A few years ago I purchased a roll of authentic Japanese rice paper from Uwajimaya market in Seattle intending to use it on a number of projects but I only recently started using it.

A combination of balsa & basswood is used in the model. I designed it to stand off the floor the same height as a typical electronic flickering tea light. This is a floor lantern in the Japanese style that is 40 scale inches tall at 1½” scale. I used a variety of images on the internet as inspiration/reference material. While I was researching designs I realized how similar the visual styles of Japanese Carpentry are to that of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Hmm..

Here’s a little (literally) project I made a while back. It’s all balsa, colored with markers and detailed with a 0.005mm inking pen.

Click for full-size.

As you can see, before placing the roof & door I placed several pieces of wood inside to make a workspace & various non-descript (but useful-looking) items. It’s hard to catch with a camera all the details that are inside there, but it’s clear someone has been working. It’s very lived-in.

Full-size on click.

I took the time to document some old creative output of mine for days when I don’t have the time or gumption to post something new. A day like today for instance.

I could have worked on something after coming home from a memorial day party, but I got stuck orbiting :

Half and hour past wikipedia

So here is today’s yesterday project; it’s something that you could do yourself with only a pencil & box-cutter and a failure to understand that you could seriously injure yourself:

Click for full-size.

It looks like the meat may have gone bad. A pink or red color pencil would work much better, though I suppose you could paint it. It’s also missing many of the trappings common to the modern weiner. A miniature set of condiments, along with one of those paper boats would round this project out nicely.

I’ve talked myself into it. Maybe I’ll do that sometime in June (nice Hot Dog Weather!)