Built me a Vikinglonghouse

[DonVoss]

Looks great. I like the addition of the "garden" at the side...

DV

[pbjunky1]

That's really characterful, thanks very much for sharing the build process & the finished article. Way better than MDF.

[Hammers]

Top notch.

[Chairface]

Lovely work

[sukhe_bator]

I'm curious as to why there are beams exposed on top of instead of beneath the thatch
Are they structural or a means of pinning the thatch down... is this a specific recognized architectural style, if so I haven't seen it before...
I love the thatch and have yet to source my own.

[Dalauppror]

Thank you very much ! Glad that you like my build.

The exposed beams on the roof are to keep the roof thatch in place and are seen on older style houses here in Sweden, so I reccon it would have been used in the Viking era to.

here are some fotos of different Swedish Houses using the same style of beams.

The first two pictures are from the Swedish island Gotland





The two picture below are from the Viking Museum village at Birka. Birka was the place of the biggest Viking town in Sweden

[Corso]

Lovely terrain and admirable patience!

[sukhe_bator]

Kudos to you for noting the detail and these little features always add an additional level of realism to models. I'm sure they would have used the same technique for centuries.
This is not a tradition I'm familiar with in the UK. I grew up in East Anglia where thatching is/was pretty common. We tend to have very plain thatch, though with decoration usually confined to the roof ridge. We tend to use far smaller bands of hazel spars near the roof apex (presumably to pin down the folded straw on the roof apex).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8282000/8282754.stm
http://www.themasterthatchers.co.uk/
It just goes to show that a little research pays dividends with the end result.

[Patrice]

Thanks for the museum houses pictures! it's always very interesting to see the real thing.

[Duncan McDane]

That old towel works great for thatch at this scale. A brilliant built, thanks for sharing the step-by-step with us  .

[Freelancer]

That's some great work and detail there.

[sukhe_bator]

I want to know where all you thatching guys get suitable towel to use. Whenever I look around I only see ornately sewn stuff or the type with looped cotton...

[Argonor]

I want to know where all you thatching guys get suitable towel to use. Whenever I look around I only see ornately sewn stuff or the type with looped cotton...

Well used/worn towels don't have loops anymore - points have been worn away, leaving two loose ends instead of a loop. Simply ask your wife if it isn't time to renew the stock of towels, and you should be fine. 

[**GS**]

Your house including the garden is a great piece of work!

Keep on scratch building, please!

Cheers
GS