old timber frame cottage part 2

ok... terrible pictures, but progress of sorts - I had been worried the render wasn't working, so gave it a spray undercoat to get a better feel for it... that worked ok, a few spots needed more definition, so I stippled some liquid g/s in spots... windows were added and the door and lintel... the windows and door lintel are from the detail kit, with a bit of texture added to the lintel again with liquid g/s... the door was made from 2mm balsa, with a latch made from g/s - it's loosely hinged, so can be open, closed or kicked in...

and then to the roof... tried thatch as I couldn't face cutting all those tiles... some nice tutorials can be found here for teddy fur and here for towelling... I went the towelling route, as they were dirt cheap in primark... not 100% about it yet, it looks ok, but I was a bit over enthusiastic with the brushing down and trimming, so patches needed replacing... this was especially true for the split where the roof seperates to give access to the first floor, a good hard line there helps a bit... the roof is taking an age... I think I've managed to replicate the weave ok in g/s, but won't know for certain til I can undercoat that... it may all get removed before long...

now, the sharp eyed will have noticed the absense of a chimney, Levied Troop over on Frothers pointed me towards a very useful little book... Discovering Timber Framed Buildings - it's dirt cheap (from £2 something used) and has some great illustrations... including the evolution of the chimney, so I went with a smoke hood rather than a chimney proper - that will stay regardless of what I do with roof...