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.

Just wanted to let you in on a little secret project of mine. I started by combining a few of the best photographs of the It’s a Small World ride facade in paint.net (Windows only), manipulating the images until vertical & horizontal lines were (moire or less) straight. In new layers above the composite image, I drew line-art of the major features of the ride building’s design.

It's a Small World project progress photo, at the top-left you can see my inspiration file. I hope to somehow digitize it to allow you to peruse what fascinates me.

My intention is to cut basswood or balsa to match the individual geometric design elements, then position/arrange & glue them in place to make a faux-3D IASW which I will place in a 20″ x 9″, 1″ deep shadowbox. If it goes easily enough, I’ll probably make a few more to sell on Etsy. I’m still having trouble deciding against taking the time, using thicker basswood planks & carving the elements in relief.

In the most recent Tales From the Laughing Place, there is a feature article on the creation of It’s a Small World for Disney Hong Kong, there is an image of a simplified (and somewhat larger) IASW model. It’s flat, cut to profile & painted like the ride building. It looks like a great re-Make: as a gift for a young child’s.