Time to post a letter?

Just pop out of the gate

George V or VI letter box (I’m not sure) a round-topped one, which I think is meant to be attached to a pole, not just on a pole, but perhaps it was both.  Finally made use of the ‘brickwork’ step added as extra support to the stub of wall by the gate

The post box sits at the other end of the road to the street light

In my head I’m working on a little something to fit in along the length of the walling – bits already ordered online –  but it won’t be for the next few days or so – didn’t finish the chores 😦

Once I’d done some research, the making of the box involved a lot of dashing in and out between the domestic jobs I was supposed to be doing, and around the glue and paint drying out at the various stages.  Made with cardboard and edgings in 15 mm wood strip plus painted string for the finer bits.  Worst part was working on what I’ve always taken to be a rain cover over the posting slot.  It is so small I could barely hold it to score and crease it and then, when the area was glued to take it, I couldn’t let go.  Thought I was going to lose it down the posting slot 🙂

There we go

More than a little rough and ready
but up and working

Got a couple of hours today to continue with the light. Looking a better shape at least

In need of a hat – cold weather coming on, you know. Squaring up the top pieces ready to glue on

Hatted and in need of paintwork. Gives a nice shadow, though

Painted and lit

All asleep in Nostalgia Close

Not very bright, is it, and despite a little yellow colouring it’s still a very blue light – hey hum.  I have, by the way, now sealed off that light bleed around the bobble on the top.  Looks a bit like a white pom-pom on a woolly hat.

Now what?

His Master’s Lamp Post?

Dog, lamp base and house

One or two other things to join with Nipper as part of the street scene I think.

Back to the lamp

The design seems OK but the finish is pretty bad; mostly bits of modelling clay, used at various joining points, that I couldn’t quite remove, the old sticky fingers plus bad moves with a paint brush and, of course, over handling.  The lamp could be replaced by a ‘better’ run at it, but for the moment at least it stays 🙂

Digging up the pavement

Nothing too drastic that can’t be rectified if/when the whole street lamp idea is jettisoned.

What happened to the sorting and cleaning exercise?  On hold as there is non-mini sorting going on around here and some of it has magically taken up temporary residence in the Potting Shed, so no point in working on the workspace at the moment.  Though I’m still coming across small hoards of bits of wood strip wherever I look.  (Aaagh, followed by noise of trays and boxes of wooden scraps crashing against wall.)

In the collection of odd mini-ing moments this week I’ve once more succumbed to the lure of that street lighting.

The ‘recipe’ so far

First I went with a very chunky drinking straw, but as S said, it looked for all the world like a tram or trolley bus post for holding up the overhead cables.

I did want something sturdy-looking for the bottom half, so used a needle case, ignoring the lid and drilling a hole in the base to take an average drinking straw

Added the straw, three coconut beads and an LED light sold for mini display cabinets

Once assembled and painted up a little, I got this:

Two coconut beads on the needle case at the bottom and one closer to the top

Drinking straw threaded through the needle case and held by a bead made from modelling clay

The base is several layers of balsa/foamboard and the small cross-bar does not go through the straw but two small pieces are held by more modelling clay.

The whole arrangement is more or less held in place by:

The battery, or at least half of its depth

slotted into a docking station on the edge of the pavement

The other half of the battery slots into the built up base below the needle case, leaving a gap on the side for the on/off switch

Not sure how firm it will be and it certainly will not withstand a flying elbow attack, but it stands upright and hasn’t so far threatened to topple over.  The notch in the docking area and on one side of the lamp base match up for the switch.

Then

I had a go at the lantern bit, feeling my way as it went along and came up with an ‘orrid ‘appening!

I took measurements of all the similar lights I’ve got, and scaled them up and cut sides out in mountboard

and ended up with a crow’s nest, of all things. Ship ahoy, Captain. That got pulled off sharpish!

And I’ve started that top bit again.

The LED light

I measured the length of the wiring plus bulb when deciding on the height of the lamp and have tested that it still fits in place at one or two points along the way.  Now it sticks out further than anticipated – big oops as I can’t shorten it.  Thought at first the straw had slipped after all but not so.  Considered if the wiring could have stretched a little but measured it against the other one I’ve got and, no, they are about the same.

Possible solution; a bead

Now in place and very badly painted, matching the rest.

I’ve replaced one of the cross-bars since the last one encountered that previously mentioned flying elbow.

New lantern

Used mountboard again and, hopefully, better dimensions.

Paper strips as hinges

Bent to 90° giving a gap

into which is glued a very thin piece of wood

I’ve also started on the lantern ‘hat’, using bits of cocktail stick for the infill on the outer edges

The meeting of two halves

It’s a bit of a juggling act when it comes to putting together the two prepared pairings of the lantern to make up the four-some and very sticky-making too.  The first time round (see crow’s nest) I used wood pieces inside and out for the body of the lantern and under and on the inside surface of the platform that forms the lantern base.  This time round the smaller platform will be supported by the painted bead, so how much room will still be available underneath is hard to judge.  Will use modelling clay if support is needed there, I think.

Will let you know how it goes when it looks as if it’s going somewhere 🙂

 

 

Report from under the trash pile

Still digging in the hoard while playing around, though trying hard to avoid the distractions of things rediscovered in darkened corners.

However, a pigeon arrived and, of course, it had to have a home.  I mean, it might have got lost in all the flurry of paper, cardboard and long-stored finery, mightn’t it?

Apparently reception from up there is pretty good

It was a bit of a roping up job to house her as I’ve parked the house tight into the corner. As you can see the TV aerial is now one of the farthest points to reach.

I’ve worked through most of the tall shelves of the bookcase on the left, leaving the modelling clays and ‘gardening’ items alone for the moment.  Also had a bit of a rationalisation of its partner shelving (out of the pic) giving a little more book room but it needs a really good sort of the mostly 70s/80s items of furniture I’ve bought and not used.

At ground level under the work bench on the right I’ve been through everything up to and including halfway down its eight foot length, where the lighting set of drawers have been left alone.  Too difficult to know what to keep there.  Also done about the same amount of clearing up on the surface of the bench itself.

Which brings me round to an area of wall above the other half of the work bench.  There’s a set of shallow shelves, originally built to house our daughter’s books and toys when she was very young.  It now houses hammers, knives, chisels, bradawls – you get the picture – but also has containers of ends of wood left over from when I first started doing this thing ten, eleven years ago.  And that is going to take oh, so very long and today is probably the day, now that there’s a couple of table surfaces free and some actual floor space to walk on.

Then there’ll be the fabrics and off-cuts of cardboard and mountboard that are too small to bag.

Time to dive in once more – anyone notice where I put that dust mask?