Greetings to all…
It’s a new month…and what better way to start than with a new project…an illuminated miniature fireplace and a series of interchangeable houses…
Lynn will be designing and posting patterns for the houses…each sits on a 2” x 2” square base with a strategically placed light hole that aligns with holes in the top of the mantel…I’ll concentrate on the fireplace and the simple illumination system…
You’re invited to build along with us…please post pictures of your version of the fireplace and the houses here on the forum…we look forward to seeing your personal touches…
FIREPLACE PARTS…Main body…folded cardboard…3” x 3” opening…¼” x ¼” wood strips…ignore gray reinforcing paper strips…
Base…laminated corrugated cardboard…¾” thick …¼” x ¼” wood strips…6 1/8” x 1 1/8” hole for light box…
Mantel…laminated corrugated cardboard…½” thick…three ½” diameter light holes…¼” x ¼” wood strips…
Light box…folded cardboard…6” x 5 ½” x 1”…¼” x ¼” wood strips…white poster board reflector on inside…clear acetate cover held on with tape…
LED lights…string of 20…AA battery powered…mine were from Wal-Mart…similar items are available at other stores and on-line…
Graphics for bricks, wood and flames…I used ones I found via a Google search…
Paul also has several brick and stone patterns available…go here…
https://bigindoortrains.com/indoor_resources/resources.htmThen scroll down to “Building Textures“, “Tinplate Textures“, “Christmas Building Textures” and “Halloween and Fall Textures”…
Andirons…cardboard…toothpick mounting pins on backside that glue into small holes in base…
FIREPLACE NOTES…After covering with printed brick and wood graphics, the base, body and mantle are glued together to make one piece…
The flame graphic is glued to the inside of the 3” x 3” fireplace opening…
LIGHT BOX NOTES…Three LEDs are glued in the small holes in the top edge of the light box…this directs the light through the holes in the mantel and into the holes in the base of each house…the remaining LEDs are randomly arranged in the light box…
I did add a double layer of yellow tissue paper between the LEDs and the clear acetate cover to “warm up” the color of the “bluish white light” emitted by the LEDs…
“Orange“, “red”, “yellow” or “warm white” LEDs might work better and make the fireplace flames “glow” even more…a “flickering” LED light setup might really bring the flames to life…I may look into that at a later time…
The light box slips in the opening in the fireplace base…it is not glued in…the battery box wire is fed thru the hole in the back of the light box and sits in a shallow relief slot in the bottom of the fireplace base…
More fireplace photos plus house patterns and photos will follow…stay tuned…