Because the tendency is to look down onto a layout, the roofs of buildings tend to be rather prominent. It is one area that needs to be properly finished. Tiles, slates etc., really show up when they are out of line or improperly spaced. Most modellers are aware of this and take the necessary trouble. But there are many other details that make a roof ‘look’ correct, that are quite often missing. Just a few added to your layout will make so much difference. Obviously to completely festoon your roofs with all and sundry would be overkill but bare, plain tiles and slates can be very boring. Why not try a few of these.


TELEVISION AERIALS:
Any railway set in a time period from 1950 onwards should certainly have aerials on a few houses. It is quite understandable why they are avoided on portable layouts, as they are rather fragile. However on a permanent layout they can be soldered up from brass wire or maybe obtained in etched brass.

Where ridge tiles run down the corners of gabled roofs, they quite often have a retaining hook at the       

bottom. These can be rolled up from a strip of sheet lead or a strip of brass.
CAPPED-OFF CHIMNEYS:
Many chimneys have a cover over them, usually in the form of a half-round terra cotta tile. A small piece of plastic channel or tube split in half will do the job admirably. Another common chimney fitting is a baffle to prevent down draughts.

BITUMEN:
Roof gulleys and joins in roofing felt are usually sealed with bitumen. Satin Black paint will represent new bitumen.

SMALLER DETAILS:
How about a few dead leaves in your gutters? Or bird droppings on the ridge tiles – every roof should have some! Not to mention the odd bird or two. In the UK at least, house roofs are a popular resting place for pigeons and seagulls. Although not so common but very factual would be a heron’s nest built on a chimney.

Weather vanes are very common and there are many etched brass ones available.

It is not uncommon on older and neglected buildings, to see the start of a small bush growing in a crack on a roof. I have seen what looks like a miniature tree about four feet high growing on a roof. Goodness knows where the roots went.

Although not strictly on the roof itself, what about soil pipes? Sorry about that, but they are an essential on almost every building with a toilet. Most model buildings have all the drainpipes etc. but this venting pipe which goes from the ground and carries on to about three feet above the gutter is often missing. The soil pipe from the bathroom/toilet should run into this.

Just for fun, on my previous layout, I built a small timed animation, which caused a chimney sweep’s broom to appear every so often. It got more