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So I was at Michael's (art and craft store here in the US) yesterday and came across this $5 Birdhouse:



Now, I already have a watchtower made out of foamcore, balsa, and cardboard that took me hours and hours, but I couldn't resist picking up this birdhouse and turning it into something useful. I could just spray it black, drybrush it grey and call it done, but I'd like to put a little extra time into this and see if I can't make it something more passable.

I am only going to use things I already have in my bitz box or have lying around the house. First step will be to cover the holes, so that means a window and a door. I found a suitable window in my bitz box (I think it's from Mordheim) and it fits surprisingly perfectly.



And with a little cardboard backing from a cereal box I can cover the hole completely. I also found these arrow slits (left overs from my first watchtower), so they will get glued on as well.



Next up I need a door, more to come soon...

Nice find!

UPDATE!
So added the window to the tower to cover the hole and then got work on a door.



Door was made from balsa wood with plasticard for the hinges and floral wire for the handles. Making the small circles was a pain in the neck but in the end they look pretty good. I then attached the door and added a frame from a rounded piece of plasticard held in place by superglue. That frame tied the whole door together and was a lot easier than I anticipated.





I then added the arrow slits and put sand on the base so it is ready for an undercoat!



Next up, paint!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


I would paint a rough coat or textured coat on it first! If you just paint it as is the building will look like wood with bitz glued to it. Trust me you should get some texture to the surface first. If you don't want to use a spray textured paint, simply water down PVA/wood glue (50/50 mix water to glue) and brush on the surface, after that cover it with a light sand. If you do the sand technique make sure you do one side at a time and let it dry really well before you do the next, say a day to dry.

This is a great project and very thrifty idea Gotta love Michael's

Good luck and I am looking forward to seeing it done.

Mike

Definitely a cool find, especially for that price!

Very nice! The wife works at Michael's now, I'll have to have her keep an eye out for these.

Agreed, a little texture goes a long way, you definitely want some fine sand sprinkled on there.

Yeah, after the undercoat, the wood is pretty obvious. I do have some textured spray paint, I'll mask the door and window and give it a try!

So took the advice and first sprayed the tower with a textured paint. Looked great so brought out some grey spray paint and gave it the first coat.



It's hard to see in the pic, but I did mask the door and upper window so they didn't get covered by the textured spray. Now I need to drybrush with a lighter grey, do all the details, and finish the basing. But I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow so that will have to wait until I get back!

Nice. I made a dice tower out of one of those.

Nice job buddy! The castle looks a lot less like wood.
Mike

Looks amazing man!

Got back from vacation and got busy, but found the time to finish the tower!







Thanks for looking, maybe I'll try a sci-fi $5 piece next!

That's great. I've used small birdhouses for terrain too, they're a good starting point.

Kudos buddy, looks awesome!

Nice. Super cheap and gets the job done. I love it.

Exellent use of an arts & crafts goody! Great concept execution on your piece.

Ha! Take that birds! 1 less house for you!

Nice job. I like the arrow slits. Where did you find them?

The arrow slits are actually from GW. I don't know if they still produce them but they used to have a blister pack with like 20 arrow slits of all different types.

This was back in the day when GW didn't have a kit for everything and had articles on how to make your own terrain.

Not bad at all

The only thing I would have been tempted to do would be continue the brick line round the corners rather than leaving the edges of the wood boards "plain".

Looks good, nice find!

Yup, nice work

Love it!!! I have seen this thing lying around my local michaels.

The stonework looks a little flat atm, perhaps a few patches of green or brown would make it pop a little more?

found a pic

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Windsor_castle_wall_02.JPG


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Forgot to mention, I love the vines!