I have a small town's worth of Design Preservation Models kits. It's been decades since I last built these kits, so I've been wondering what color the flat roofs should be. I'm leaning toward weathered gray, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks.
I don't know what they use these days, but I recall earlier times when flat or near flat city buildings had roll roofing, tar, or tar and aggregate as a top coat. I have, and many others, used such as a fine grit black (wet sanding) autobody sandpaper as a starting point.
What era are you modeling? Back in the day, they probably would have had some kind of tar paper roof. If you are modeling a more modern era, you could re-roof them with more up-to-date materials. I went on Google Earth and looked at a few small towns near me that had some old buildings, and saw a lot more white and grey than black. Modern low-slope roofs usually use a roofing membrane made of different types of plastic, or an aggregate based design. If you are modeling a specific real-life location, google earth or old aerial maps will be your friend.
I'm modeling the late '70s. I have 12 small businesses, so I'll vary the roofs from gray to black. Thanks!
Texture should also figure in to your decision. Many tarpaper-covered flat roofs were covered with gravel. A smooth roof with seams dividing it into rectangles should be black, faded to some degree. A pebbly texture should be gravel gray, or better still, first painted black, then dry-brushed gray so you can "see the tarpaper beneath".
First off, your idea of various colors is spot on........roofs would have been various ages, installed by different companies, ect. so they wouldn't be any one color. You can also add some texture.....I've used toilet paper and tea bags glued down and then painted, and also fine sandpaper. You can also scribe some lines on the roof to look like the edges of rolled roofing. A few of the DPM kits use an actual pre-made roof that has some texture, others are "do it yourself" out of sheet styrene. My one complaint of the DPM kits is no roof details.....no vents, access hatches, ect. The details add a lot.
I like a nice Azure or Dusty Rose, myself. Just kidding. I use flat black or even Floquil Grimy Black. Doug
I see that Woodland Scenics has a set of roofers: Woodland Scenics N A2128 Roofers Looks like I'll buy a set when they're back in stock.
If they used gravel over the membrane (tar paper, etc.), it was likely locally sourced, and would vary in color with the region between brown/tan and gray/black. I guess the gravel provided a wind/sun block for the underlying tar/paper?
Yes. Weight and a shield against weather. Embedded in tar, rock (aggregate), is quite resistant to assaults from temperature variants and all of the elements.
Don't they need about 10 more guys to...you know...supervise? Maybe that's just with govt. jobs. Doug
Wow, that roof looks really good Tomkat! It blends in perfectly with the walls the way the black is on the edges - it gives a great effect and looks very realistic. I like the sign on the wall too!
