odd corrugated iron one thrown in. Corrugated iron would be the norm in more established colonial settler towns, I think.

[Marine0846]

Looking good.
Can't wait to see how it turns out.
As for the roof, do  both types.

[Burgundavia]

I would go with thatch. It was much cheaper and more readily available than corrugated iron (pre-WW2).

[starkadder]

It depends on what you mean by "colonial", I suspect. I appreciate that you're modelling an "African" structure but you might be interested in the Australian colonial context.

In Australia, wattle and daub walls were used in rural areas into the 1920s although weatherboard was probably the most common. Corrugated iron roofs were common everywhere. Wooden roofing tiles were also used. I lived, as a child, in a wattle and daub bungalow for several years (1950s). Then we went weatherboard.  Both houses had been built in the mid-19th century.

Regionally, bluestone (basalt) could be used in Victoria and South Australia (more extinct volcanoes there) even for relatively modest homes

The big distinction was if your structure was a government building.One thing of note in Australia is that many of the colonial administration buildings (council chambers, courthouses, gaols, police stations, hospitals and schools for instance) were made solid. Government funding meant that sandstone, bluestone or fired brick (not mud brick) were often used. It's no great surprise to find the police station in an 1870's NSW town was often the only solid structure. They'd even make the toilet out of brick (hence the phrase "he was built like a brick s**t-house")

I think the best general bet when doing Australian stuff is weatherboard with a corrugated iron roof made in the Indian bungalow style. It's sometimes called Australian bungalow or Australian vernacular. It was imported here as far back as Governor Macquarie in the 1820s. It means you have two continents covered anyway (Oz and India). It's also easy to model as it's roughly square with hallways north-south and east-west with a gabled roof and huge verandahs.

Anyway, I'm probably horribly off-thread. It's just that I'm trying to build an Australian coastal town from 1880-1930 and it's beginning to obsess me. I'll get out of your way.

[Dewbakuk]

I prefer corrugated iron as roofing but it depends where you are putting the house. If it's an established colony area such as South Africa then corrugated iron was the norm. If you go further inland then it becomes rarer and thatch would be better. You could of course make the roof easily removable and do both

[Ssendam]

Thanks for your replies ..

I think the whole theme of "do both" is manifesting itself, and I might have to go for Thatched roof first as I can't find my corrugated plasticard! I'm also thinking of a removable sign so I can turn it into a general store at a moments notice.

I'm thinking of using the bristles from a broom to create my thatched roof but not sure exactly how I'm going to do it yet. I have read other methods on here that seem simpler and don't want to come up with a time consuming method.

@Starkadder: Interesting to read the Australian context ... I think a brick shi..errr I mean outhouse would be a nice addition to the "set" and provide some cover

[Ssendam]

Added a fieldstone base cast from some Hirst Arts molds, some wood trim to the verandah, some wood trim to the front of the roof and a thatched roof using the method in the following thread:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=37726.0



More pictures added to the gallery here: http://www.ssendam.org/blog/?p=333

[Burgundavia]

It depends on what you mean by "colonial", I suspect. I appreciate that you're modelling an "African" structure but you might be interested in the Australian colonial context.

In Australia, wattle and daub walls were used in rural areas into the 1920s although weatherboard was probably the most common. Corrugated iron roofs were common everywhere. Wooden roofing tiles were also used. I lived, as a child, in a wattle and daub bungalow for several years (1950s). Then we went weatherboard.  Both houses had been built in the mid-19th century.

Regionally, bluestone (basalt) could be used in Victoria and South Australia (more extinct volcanoes there) even for relatively modest homes

The big distinction was if your structure was a government building.One thing of note in Australia is that many of the colonial administration buildings (council chambers, courthouses, gaols, police stations, hospitals and schools for instance) were made solid. Government funding meant that sandstone, bluestone or fired brick (not mud brick) were often used. It's no great surprise to find the police station in an 1870's NSW town was often the only solid structure. They'd even make the toilet out of brick (hence the phrase "he was built like a brick s**t-house")

I think the best general bet when doing Australian stuff is weatherboard with a corrugated iron roof made in the Indian bungalow style. It's sometimes called Australian bungalow or Australian vernacular. It was imported here as far back as Governor Macquarie in the 1820s. It means you have two continents covered anyway (Oz and India). It's also easy to model as it's roughly square with hallways north-south and east-west with a gabled roof and huge verandahs.

Anyway, I'm probably horribly off-thread. It's just that I'm trying to build an Australian coastal town from 1880-1930 and it's beginning to obsess me. I'll get out of your way.

If I ever get into Aussie gaming, I will have to look this post up again. Really useful informatin.

[starkadder]

I'm glad you found it interesting, Burgundavia.

Over the next few months, I'll finally get the courage and time to start a small blog about buildings, terrain and photographs from the period. I'll keep you posted on the results.

I has forgotten that old wash cloth trick, Ssendam. Nicely done.

[Ssendam]

Another update:

- Roof finished, might need another highlight though.
- Stonework painted.
- Filler put on all the walls and roof.

I'm not bust painting the filler white and i think i'll have a nice stripe around the building, green maybe.

[Wirelizard]

Coming along very nicely, the thatch is especially well done. I tend to do towel thatching as one big sheet over the whole roof, which is fast but looses some of the texture of having the seperate strips like you have.

Mind you, some real thatching looks solid as well, depends on the method used I guess.

One trick I like that really "anchors" a building is a very subtle brown wash up from the bottom of the walls where grime and dirt is stirred up by passing traffic or splashed by the rain. A very light tan/brown wash is all that's needed, somehow it makes the building look more real, less like it's just been plonked down on the table.