This tutorial will hopefully help you to turn a basic camping lamp into a gorgeous vintage looking Steampunk style lantern, like the one above.
For this process you will need:
A camp lamp like the one above
Medium grain sandpaper
A dry cloth
A soldering iron
A well ventilated room to work in
Some antique gold Rub n Buff (£6 from Amazon)
About a metre of gold wire, about 0.5mm thick
Wire cutters
Wire bending pliers
Step 1.
Take the sandpaper to the lamp and sand away all the paint and shine, then wipe off the residue with the dry cloth.
Step 2.
Use your soldering iron to create the effect of rivets and metal plates. Make sure you go through the plastic on the rim of the lantern BUT NO WHERE ELSE. Make sure you are in a well ventilated room as this process produces quite a lot of chemical smoke.
Step 3.
Then grab your Rub n Buff. Smooth A VERY SMALL AMOUNT on your finger. Start rubbing it in small circular motions on the part of the lantern you want the colour to be the strongest. Then work the colour out from the centre to the edge, blending it with the black to give this great shadowed effect. I recommend practicing on something first just to get use to how the cream works and moves. Applying it lightly to the clear glass gives it a dirty effect, especially if you have sanded scratches onto the clear plastic like I did. I recommend starting in the centre of one of the metal panels you have made with your lines and dots, and then blend out the cream to the edges, to the rivets and lines.
Step 4.
Get your gold wire, and wind it around the part where the clear plastic meets the base section of the lamp. Wrap it around about 4 to 5 times, then cut the wire and wind the end and beginning of the wire together to make it secure. Then cut 4 pieces of wire the same size, long enough to reach from the wire you have just wrapped around the lamp to the rim of the lamp, then add 2 inches to that measurement (the extra inch either end of the wire is for wrap around). Loop the wire through one of the holes in the lamp rim and use the extra inch to push underneath the rim of the lantern. Then take the wire to the section of wire wrapped around the base of the clear plastic, and loop it around one of the wrapped wires, and use the excess to twist and secure. Finally, to stretch the wire and make it lie against the lamp, use your finger and push the wire right up into the underneath of the lamp rim. Repeat this process at the 3 other compass points of the lamp, ensuring the spacing is equal between each wire.
And then you are done! Just remember to keep checking the lantern works throughout this process.
Good luck!
Love Gothianna xxx
