Flat seam metal roofing material? - 1/87 scale

For the material, I'd use sheet styrene, with a narrow striping tape for the seams, although you can get styrene strips in very thin and narrow sizes, so you could glue down those strips to the styrene sheet for the seams.  But that would be much harder. I would think a 1/32 wide striping tape would be the easiest.  Striping tape that thin is not common at local hobby shops, so you'd probably have to mail order it.

The photo of the prototype makes the roof look so dirty and corroded that it doesn't even look like aluminum any more. I wouldn't worry about starting with aluminum.  I would go straight to the weathered look and start with dark reds and dark grays.  Do you have an airbrush?

Don, thanks so much for the response, and I appreciate the idea of using the striping tape to mimic the seams. I had someone on another forum mention metal duct tape, which has the advantage of being paper-backed with an adhesive, so I may play around with that also. I do have an airbrush, and since I'm modeling the 40s/50s, I think the roof would still be in decent shape and painted. The prototype photo above is from the 1980s, long after the coal dealer had gone out of business. Even in the 40s though, there will be some rust effects I'll try and add along the seams and edges.

Still looking for a decent metallic paint to mimic the galvanized tin/painted tin. I have some Tamiya flat aluminum on order, but don't know what it will look like until it arrives. But this gives me some time to play with the sheeting first.

Jim

Well, I got a roll of the metal duct tape, and that worked very well. The adhesive backing made it a pretty easy job to fix it to the roof, and I used a round toothpick to burnish it flat against the roof surface. It will get a coat of paint once I decide which one looks best. Here's a photo of how the stairway roof turned out, I'll do the walkway roof tomorrow.

If you are trying to duplicate a really tarnished surface, it doesn't matter what the material is that you build the roof from- the paint will cover the material anyway.  No need to use real metal.  You won't be able to tell what the material is after you get the paint down on it.

The only problem is if you use a material that is porous or grainy. In that case you must prime and sand to get rid of the grain or porosity.  But it will work if you fill and prepare properly.

Even if you want to depict a brand new roof, there is no need to use metal.  These days there are paints or coatings, like Alclad, to create a realistic finish over any material.

Thanks Don, good points. The metal tape worked out pretty well, and I'm happy with the definition of the seams between panels. Both roofs got a coat of primer and then some Tamiya flat aluminum--this is pretty much the look I was going for. When the whole building is done, it will get some weathering, and these roofs will get a bit of rust and some grimy washes. But overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

Jim