Roofing slates on the cheap.
Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:56 pm
Hi all.
1000+ roofing slates stacked up ready for loading into wagons and run down to Port.
Having bought 4 Slaters FR 2 ton slate wagons I wanted loads for them but I wanted the load to look like individual hand cut slates. I wanted to make them from something that did not have edges that were crisp and too defined. I tried plastikard but the edges came out too neat and thin ply would take too long to cut. So what to use?
I thought the card that the 4 wagons ( and 5 skips ) came in would be ideal being strong and just under 1mm thick. After opening up the boxes and lids I cut strips 18mm wide. This would give 5 rows of slates per wagon. I marked the strips into 34mm lengths ready to cut to length. This is where I used a little artistic licence. If you look at some contempory slate wagon photos, the slate cutters were so good at their craft that the slates seem identical in length whereas I wanted to give more of a rough appearance to make the edges standout. What I didn't want was what would look like a clay block with lines scratched across it. I therefore cut the slates to length with scissors approximately on the 34mm line so they would all be a slightly different length. After gluing what turned out to be 65 slates together into a block and making 20 blocks I feel I have the effect I wanted. I am not saying all this marking, cutting and glueing was a quick job as it took the best part of 2 weeks but i am happy with the result.
The slate blocks were first sealed with shellac, primed with grey primer and then top coated with Humbrol matt slate grey. And all they cost was a couple of pounds for the small tin of Humbrol.
D.
1000+ roofing slates stacked up ready for loading into wagons and run down to Port.
- IMG_20210801_174257.jpg (168.63 KiB) Viewed 5000 times
- IMG_20210801_181601.jpg (151.38 KiB) Viewed 5000 times
The slate blocks were first sealed with shellac, primed with grey primer and then top coated with Humbrol matt slate grey. And all they cost was a couple of pounds for the small tin of Humbrol.
D.