How to make a foam pirate lantern

So I have wanted to make a pirate-style lantern for quite some time.  I wanted it to be able to light up and look like wrought iron. It also had to be light (pun intended.) I wanted it to be opaque instead of transparent, and I also wanted the light to be tinted yellow. It ended up looking like this.

I started off drawing some rough ideas and estimates for the glass panels.

I measured out the dimensions on a scrap piece of plywood.

And cut it out. This was my template for the panels.

I had some plexiglass from those cheap frames with the slide on edges. The plexiglass is about 1/16th of an inch thick. (In other words very very very thin.)

I cut out 6 panels for the top and 6 for the bottom out of some out of the cheap plexiglass.

Because I wanted them to be opaque and not transparent, I sanded them with about 220 grit sandpaper. The one on the left has just one side sanded, and the one on the right had both sides sanded.

I sanded all 12 pieces front and back.

Then I taped the top edges together to give it the curve.




Once I taped the final edges together I realized this lamp was going to be HUGE! It was going to be way bigger than what I wanted.  I should have known based on the measurements, but it didn't dawn on me until I put them together.

So I redesigned and cut out a new template.

From the parts I already had sanded, I cut out the smaller shapes. After taping the six sides together I found out it wouldn't curve. So I had to eliminate one side. My lantern was now going to be a 5 sided lantern instead of 6 sides.

After taping these together, this was more the size I wanted.

I did the same for the 5 bottom sides and it looked like this.




I hot glued the sides together. (Tip: Don't use a high temp glue gun. It will melt the plexiglass.)

After the glue cooled I took off the tape. It was surprisingly sturdy.

I cut a pentagon for the bottom out of the scrap plywood paneling.
I also had to learn that if you want to cut a solid pentagon the angle is 18 degrees. I looked all over the internet for this answer, but I couldn't find it.

I hot glued this to the bottom as well. It was slightly bigger than the plexiglass pieces. (Not on purpose but it will be covered so it isn't a big deal.



I spray painted the insides with yellow paint.
This is acrylic paint and this particular one smells like bananas.


Then I took some fun foam that is about 5mm thick and cut it into 1/2 inch strips.



I cut the pieces at a 45-degree angle and then hot glued the angle edges together to make a corner.

I hot glued the corners to the edges of the plexiglass.

I cut some notched pieces for the bottom edges.

I cut an glued a pentagon on the bottom.

It turned out pretty well.

I cut two more pentagons out of plywood, (18-degree angles) Then I cut a slice off of a 3-inch PVC pipe. I attached the two with a piece of scrap copper. 

I distressed the pvc piece (but forgot to take pictures of it.) Then spraypainted it hammered black.

I found a small lantern on clearance and took the bottom off.

I screwed the bottom to the plywood top. So now the lantern will be upside down.

I cut some more pieces, made corners, and had them hang off the edge of the top.

I hot glued the top to the lantern.

I glued down one side to act as a hinge.

I needed a way for it to stay closed so I tried using some small magnets.  These didn't work because they were too strong.

I ended up using adhesive magnet strips on both the glass and the lid.  I did this on two sides.  It finally ended up working the way I wanted.

I painted over all of the black edges with the brushed metal acrylic paint. This made the hot glue that was showing look like weld marks.

I am pretty happy with the results.