The three large gables are supposed to be shingled above the windows according to the instructions. The kit even includes fancy shingles for this purpose.
But, I think something about it is off. First, I think the shingles are too large. Second, and more importantly, I don’t think you’d leave any gable wood exposed on a real life house. It would either also be shingled or have some sort of siding on it. I am guessing the kit is like this to add some Victorian charm while making it a relatively easy job to add the shingles.
To remedy both of these points, I bought Greenleaf half scale speed shingle strips (octagon shape) with the plan to apply them to the entire gable.
Since I would ultimately be painting them, I decided to glue them onto the gable before staining them with the black/grey aging wash. I could always press the pieces flat while drying if they curled while painting and it didn’t matter if I got excess glue on the stained portions since the shingles would be covered by the crackle effect paint.
Here are the three samples I put together to test out which glue would work best and whether the same aging process as the siding would work here as well.
From left to right are Elmer’s wood glue, Aleene’s quick dry tacky glue and Quick Grip glue. I taped the shingles down while drying. The first two lifted after the dark wash. Not necessarily a bad thing on an old house as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.
I then brushed on crackle medium followed by white craft paint. Interestingly, the first one flattened out a bit with only a couple a lifts there and there. Still, I decided to stick (tee-hee) with the Quick Grip glue just for the fact that it dries so fast.
I started by placing the outer gable window trim on the gable and tracing around the edge.
I placed the first shingle strip so that the vertical lines between the shingles lined up with the bottom edge of the gable.
I placed the window trim over the first shingle strip and traced the outline.
I cut the shingle strip to fit with an X-Acto blade and then glued in place with Quick Grip.
The next row was applied so that the bottom shingles lined up with the top of the vertical lines of the first row. Again, I used the window trim as a template.
Once I had a few rows on, I cut the excess off the bottom and sides.
I’ll continue up to the top peak and then repeat for the other two gables, but I already think this looks like a better scale match. There will be trim between the gable shingles and siding to finish off the edge between the two.
I’m very pleased with the results of my experiment. I think it looks more like the real Victorian houses in my area than it would have with the kit’s oversize shingles.
I absolutely love the shape of the gable windows, too! I’ve adored this house for years, and it’s so much fun finally bringing it to life.
Note to or anyone who is building a Heritage: the diecut arches of the gables end up being a structural part of the finished swinging windows. If you want these to be pristine, take the time now to repair both the interior and exterior portions of these gable parts. You may choose to cut new parts if the kit parts are too far gone. I was able to salvage them later, but it would have been easier before assembly. It was hard to work with them upright. See this post for details.
