LAND'S END, My HBS cottage kit, lives right by the Atlantic ocean. And although I haven't done ANYTHING further inside my doll's house for several weeks, I'd been mulling over a way to make exterior Marine lights for my cottage by the sea. I was inspired to make some after viewing Marion's mini marine lights (marionswiss. blogspot.com) as well as Brae's Walnut Bay marine lights (otterine blogspot.com) both excellent and very innovative solutions. Meanwhile at the end of the summer, my sister told me about a plant sale where she and her friend Super Dave had discovered some great end of season deals so I joined them for a lovely day of plant shopping and it was whilst I was at the Garden Center, that I found the solution to my mini Marine Lights dilemma. |
There were 4 guards in the package. Each guard has a hinged back which folded back and snapped together and are approximately 3/4 inch in diameter. |
The shape was perfect! |
So the first thing I did was that I spray-painted them with matt black BBQ spray paint. |
Next came the installation of the lights. I already had some 12 volt bulbs which I had purchased from a Model Train and Hobby Store. I have used a "Grain of Wheat"size bulb for this lamp. |
The bulb was inserted in through the back and held in position while the silicon glue was squeezed into the hole behind it. I had to check the bulb was not too far forward which meant closing the top, and adjusting the bulb as the glue set, ensuring that the bulb didn't touch the interior of the cage. |
This is the lamp once the bulb was in and the silicone glue had set. |
And this is what the finished lamp looks like, and I made 2 using this method. |
I made a third Marine light and tried cutting a metal pie tin for the reflector insert, it worked out to be a little cleaner. Then I touched up the flaking black paint with black nail polish to tidy everything up again. |
It just so happens that after rummaging around in my piles of mini junk, I was able to find ONE clear plastic bubble which I used for a clear glass lens. This lens is not glued in but can be removed, (not that I would be taking it out). The clear glass allowed me to actually see the bulb. |
I secured the light bulb in the same way as I did the first, then hooked the light to the transformer to see what it looked like. |
Here is the illuminated clear lens above and ...
|