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Adam Dews’ Château Conversion

by Staff Account
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Adam Dews’ finished Château conversion with textured walls, tiled roof and rooftop sandbags

Adam Dews (@F4freddieterrafirma) added printed interiors, textured walls and a rooftop position to our Château. He used an earlier version of the kit and sent us his notes on the changes.

The finished Château, with its casino sign and added rooftop detail.
The finished Château, with its casino sign and added rooftop detail.

Adam’s building notes

Adam: So, recently Sarissa updated their World War Europe range with grey-board roof tiles to give us a much better realistic roof effect. When I had the idea for this build I had already built the new version in another project. This kit was the pre-grey board roof and tiles which I figured was a good excuse to add my own detail.

Following the included instructions, I built the ground floor, upper floor and roof sections.

I used the tried and tested method of applying dots of superglue to hold the parts together and once dried I used a white glue called modge podge, to add strength by applying this to both sides of all the joints.

Coffee-stirrer boards added across the upper dormer window.
Coffee-stirrer boards added across the upper dormer window.

Early in the build I decided to block the upper dormer windows which was done using coffee stirrer sticks.

Printed interiors and the wall finish

The whole building was then sprayed with a white base coat, the window frames, door frames and shutters were fixed to masking tape (Mainly to stop them blowing away but also so no paint got onto the back surface that would be glued later) and sprayed separately.

The building had 2 coats of white just to ensure a good coating then, once the base coat was dry, I started papering the floors, walls and roof using printed paper (I used my own inkjet printer and a selection of patterns I found - Sarissa also have an selection in their Paper Resource collection).

Printed paper gives the ground floor its black-and-white tiled pattern.
Printed paper gives the ground floor its black-and-white tiled pattern.
Wood-patterned flooring and wallpaper inside the upper floor.
Wood-patterned flooring and wallpaper inside the upper floor.

On the upper floor section, I initially left the wallpaper covering the window opening to prevent the texture paint being over sprayed and getting onto the wallpaper inside.

I think the texture paint really gives a good spackle effect finish, I generally build the effect up over 2 coats allowing drying in-between. Once dry I used a fine file to pierce the paper covering the windows and simply file/cut the paper neatly away from the frames.

The grey lower brick courses beneath the entrance and balcony.
The grey lower brick courses beneath the entrance and balcony.

The ground floor was masked, and a grey spray was used on the lower two brick courses.

The roof was also coated in modge podge to seal the paper tile effect I used. I find the Modge Podge dries with a matt finish giving me a better finish than normal PVA white glue gives.

The textured wall finish, with shutters and window frames fitted.
The textured wall finish, with shutters and window frames fitted.

Stone effect spray for a spackled concrete effect with shutters added after it dries

The rooftop and separate base

Finally, the frames and shutters were glued on, additional supporting timbers and the sign board were made from balsa and spare mdf piece from the frame the kit came with. Sandbags (simple putty) were added, making sure I could fit in an MG team base, then the finishing touch of the “Casino De Ouisterham” sign.

Sandbags and a gun team on the added rooftop position.
Sandbags and a gun team on the added rooftop position.

The base was made from polystyrene, sand, grass flock etc but I've kept the building separate from the base, allowing it to be used on its own as well.

The building lifts clear of its scenic base.
The building lifts clear of its scenic base.

More of Adam’s work

Adam’s other projects include a Café René wagon, First World War aircraft and a ruined World War Europe house. His award image is shown below; you can read about the Master Maker awards too.

A separate Adam Dews project: the Café René wagon.
A separate Adam Dews project: the Café René wagon.
Adam’s First World War aircraft models, shown here as separate projects.
Adam’s First World War aircraft models, shown here as separate projects.
Adam’s ruined World War Europe house, featured in his Master Maker award image.
Adam’s ruined World War Europe house, featured in his Master Maker award image.

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