Tale from the Tin Shed, A Universal method for 'Roman' Roof Tiles.

[tin shed gamer]

Now I'm not claiming to have invented the wheel. This is just the method I've developed by trial and error,and no doubt others will have thought of it too.

But since I've been asked how I achieve the tiling. Then here is how I approach it.


First thing to do (sounds obvious.) is to figure out how many rows of tiling you'd like and how many tiles per row.

For speed and simplicity I work on 1cm wide tiles,and dived the length of the roof by 1cm. To find the number of tiles per row.
The height of the tile is done in similar fashion. Except you need to add an additional 20% to the height of each tile.(this becomes the lip to rest the next layer of tiles upon.)
So nine rows of 1cm tiles. Will measure 10.8cm tall when drawn out.
It's one of the basic rules of getting the tiles to sit right. It doesn't matter what size you wish the finished tiles to be. The ratio is finish surface length + (20% of the length of the finished surface length)=the actual tile length to be cut out.
So when you mark out the roof tiles your horizontal lines will be 1cm-20%-1cm-20%-1cm and so on.
It's also better to mark out the rectangle for the entire roof and infill.
So nine rows of twenty 1cm tiles. Is a 20cm x 10.8cm rectangle.
In theory you should end up with a grid something similar to the picture.
Then it simply adding the ridge sections the full length of the vertical lines.
I use a single layer of card in 2mm(ish) widths as I'm aiming for a more subtle  and implied feel.
However this could be done in plastic card with U shaped lengths,or even rolled clay. I have in fact used guttering and plywood for a museum display,using this method.

[tin shed gamer]

The next stage is cut the rows of tiles out at the +20% line.
I recommend that you only remove one row at a time. As there's likely (what ever materials you use) to be some variation over the entire length of your roof as each ridge is manual placed.
This will reduce the chance of you getting the rows in the wrong order and not having the ridges line up due to the natural variations from construction of the roofing sheet.

Then you simply remove the ridge (only) from the 20% part of the tile(marked in red).
On the very first strip /leading row. Completely remove the ridge and tile at the top of each end in an L shape cut.(only the bottom row). This will allow you to index the tiles and keep the roof straight. (assuming you want to.)

When you draw the grid you may not that the final row doesn't have a 20% line above it. That's because it doesn't need one as its the top of the roof and going to have a ridge tile.

Each consecutive layer of tiles have their leading edge entirely overlapping the 20% zone of the previous layer.

That how simple and basic a method it is.

[tin shed gamer]

Here a couple of pictures on an unfinished building to give you an idea of how just a little texture can add character.

However its also laced with errors,to show why these odd ball step are useful.

The first deals with the problem of a roof that isn't  a whole number,and your materials aren't long enough to do the roof in one sheet.

In this case the card is 27cm long. The roof is 29.5cm.The temptation is to just bolt on a 2.5cm length. But once you start to put it together it looks odd.

The solution is in the planning.
The roof is 29.5cm .with 1cm tiles.= 29 tiles with ten of the tiles being 10.5mm (effectively the 29 tiles are stretch to 29.5 cm)

If the roof is great than a .5mm then I round up the number of tiles.
29.6cm is 30 tiles with eight at 9.5mm (as the roof is 4mm short of 30cm so you've to subtly loose 4mm in amongst the tiles so it fits the 29.6cm roof length.)

The next just shows the  misalignment when a strips out of the order of construction.

Last but not least when you've missed a rib to cut off.

Faults / or mistake they may be. But the can also be purposeful as they can ad character if your doing more than one roof.
 

[Vanvlak]

Those are simply beautiful. You've invented the tile! 
Seriously, that's a nice little tutorial, and the results are remarkable. I'll probably be copying this technique at some point - there's nothing which says there shouldn't be roof tiles in Necromunda anyway 

[ichwillauch]

A good tutorial with great results. The roof was the point where I stopped assembling the gang of rome buildings, but now I hope to get a far better result like yours.

[Andy in Germany]

It all makes sense now, many thanks. I'll see if I can steal adapt this on my models.

As I'm making a locally based model, and many buildings have pantiles, this will make things much more realistic. We do use flat tiles as well, but variety is a wonderful thing...

[Karak Norn Clansman]

Beautiful results! Smart method.

[carlos marighela]

Most impressive!

I suspect though, that for most of us with lesser regard to historical fidelity and precise dimensions, or indeed  those if us who are just work shy, we’ll just pick up a sheet or two of pre-formed plastic tiles. Available cheaply and in a variety of scales.

[Peithetairos]

Thank you for this tutorial. Exactly what I was looking for. I am in the process of building a roman villa, so this will come in very handy.