Yikes! It's been a while since I posted last. Isolation has proven beneficial in some respects since I was able to sit, put fingers on keyboard, and write a new novel manuscript while waiting for edits from my publishers. In between times, while musing on plot points and having to take wife-induced daily walks for exercise (mutter grumble waste of time only not really preventative maintenance blah blah blah) I got more work done to the late Romano-British villa.
Like a lot of Roman buildings at the tail end of the Empire's life, the place has been patched up from time to time. The roof on one wing was damaged and needed repair. With most of the major British tile works no longer operational or lost to invading Saxons the villa's inhabitants resorted to thatch, using salvaged tiles for other repair jobs on the remaining tiled roofs.
Heavy shutters are the next stage of the project, followed by the ground work. I'll used tile/carpet adhesive for this since it tends not to shrink too much which causes warping to the base. Paints - I use craft paints throughout. The classic Roman pantiles were made using thin strips of card washed with a thin coat of spackle. The colour is a basic terracotta, followed by increasingly lighter shades of terracotta mixed with yellow, a wash of dark brown then highlights of yellow-orange. The thatch is a hideous mix of tissue paper, spackle and PVA mixed with a bit of brown craft paint, highlighted with magnolia shade then given a light sponging over with dark brown wash on the lower parts of the roof. Oddly enough, I thought this thatched section would give more trouble, but it was the easiest part of the roof to paint. Ho hum.
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