Stained Glass Lighthouse 3D

Instructions for the lighthouse.

Dear friends, our new 3D pattern suncatcher is ready! And by tradition, we write instructions for its production.

1. PREPARING THE PATTERN AND CUTTING PARTS

   This pattern is different from our previous 3D patterns. Although it looks simpler, it turned out to be more difficult to make it than houses. This is because the lighthouse has a hexagon shape, and each face must be cut out as accurately as possible according to the pattern; otherwise, the lighthouse will not be able to be assembled in the end.

   We first cut all the parts and put them in vertical lines, planning to build the lighthouse in this way. But looking ahead, I will say that it is still more convenient to collect it separately.
   We leveled it with two glasses.
   For the windows, we used yellow cabochons – they were perfect for this. Cabochons look convex, which makes our lighthouse unusual and original. And thanks to the fact that the cabochons are made of transparent glass, they look just wonderful with illumination!
   After cutting all the parts, we proceed to the next stage.

   we wrap the glass with a ribbon of copper foil

   The second step is to cover all the cut parts with foil. It is important to carefully glue it so that the bends are the same on both sides. This will make the seams smooth and neat.

   After we have covered all the parts with foil, we try them on again to make sure that we have made them as accurately as possible.

    

2.  Assembling The Lighthouse

   The most difficult stage is the beginning of the build process. We haven’t had any experience soldering hexagons yet, and it’s important to do this at the right angle so that all sides eventually fit together. So, first, we assembled all the parts vertically – this was the easiest way because they were still flat sides of the lighthouse so far.

   And when these parties were ready, they began to collect them into a single “box.” That’s where I had to adjust the parts to each other, try on and try to put them together again.
      It was quite difficult to connect the parts at the right angle to each other, so it is important to think about this moment in advance. A hexagon printout will help you. Place the two finished sides of the beacon on the hexagon pattern to catch the desired angle.
   After the “box” was soldered, we separately began to solder the details of the turret and roof. And to make an observation deck, we drew a separate diagram with the existing tower. After that, we cut out the parts for the observation deck according to the drawn scheme, prepared them, and soldered them.
   important! At the initial stage, we did not completely solder all the parts but only pinned them to each other to see if everything was done correctly.
   The next step was to assemble the roof. This time, because it is multi-faceted, we did not grind off its angles at 45 degrees-it was easily assembled as it was. It was only important to assemble it to fall into place easily.
    

   After that, we try on all the details to each other, see if everything matches and becomes as it should be.

   If all is well, we solder them together completely and collect all the floors of our lighthouse.
   I want to note that we did not think through the moment with the windows in the tower, but now, looking at the finished lighthouse, I would make one more detail out of transparent yellow glass so that the lighthouse tower has windows through which light passes. And it is possible to make all the lighthouse windows from transparent glass.
    

3. The final stage.

   In the final stage, we begin to make beauty-solder the fence to the observation deck of our lighthouse. Our master bent it out of wire. It is quite easy to do this, and the lighthouse immediately looks much more interesting!

   We also checked the strength of the solderings and leveled all the seams inside and outside of our lighthouse.

   This is how our lighthouse looks at the final stage:

   Now we proceed to the last stage – we wash and patinate our lighthouse.

   As a result, we got a lighthouse-like this: