Anglianising continental buildings

[muddy water]

Found these Faller buildings (200 and 209) in the loft. Any ideas what to do to them to make them look ok on a British layout? What time period would they look best in?

Thanks! 

[jonhall]

I think losing the pantiles, and replacing with something more slate-like would be the best start.

 

Jon

[Paul H Vigor]

A nice bit of thatch?

[phil_sutters]

The tiles would be fine if toned down. Some areas have loads of properties with them, whether terracotta or concrete. Shutters, especially louvred ones, are less common in the UK. The massive wrought iron grill over the window would look better removed and the ornate modern balconies are not common. The houses would look better once painted. Think of an area you would like to locate them in and check Google street view or local estate agents for typical colours and finishes. One of the major differences between UK and continental houses is the slope of the roof - their's often are often steeper. That is of course a generalization and there are areas where steeper roofs are more common in the UK.

[Martyn T]

Look very seventies to me, if they were mine I would spray the roofs grey to represent concrete tiles.

[mike morley]

Wouldnt take much altering to turn the first one into something similar to this.

Its in one of the valleys behind Aberdyfi.

 

[JDW]

I think part of the problem with foreign buildings is that the roof pitch tends to be steeper - although as the picture above shows, that's by no means universal! I'd start by removing things like the shutters and probably the attic windows in the ends too, as again that tends to be less common here (and to me at least, emphasises the tallness of the roof. Toning down the colours would make a difference, as British houses tend not to be as bright and colourful - though even just some careful painting to get rid of the plastic look would probably help a lot.

[phil_sutters]

What you have are what in this country are often called 'chalet bungalows'; two storey houses with the upper floor built into the roof space. Sometimes these are purpose-built and sometimes conversions of traditional single storey bungalows. When we converted our's, we were obliged to have windows in both gable ends, as means of escape, under building regulations.

Try searching online for images of chalet bungalows and you will get ideas for making them look more realistic. The main thing is to get rid of the plasticky look and the continental features I mentioned above.

[DGO]

Get a decent paint job on them, remove the bars on the windows and they would not look out of place near my home on the sunny south coast, plenty of "chalet bungalows" around here turn the orange brick plinth and arches into sandstone and paint the walls a mat white/cream and it would look right at home in the road opposite (white cutters and downpipe) orange/red ish pantiles on the roof sanstone chimney, and these days gloss or satin white window frames to represent upvc ditto the barge boards on the roof.

 

For the first one, same roof treatment, cream/white or pale pastel colour on the walls, chimney to match, redo the balcony handrails with something simpler, maybe add a trellis with some foliage around the front door, get some new cutters and downpipes and like window frames paint gloss/satin white to represent upvc

[DGO]

I should also point out that these are H0 scale so should be place towards the back of any 00 or 4mm/ft scale layout where their smaller size will look less out of place. I think I had that second house as a child about 45 years ago, if not it was a very similar one.