Upgrading my MDF houses

[pauld]

In a triumph of hope over marginal ADHD I have started to upgrade my MDF scenery by adding tiled rooves with individual cardboard tiles 



Got a few of these to do but I think it will be worth it - pic for comparison


Ruin at front is the Red Vectors set from Pendraken and the stucco finish buildings are from JB MDF Products on eBay - both very cheap sets which can be finished off to make some useful stuff.

[fred]

That does improve the look - I generally try to add more detail to the roofs of my MDF buildings as it does lift the look, and from a player’s perspective you spend a lot of time looking at the roof!

You can get laser cut pages of roof tiles which speeds the process up a bit - but I can’t recall where I got them from - possibly Sarrisa

Perhaps add a dry brush of light grey or light brown around the broken edges of the wall - to show dust - more likely to be damage from stuff falling and generating dust, rather than the sooty effects of fire.

[Burgundavia]

They look great and to me the only thing that says MDF is now the edges of the ruined floors.

[Cat]

You can get laser cut pages of roof tiles which speeds the process up a bit - but I can’t recall where I got them from - possibly Sarrisa

Yes, Sarissa sells sheets.  Also Charlie Foxtrot in the UK, and Things From the Basement in the US, possibly others.

If you want to go a step further on finishing the roofs, I use thin strips of basswood to add fascia and rakes to the edges, that really makes them pop.

[carlos marighela]

If you want a much simpler method that provides good bang for your buck, look at the embossed card tile sheets from Noch or the plastic tiling sheets avaiable from Faller and JTT. The latter two are essentially vac formed sheets that you can simply cut and glue to any roof surface. Not only do they look good but they are quick and easy to use. The JTT sheets also supply ridge tiles to hide gaps and make the job look more realistic.

Other things that make MDF look less like MDF? Guttering from plastic half tubing or L shaped beams. Downpipes from plastic tubing and most importantly rendering the surface, which can either be the application of spackle or clever application of paint and making some lumps and bumps in the MDF surface.

[pauld]

Thanks for the suggestions - they do sound a deal less time consuming

... but I'm part way through now so I'll press on

Next time though for sure

[Codsticker]

Great upgrade. As fred says, the roof is what we see the most as war gamers.

[fastolfrus]

I generally use the tiling sheets that Warbases make:

https://warbases.co.uk/product-category/accessories/tiling-sheets/

[fastolfrus]

but one thing I haven't found yet is a similar set of laser cut quoins for putting on building corners

[carlos marighela]

Peco make plastic quoins in strips and then there are also these:

https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/lx169-oo-small-stone-quoins-oo4mm176-1842-p.asp

[fastolfrus]

thank you Carlos those scale model ones look quite promising

[Codsticker]

Fernis Games makes Ashlar block quoins (link) and Field Stone Quoins (link) as well.

[modelwarrior]

For roofing if I dont make it myself I use these two sellers:

https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/lx418-oo-pre-weathered-laser-cut-terracotta-roof-tiles-a4-sheet-oo4mm176-10617-p.asp

https://www.scalecast.co.uk/store/p290/OGR02.html#/