Draw four rakes (roof arches) on 1/16" balsa wood. These rakes can be as simple or as detailed as you like. I tried to stick to the imagery of The Lord of The Rings films, so my rakes have graceful, can-opener-looking flares on all the ends. Cut each end that will meet at the apex of the roof so they form a 90-degree angle.

Draw a square (on 1/16" balsa wood) that will fit in the crook of the archway. Make sure the four corners are at 90-degrees, or else it won't sit right in the archway. Draw two transecting lines on the square from corner to corner. You should now have a square with four equal triangles drawn on it. Now, draw a narrow ellipse along the center of one of these lines. Next, draw two smaller ellipses along the other line, so that the tip of each ellipse crosses the side of the big ellipse you made before. Carefully cut out the decorative pieces. Glue the rakes together with superglue. While that dries, glue the decorative pieces into place to reinforce the arch.

Cut out two rectangles of thin card (the backings for notepads work great). The rectangles for this project measured 2 3/16" x 2 13/16". Use a 25-mm round base to trace a semi-circle onto the centre of one side of the card. Cut it out with a hobby knife. Glue one roof section to one side of the rake with superglue, leaving half an inch of rake standing above the roof (see picture, right), and allow it to set. Now, repeat on the other rake with the second roof section. Also glue both together at the peak of the roof. Allow this assembly to set, and then glue the opposite rake to the nearly assembled roof.

Optional. Create two braces for the underside of the roof from 3/16" x 3/16" square balsa wood rod. Cut the balsa wood into 1 7/8" segments. Cut 90-degree angles into the same facing side of the segments and glue them into place on the underside of the roof with superglue.

Cut a piece of 1/16" balsa wood into a segment measuring 3" long x 3/8" high. Mark the strip of balsa wood in intervals of 1/4" long and cut out the middle of these marks to create the crenellation pattern as shown in the photo. Cut out two thin 3" long x 1/8" high pieces of balsa to create the roof cap. Bevel the edge along one side of each of the caps.

Now, cut the apex of each of the rakes down to the level of the roof line and glue the roof comb into place, followed by the thin cap pieces. Once everything has lined up properly and dried, glue on the small ellipses from Step 2 on either side of the roof comb for decoration.

Now, it's time to shingle the roof. Using the same card you used for the roof sections, draw a series of lines to create a pattern for the shingles. The pattern should consist of rectangles measuring 3/16" wide x 1/4" tall.