Slingin Shingles

I was well on my way applying shingles to the Fallburgh station when I realized I'd need to do something about the valleys.  Usually there's some sort of flashing to direct rainwater down the roof, rather than allowing it to seep into the attic.  So I Googled cedar shake shingles images and found some inspiration.  Seems like most of the time, especially on older applications, the flashing is copper.

I used the same brown paper bag I had used for the shingles to make the flashing.  I painted a section of paper with a metallic copper paint and let it dry before cutting it into strips.  This I used at the bend in the roof at the change in pitch.  I actually creased the strip and applied the next row of shingles on the steeper pitched roof over the paper. 

For the valley itself where the gabled portion meets the main roof, I just painted the roof card with the copper paint.

As of this post the roof is 97% shingled, with only the top row of shingles to apply before I add the fancy decorative roof trim, an etched brass part, and then the horizontal 'cap' shingles alongside that.  The trim, along with all the metal castings in the kit, has been primed and is awaiting paint.

You Never Do a Project...

...You Only Do the Next Step

Take, for example, this next step.  Pictured are a paint brush, stir stick, paper towel, silver paint, cup of water and two headlight castings.  All I did was paint the inside of the reflector silver.  That's it.

However, before I could get to that step I had to drill out the casting both through the center of the reflector and from below.  This will allow me to place a VERY tiny LED inside the casting which I can do now that the reflector has been painted.

The next step, however, is not to insert the LED, but to test the LEDs with the decoder and resistors to determine how bright I want them to appear.  Then I can insert the front LED and mount it to the boiler.  The rear light will need a bracket to be built before I can place it on the tender, but before I can do that I need to build the tender bunker and prime the tender to check the joints, etc. 

All these 'next steps' add up to a completed project - a beautiful locomotive I'm pleased to operate...but that means I need a layout to run it on, and rolling stock to pull, and industries to switch, etc.  There are many more next steps to come!