@vitruvius said:

...but I can't see any way to run the plug-in. There is nothing on the menu and I can't see any instructions either, yet you all seem to be able to do it. Can you point me at some instructions on how to run plug-ins, please.

Just in case anyone answers, I solved this:
For some reason the menu heading "plug-in" does not appear on the menu with the plug-ins that came with the download. It suddenly appeared when I saved the UV toolkit though

Thanks for your helpful replies, Gaius and others.

I'm a beginner not only in SU but in Roman buildings too and have no training or special knowledge, I live just outside London. I'm afraid I don't know what the Batch Museum is, did you mean Bath Museum?

I tried to follow how you modelled the arch but I can't see any way to run the plug-in. There is nothing on the menu and I can't see any instructions either, yet you all seem to be able to do it. Can you point me at some instructions on how to run plug-ins, please.
I have the free version if that makes any difference)

Meanwhile I looked at the other threads. The Tiled roof is great, thanks and will really help. I'll probably go and photograph some bricks and mortar and have a go at my own textures as well, I knew that pile of old rubble in my garden would come in useful one day.

Your Basilica is very impressive. I wasn't going to attempt any monumental buildings and the ones I'm currently interested are mostly single-story utility buildings such as storehouses, barracks, farm buildings, granaries etc suited to a Romano-British settlement or frontier town. I think only some buildings would have arches, and many would have rectangular openings. I think most walls would be stuccoed, even stone ones and some would be timber-framed, wattle and daub and some roofs might be thatched.
This reconstruction is about as monumental as I wanted to go, but I suspect it has some modern techniques in it. You might find it interesting for its own sake
http://www.gallica.co.uk/villa/photos_high.htm

If I come up with anything worthy, I'll post it.

Hi
I've been using the free version of SU 7.1 for about a month. It's fun and I find myself learning (and wanting to learn) about architecture and construction techniques and materials used, mostly Roman - hence the moniker but I have a few questions:

Can a material with a texture be used (say) to paint the stones of an arch? All the materials I've seen have been regular and either horizontally or vertically aligned? Great for walls, but not arches.
At the moment I've been doing it by using actual stones placed in a semicircle by an array which is great, but I only did it this way because painting didn't work.

On the subject of materials, if I try to get more for 7.1 it says "coming soon". Does anyone know when this is likely to be? Is it possible to use version 6 materials with 7.1 (pardon if this is a silly question)

On components. Do people create components out of components? - example:
I made a hinge component then a pivot component then a door component.
Then I put them together to make a "pivot and hinge assembly" component, then two pivot & hinge assemblies on the door to make a "door assembly" component.
Is this the right way to go about doing things?
Also if I make a change to say the pivot component how can I "cascade" the change through to the door assembly automatically?

Thanks