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Like for the roof of a hut?

well you could get a cheap paint brush (a LARGE one) from your local hardware store and use the hairs to make thatching, it would already be the right colour (sort of) and wouln't be hard to paint ( hopefully)

Just a thought, don't know if it works.

Get a cheap shop broom and gank the bristles off of it.

I'd probably use straw. Although depending where you live, this might not be readily available in quantities to thatch a whole roof with.

I wouldn't suggest straw. Organic material decays relatively fast, even if you take measures to preserve it.

Plus, straw can house parasites and other things that are generally accepted as Not Good.

I think dry, cellulose-based organics hold up well enough. Lord knows my grandparents have straw hats that are older than I am.

Now, would it be good to work with? Probably not - it's a dusty, brittle nasty substance. Although if you're gluing it to a backer like cardboard, that might work...

Kanluwen wrote:I wouldn't suggest straw. Organic material decays relatively fast, even if you take measures to preserve it.

Plus, straw can house parasites and other things that are generally accepted as Not Good.

But it's more traditional!
So why do you need it, Malfred? You can LARP in non-historic settings, you know. You don't have to build your own medieval serf's hut.

Fake fur from a haberdasher.

Paint with a watered down pva glue mix and allow to dry.
Paint and drybrush.

Works well enough at this scale and is what was used for the Rohan buildings in the GW LOTR terrain pics.

Basic pitched roofs are easy. Roofs where four sides meet at a point are somewhat trickier.

Hut thatching. Round things with a pointed top.

Silly pesants still making thatch roof cottages.
Don't they know Trogdor will just burn them down?

It's even stranger to have thatching in a Warmachine coal-powered "Burn it with Fire"
world. Maybe I should just make ramshackle shingles out of card and paint them metallic?

Sculpie, then use a few tools to make it look like thatch, basically draw a bunch of parallel or almost parallel lines really quick. Try to make sure that the layer of scuply is really thin, that will make it easy to texture, and glue on. Also the other thing you could try is pressing a broom into the layer of sculpy.

Fake fur as chromedog suggests.
This is how GW did the Rohan huts.
Tried to find it on their website but it's not there :(.
I believe it's in one of the books though (early) so if you have access to a GW then browse away!

Hmm, okay. I'm assuming the fake fur isn't painted after...

I'll shingle the huts I have right now. I'll look into the fake fur when I'm somewhere that
happens to sell it (would it be at a Michael's/ Joann's Fabrics?)

malfred wrote:Hmm, okay. I'm assuming the fake fur isn't painted after...

I'll shingle the huts I have right now. I'll look into the fake fur when I'm somewhere that
happens to sell it (would it be at a Michael's/ Joann's Fabrics?)

walmart had it last time i checked.
Faux fur in the craft section.

Walmart...do I dare?

malfred wrote:Hmm, okay. I'm assuming the fake fur isn't painted after...

I'll shingle the huts I have right now. I'll look into the fake fur when I'm somewhere that
happens to sell it (would it be at a Michael's/ Joann's Fabrics?)

Yes you do.
1. cut in to strips about 1"-1.5" wide.
2. glue 1st strip to bottomof roof.
3. wait for it to dry.
4. use watered-down white glue with downward strokes.
5. glue the next strip on just above the last & continue.

You could do just 1 wide strip per side of course.

Once everything is dry just prime & paint!

If you can, try bundles of pine needles. I've used them before and it works quite well. You will need to cut/break them though.

Just a quick link if you're wondering about the fake fur more:

Field Report: Fur Roof?

And an example of what they talk about there.



This one was done with teddy bear faux fur.
It's a GW WHFB chapel building kit with the thatched roof idea instead of the shingle/slate roof.