A Dark Ages house - 3

The Dux Britanniarum rules arrived today. I like the presentation of the book, and the artwork by Coral Sealey is superb. I'm less than happy about the USPS standards of handling the mail in their care, though. The stout card envelope protected the book as much as it was able, but looked as if it had been used as an iron foundry doormat. The book itself was somewhat buckled and had a dog ear at the spine. Who said postal standards aren't slipping?

Anyway...

I glanced through the rules and will have a more leisurely read of them later. In the meantime I made more progress on the Dark Ages British house.

The photo shows the first stage of prepping for the thatch - a layer of Aileen's glue sprinkled with sand to provide a keyed surface for the mix to stick to. Since the roof card turned out to be so stiff, instead of using Liquid Nails for thatch, I thought I'd risk a papier-mâché made from shredded tissue mixed with Spackle and craft paints. The pot shows the mix underway. It looks like scrambled eggs, but it'll make sure any small chips incurred during handling won't show up glaring white.

I spread the papier-mâché over the roof using my fingers, which I find is the best way to get an even coat and to ensure the small nooks and crannies are covered. The eaves have a layer of mix wrapped over the edges. I patted the whole lot down gently using the flat of my finger so it sticks to the sand beneath.

This stage will take a while to dry, at which time I'll add one and possibly two layers higher up the roof and do the chimney. Once that's done I'll paint it in more realistic colours.