This posting is a departure from the usual parade of plastic ship model kits subjects. My wife, Rhonda, wondered if her plastic canvas light house would be an acceptable topic for the Finescale Forum. So, if you folks would be so kind to indulge her wishes, here is her project. It may not be about ships, but it does have a marine flavor.
Plastic canvas is a medium where yarn and embroidery floss is woven into a grid like mesh which is then shaped into a desired object. She created her light house from a pattern designed by Marianne Telesca. This project will be presented as a birthday gift to her uncle Bob, a sports fisherman residing in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
In the center of the light house is inserted a clock powered by an "N" battery. In the beacon chamber, an electronic beacon is mounted to ramp up a burst of light, which dies off like a rotating beam of light. This beacon was purchased from Micro-Mark, the small tool specialist of Berkeley Heights, N.J. The wiring is connected to a transformer that leads to a plug-in light outlet. In the row boat, I carved two figures of fishermen ready to depart for a day's fishing expedition. An outboard motor is in place ready for action. The carved sea gulls are out of scale, more to the size of pterosaurian flying reptiles as seen in the movie "Jurassic Park", but it does add interest to the diorama.
The artificial water around the base of the light house is an idea from an article "Doin' the Wave" in the November 2004 issue of FineScale Modeler, by Patrick Roach. The "water" is created by tearing out a section of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil, lightly crumple the foil to simulate waves and swells, then contact cement the ruffled foil to a round base. When the foil is cemented in place, different shades of acrylic blue, green and light blue paint is painted on to simulate moving water. Wave tops are brushed with varing shades of white.
Let's have some applause for Rhonda, as she put in a labor of love for this project. Even though the subject matter is way out of line for what is normally posted on this site, she would be delighted for your accolades.
Montani semper liberi ! Happy modeling to all and every one of you.
Crackers