Well, if the counterweights are steel, then maybe you could stick some of them super strong magnets on the inside of the building, to encourage the weights to stay in the down position.
Thanks Jim, glad you like them!
Much obliged Chris. Gates don’t work, but at least the chutes do.
David, great idea. They’re 3D printed plastic though. But if I’d made a cavity for a magnet on their back side, and lasered a hole for a magnet on the wall, you bet, they’d catch! Good food for thought on the next one, thanks.
Been awhile, but I’m finally getting back to this project. Yesterday I did final roof gluing, mainly cupolas and misc sealing of joints / valleys / etc.
I just finished marking for shingle strips. Can’t really see it in the pic, but the blue tapes have marks every 3/8". As I go up, I’ll trim the tape at the next level, using that as the location for shingle strip upper edge. Kinda laborious, but I didn’t have anything on hand that would clearly mark the acrylic. Next time I’ll get something like a “metallic” pen, and mark the acrylic directly.
On to actual shingling now.
Today was mainly shingling –
I really appreciated the thread Jon Radder started on solvent adhesives (click here). In addition to being informative, it inspired me to look into the composition of the cement I’ve been using – Scigrip 16. I have two half-cans, and unfortunately they’ve been getting too thick to use. But a little research showed that MEK was an ingredient. I got some at the local hardware store, and was able to revive those products back to usefulness. Saved some money. Also, the MEK evaporates much slower that the acetone I’ve been using for cleaner. Long story short, this glue-job was greatly helped by MEK.
Here’s the finished roof.
It took about 5 hours to shingle this, including valleys, edge / cap trimming, removing gloobers, etc. I have about 5 times this much to go. But, it’s pleasant enough work.
Thanks for viewing,
===>Cliffy
PS, I’ll be using the powdered ink treatment on these roofs, and can’t wait to see how that comes out! Didn’t do that on my test building’s roof, but it should make the shingle details come out. Before that though, I need to pack in about 25 hours of remaining shingling.
Looks good Cliffy!
Happy shingling Cliff, aren’t you glad it is not one shingle at a time. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Dennis
The red rooster weather vain will look awesome on that roof ! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Thanks for the affirmation and camaraderie Chris, and all others!
Dennis, you bet! It would take all winter for individual shingles… I’m hoping the strips will take only two or three weekends! You know how long even the strips take though…!
Sean, thanks, but… I was going to make it in PLA black, like cast iron. You sure it has to be red? Hmmm… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
Try scribing with a sharp point, dust with baking soda and wipe off. That should leave a whitish line. Baking soda can be used as an accelerator with CA, so it should be safe in your glue too. Flour or talc are other substitutes one could try.
Are you done yet?
Hey John, thanks for the advice. The scribe lines, however, are already lasered into the shingles; and I’ll powder those after all the shingles are in place.
But maybe you were speaking of different scribe lines?
Oh – you’re describing marking the acrylic. OK, that’s a very interesting idea, one that I expect would work. Nice. However, the occasional marks (via the marked tape) seem to be adequate, because of the 12" long strips. And eyeballing does the rest. But that’s a great idea though, I’ll try to remember it for further work.
CJ
Yeah you got it, I thought having to trim that tape each time was added tedium.
You could glue over the scribes … the b soda should draw the glue in and be an inert filler.
It’s a great idea, thanks John. Also, it wouldn’t be hard to engrave shallow lines with the laser, and rub the b soda in. Would have saved a lot of trouble!
Back to shingling today. This half of the main roof took 4 hours. So I should be able to do the other side & cupolas tomorrow, along with trimming the edges.
This continues to look great, Cliff!
How do the ladders and walkways fit on the shingles? Are you worried about uneven gaps there?
The satisfaction of success. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Had to go back through thread to refresh memory of shingle material.
Guess since it gets left outdoors some manner of plastic.
Hi Jim, thanks! Yeah, that’ll be a little tricky. For the fit, great question. I was going to laser the uprights with notch where needed, and use the dremel as required. but we’ll see. Fastening will probably be with brass pins from the catwalk decks, using the same as a drill jig for pin holes in the roof. But again, we’ll see how that plays out…!
Thanks Forrest, and yes, that’s 1/32 solid-colored acrylic (“Rowmark” brand).
[Later…]
Finished the main roof section just now.
Between shingling, ridge capping, trimming, glue deboogering & cleanup, I racked up 14 hours this weekend. I’m pleased that I got this whole main section done, wasn’t sure ow long it would take. I have two more roof modules to go, so I should be able to handle them next weekend.
I’ve been reading up on how to make my Samsung 5 take better pics, but it seems no matter what I do they totally suck… So, pointers are appreciated via PM.
Thanks,
===>Cliffy
Done with shingles, woo hoo!!
===>Cliffy
atta Man! Wow way to go. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
I haven’t done production work, since I got paid to do it!
looks like a lot of work
Hot dang Cliff. Looking great(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)