To print out a guide to glue the blocks onto, go to our Printed Plans page and look near the bottom for a plan labeled "Conical Roof Plan".
To use the plan, glue together a ring of blocks by lining up the inside of matching number blocks around the appropriate ring.
Do not glue the blocks down to the plan!
Only glue them together on the sides.

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If you do it right, you can print out 2 copies of the plan and then glue one of every ring together at one time.
If you do this, it's better to start gluing the smaller diameters of rings first, then work your way out to the larger sizes.
Since you cannot glue every size of ring on one plan, you'll notice that I've alternated the sizes.
On the left plan I've glued 3C, 6A and 8.
On the right plan I've glued 3B, 4 and 6B.
You don't need the plan to glue the rest of the bits together.

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Glue the rings together by applying a bead of glue to the top of each ring.
Set the next size smaller ring on top of it and continue to work your way up until the whole roof is finished.
Be sure to alternate the seams on each row to help hide them.

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On some rows, especially the bottom of the 8" row, you will notice a gap between two blocks.
All of the other blocks on that ring will fit well except in one place where the ends connect.
On the wood shingle blocks this is not a problem because you will not see the gap because of all the vertical lines from the wood texture.
However, on the slate roof you will need to fill the occasional gaps between blocks to give a seamless effect.

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The easiest way to do this is to mix some glue and plaster together to make the paste.
It should be about the consistency of toothpaste.
Use a toothpick, pick up a glob and rotate the toothpick to shove some of the paste into the crack.
You only want to do this where the shingle is split in two and not where two shingle meet.

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For the photo on the right, I have stacked up some roof blocks into a 90 degree corner of Legos.
I did this to demonstrate that you can use the roof mold to make a half or quarter roof if you like.
The only problems this may cause is that the seams will line up on the blocks which may make the seams more noticeable.
Also, you may need to sand the decorative top cap or texture the flat part on the very top block to finish the top.

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I'm going to use solid black latex house paint for the base coat on the slate roof.
You will want to thin it slightly with water so that it goes down into all the cracks easier.
I would mix 1 part water to 2 parts paint.
Paint the roof solid black and really push the brush into the cracks so there are not accidental white spots between shingles.

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Next we will mix up a highlight gray.
This will be the last step to paint the roof.
This gray is mixed using 1 part black and 4 parts white.
Do not thin the paint with water (unless you are using tube paints which are really thick).
You will not need very much of this paint.
Four tablespoons of white and one tablespoon of black paint will easily do several roofs.

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Get some paint on a brush and wipe it all off on a paper towel.
For more complete instructions on dry-brushing, look at our Painting Instructions page.
After the brush is almost completely dry, gently brush side to side in a horizontal direction only.
I want emphasize the sides of the shingles more than the edges of the shingles.

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