Breaker Rock Beach Lighthouse

This lighthouse was built for our church's 2024 VBS program called Breaker Rock Beach. My wife wanted a lighthouse to help decorate the Fellowship Hall. The look of the lighthouse was inspired by the 'Bodie Island Lighthouse' on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie_Island_Lighthouse), a place that we had vacationed at many times. While not an exact replica, we feel the finished project captures the feel of Bodie.

I designed and built the project using mostly stuff I already had around the house. Since the lighthouse has to be portable, it is designed to be taken apart, transported and then assembled back together.

Building Supplies

• Cardboard concrete form - 8-inch diameter, 4-foot length
• 2 x 2 1/2-inch plywood
• Foam-core board
• Thick cardboard (like cereal box)
• Corrugated cardboard
• Card stock
• Poster board
• 1/4-inch square polystyrene tubing
• Black spray paint
• Gray craft paint
• Black craft paint
• White latex house paint 
• 3d printer filament (black, white and silver)
• Doll house windows (2)
• Foam ground cover
• Model Railroad ballast rock
• 1/8-inch dowels
• Elastic string
• Clear plastic food container (or equivalent)

If adding lights and/or power

• Arduino Nano
• Bench power supply
• Bullet terminal connectors
• Small breadboard
• 5mm Red LED
• 10mm RGB LEDs (2)
• 'Kojak' rotating lamp
• Breadboard jumper wires
• 22g solid core wire
• 18g stranded wire

Tools/Materials

• Philips head screwdriver
• Crescent wrench
• Goo Gone
• Straight edge
• Hobby knife
• Utility knife
• Fabri-Tac glue
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• 5-minute epoxy
• Clear canopy glue
• Wax paper
• Painters tape
• Modeler's tape
• Cheap hair spray
• Hobby clamps

One of the most prominent parts of any lighthouse is the rotating lamp at the top of tower. To recreate this in our lighthouse, I decided to use my old "Kojak" teardrop light that I have had since my days running rescue in the 1980s (the red globe was removed). This lamp normally operates at 12-volts and typically plugs into the power socket in your vehicle. To power the lamp in the lighthouse, I decided to use my small bench power supply. This allows me to control how much power goes to the lamp and I can slow it down to a more realistic rotation speed. 

The size of the power supply dictates the size of the entry house to the lighthouse. The entry house covers the power supply. The base of the tube was cut large enough for the power supply to easily slide inside. A small 1-inch hole is drilled out on the backside to allow for the power cord. With the power supply in place I am able to determine the dimensions for the entry house. 

Now that the rough dimensions of the base of the lighthouse known, I am able to determine the approximate center of the house on the 2x2 plywood base. This is marked on the base. 

With the opening cut for the power supply and the center located, it is time to make the mounts that hold the lighthouse in place. The inside of the tube is measured and four hold-down brackets are 3D printed (see attached STL files). Two screws attach each bracket to the tube (use whatever size you happen to have handy). 

To locate the position of the countersunk screws that hold the brackets and tube assembly to the base, a template is created. The template is the the same size as the outside diameter of the tube, with the four vertical mounting holes punched out. This is transferred to the base and the four holes are drilled out. On the underside of the base, these are countersunk to provide a flush fit. 

With this completed and the tube bolted to the base you can begin working on the tube in a more stable configuration.

The next step is to create the 'glass' light housing. For this I found a pretzel container that is the 'right' size for our lamp. The top of the container has several ridged areas and these are cut off to give us a smooth globe. Use painters tape as a guide when cutting the plastic. Use a new, sharp knife blade to get a clean cut and to prevent the plastic from cracking. Don't use a pair of scissors! To get the stickers off, we use 'Goo Gone' and let it soak in until the stickers lift off the plastic.

One of the problems I ran into is our 'Kojak' light is not circular but teardrop shaped. To accommodate the tail section, cut out a small section of the rear of the plastic globe. This allows it to fit over the lamp base.

With the globe in place, it is time to fit it to the top of the tube. Several templates are cut out of cardboard to determine what size looks right. One template is used for the base of the lamp, while the second template is for the roof of the lighthouse.

We purchased a couple of doll house windows for the front of the lighthouse. These were taped to the front of the tube in their approximate position, again to see what 'looks' right (and with a little imagination it was starting to look like a lighthouse).

To create the lighthouse roof, the roof template is used to cut out two circles from foam-core. One circle is cut with a large opening for the top of the globe. This helps cover the rounded top edge of the clear globe. The two circles are glued together using Fabri-Tac adhesive. I have found that this adhesive works great on paper products without causing bubbling or creasing. A number of clamps are used to secure the rings together. Let this dry completely. Once it is dry, sand the edges of the rings smooth.

The roof the lighthouse is made from poster board. A round circle is cut to a larger diameter than the rings. Mark the center of the circle, then cut a straight line from the center to the edge. Now tuck one edge under the other, creating a slight angle to the roof. Adjust the angle of the roof according to your taste. Flip the roof over and draw a line on the underside of the roof where the overlapping inner edge stops. Apply glue to this area between the cut edge and the line. Overlap the roof, smooth the edges down and clamp in place until dry.

I wanted to add a red 'navigation beacon' light to the top, so I cut a small hole at the top to accommodate a 5mm red LED. You can decide if you want to add this, as it is not required. Another option is to add a small ball or other ornamentation at the top. Do a search for pictures of lighthouses to get ideas on how to decorate your lighthouse. There are many ideas to choose from that will make your lighthouse unique.

I wanted to make the roof look like a metal roof. To accomplish this I cut out a series of small cardboard strips about 1/8-inch wide. This cardboard is about the thickness of a cereal box. The first strip was placed along the overlapping glue edge on the roof. This helps hide that seam. The next strip was glue directly across from the first strip. The next two strips at right angles, which divides the roof in quarters. The last four strips are place in the middle of each quadrant. Glue these in place and set aside to dry. I like the look of the eight strips, however, feel free to add more if you want. Once the entire assembly is dry, sand it round using 220 grit sandpaper. This will get the ends of the strips even with the edge of the roof.

Glue the ring assembly to the poster board roof. Make sure it is centered inside the roof. If adding a working navigation lamp, make a hole in the center of the ring assembly to allow the wires to pass through. The assembly can now be painted and I used a satin black finish. After the paint dries on the roof assembly, set it aside and do not glue the roof assembly to clear globe at this time.

Next on the list is to build the base for the lamp. Using the lamp base cardboard template from earlier, cut out the base from foam-core. Since I was using the Kojak lamp, I need to cut out an opening to allow the base of the lamp to lay flat against the foam-core. The Kojak lamp has magnets and the opening allows the magnets on the base of the lamp to drop down out of sight (if you are using a different lamp, the type of opening you use will probably be different. You may not need an opening at all). You want to the rotating beacon to be centered on the base, so adjust your measurements accordingly. 

To keep the entire base from moving on the tube begin by placing the foam-core base on the tube and centering it. Marked the inside of the tube on the foam-core base. Print out three additional base brackets. Use 5 minute epoxy to secure the brackets to the base of the foam-core using the marking as a guide. Stay slightly inside the mark, as this will provide a good fit but also provides a slight amount of play to move the base around as needed.

Next is creating the railing around the base. I decided to create 3 sets of rails; one near the bottom and two near the top. Decide how many rails you want on your lighthouse.

The support posts are 1/8-inch wood dowels. These are spaced equally around the base. I use a finger drill to create the holes for the posts. The dowels are glued in place and left to dry overnight. Once dry, mark each dowel for the height of the railing.

To create the railings I use black elastic string. Start at the rear of the lamp base and at the bottom, tie one end of the string to a support post. Apply slight tension to the string, align the string with the measured mark on the dowel, and hit each attachment point with a small dab of superglue followed by a spray accelerant. This allows you to secure the string to about 4-5 posts at a time. When you get to the end, tie off the string and secure with superglue.

With the assembly of the lamp base completed, this can be painted. Once again, I used a black satin spray paint.

Next create the entry house for the base of the lighthouse tube. The dimensions of the house are based on the power supply you are using. The size and style of your house can be completely different, based on what you are using for a power supply and the style of house you want to create.

The dimensions of the house are laid out on foam-core and then cut out. Use a sharp knife when cutting these pieces and keep the blade perpendicular to the foam-core. This house only needed a front and two sides - it is a very simple house. The three pieces are glued together using a hot glue gun. 

Two pieces of foam-core are cut to make the roof. Use the round mounting template from Step 2 to provide an approximate size of the round end of the roof where the Entry House meets the tube. This will likely take several tries to get a good fit. Take your time and slowly remove material with each test fit.

With the basic components in place, determine the location for the windows. I use two windows to match the Bodie lighthouse style. You can use more or less, a different style of window, or decide not to add windows at all.

If you are adding windows, mark their location on the tube. I found it beneficial to mark a center-line down the tube that aligns the center of the roof of the Entry House with the center of the windows. Mark the outline of the window.

With everything marked, remove the different sub-assemblies from the tube, and then remove the tube from the base. Lay the tube down and using a sharp knife cut the openings for the windows. Take your time as the tube is thick. It will take several passes to get all the way through the thick cardboard. Once you have the window openings cut out, check the fit and adjust as needed. Once you have a good fit, remove the windows from the tube.

The tube was painted with satin white latex house paint. Start painting at the top and paint around the tube, not up and down. Then work down the tube. It took two coats to get a nice finish on the tube, as the first coat will get soaked into the cardboard. Once dry you may find that the finish is a bit rough. I didn't sand anything down and this seemed to make the exterior just a bit more realistic. Do not paint the area where the screws go into the hold down brackets. Keep this area and the screws clear of paint.

While the painted parts are drying, we can return to working on our entry house. For the door I downloaded one from Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2579829 and STL file attached) and printed it using black filament. Depending on the size of your Entry House, you may need to scale the door to fit your project. Once printed I use a pin head to simulate a brass doorknob. If you don't want to print one, you can create one from foam-core or other materials. Another option is to purchase a doll house door

The steps leading up to the door are 3D printed using silver filament (see attached STL file). Other material options are the use of foam-core, wood or even cardstock.

Once the steps are complete. the door opening is cut out with the bottom of the opening level with the top of the steps. Use a sharp blade to cut the opening, staying perpendicular to the foam-core. Do not attach the door or the steps at this time.

The house needs to be secured to the lighthouse tube but must also be removable to allow access to the power supply. To accomplish this I decided to use magnetic strips and 1/4-inch square polystyrene tubing.

Once the lighthouse tube paint is dry, attach the magnetic strips on each side of the power supply opening at the base of the tube. Next, lay the lighthouse tube flat, with the power supply opening facing up. Cut four sections of the square plastic tubing that will be glued inside the house. Place magnetic strips on one side on each of the 4 pieces of tubing. Set the Entry House on top of the lighthouse tube. The magnetic strips should be visible inside the Entry House. Place the plastic tubes in place over the lighthouse tube magnets. The magnets should line up and the plastic tubing should touch the inside of the Entry House walls. With everything aligned, use hot glue to secure the plastic tubes in place. Do not get any glue on the lighthouse tube.

With the entry house being a square and the lighthouse tube being round, the plastic tubing will not sit flat against the Entry House walls. This is to be expected. Once the glue holding the plastic tubing has hardened, remove the entry house and fill the gaps between the Entry House walls and the plastic tubing with hot glue.

The 'stone base' at the foot of the lighthouse is used to cover the attachment screws on the brackets inside the tube. The octagon base is cut out of foam-core. To create the octagon shape we are not going to use any crazy math formulas but simply use a easy to create template!

Start with a square piece of foam-core somewhat bigger than the outside diameter of the lighthouse tube (mine is about an inch wider). Draw an X from corner to corner. Next draw a circle equal to the outside diameter of the lighthouse tube, centered on the foam-core square. Take a scrap piece of foam-core (or other straight edge) and measure from the corner to the center of the square. Cut your scrap piece of foam-core to that length, giving you a marking distance template. 

Place the marking distance template on one corner of the square, running it along the edge. Make a mark where the template ends. Now do the same thing along the adjacent edge. Repeat this in each corner. When done you should have eight marks on your square. Draw a line to connect each pair of marks. Cut the corners off the square, and you will be left with an octagon. For a better understanding of how to do this, see the WOOD magazine video "How To Lay Out an Octagon - No-Math Geometry" at https://youtu.be/2O5YkVH2mWE.

To complete the form cut out the center circle. Place it over the tube until you get a smooth fit. It should not be tight, as it will need to move up and down the base of the tube during final assembly. When everything fits as expected, use this form as a template to create a second octagon. This will become the top form of the stone base.

To create the walls of the base, first determine how tall you want your wall to be. Mine is about 2.5-inches, as determined by the "stone wall" material I had left over from our Christmas Village display. You can use paper with stone or brick print, or just leave the foam-core plain. The choice is yours to make this your lighthouse.

Assemble the walls by starting on one side of the octagon. Cut a piece of foam core to match the length and height of the wall. The wall should be slightly inset from the outside of the octagon base (mine is inset about 1/4-inch). Once it is cut, sand the vertical edges at an angle to allow the wall pieces to fit snugly together. Label each wall so that you know where it will go on the octagon (they are not all the same!). Using a pencil I marked mine with letters on the wall and the ring. Do this for seven sides of the octagon (the eight side will be replaced by the entry house). I used hot glue to assemble the wall pieces together and to attach them to the octagon base.

When all of the wall pieces have been glues into place, place the Entry House next to the octagon ring. Mark how much of the ring will need to be removed to allow the Entry House to slide in and fit against the tube. This measurement will vary based on the size of your entry house. Cut out enough of the ring to allow the house to slide into place. Again, depending on the size of your entry house, you may need to cut back the size of the stone wall adjacent to the house.

Once everything fits well, remove the octagon base assembly from the light house tube. The base will now have some additional flex with the one section removed, making removal easier. Set the octagon base on top of the second foam-core octagon ring. Mark on this second ring the area that will need to be removed. Cut this area away. Glue this octagon ring to the top of the wall using hot glue. Place the completed octagon ring back on the lighthouse tube and then slide the entry house into place. Make any necessary adjustments. Cut a hole in the back of the stone wall in line with the hole in the lighthouse tube to allow the electric cord to pass through. Once you have a good fit, remove the octagon base and apply additional glue inside the assembly to secure the walls to the rings.

To continue with the 'stone wall' look of the octagon base, paint the top and bottom base of the octagon. I use gray primer to keep the 'stone' look. Let this dry.

Once the ring is dry, add the stone covering to each wall panel. You will likely find that you have small gaps when the panel coverings meet. To cover up the gaps, take some of the thick cardboard stock that we used earlier and cut it into strips about 1/8 inch wide, adjusting the with to meet your needs. Paint these strips using the same gray primer. Once they are dry, cut the height to fit and glue them in place at each joint using Fabri-Tac.

The windows are put in place with hot glue to secure them to the tube. You will find that there is a gap between the edges of the window frame and light house tube. Originally I used hot glue to fill in this gap. It took a lot of time and a lot of glue. If I were to do it again, I would likely try something else, such a wood putty or other similar fill material. Whatever material you decide to use, in the end you want the edges of the window to look flat and flush with the lighthouse tube.

Its now time to paint the stripes or pattern on your lighthouse. I use the simple straight lines of the Bodie Lighthouse as our guide. However, there are a number of designs and colors available on lighthouses across the United States. The Cape Hatteras lighthouse uses a black 'candy cane' stripe wrapped around the lighthouse. The Cape Fear lighthouse uses diamond markings. Do an image search for lighthouses to get tons of inspiration for how to decorate your lighthouse.

Once you have settled on a design, carefully marked off the location and width of the stripes for the lighthouse. To get sharp crisp lines, I use 3/4-inch wide modelers tape to mask the edges. This tape can be found in hobby shops and some craft stores. Make sure to burnish the edges of the tape to prevent the spray paint from seeping underneath and to get a nice crisp line. To protect the large white painted areas, I use wax paper taped into place. 

A satin black spray paint is used to paint the two stripes. The window frames are also painted as part of the black stripes. If you have window frames that you are painting over, spray these areas first. There are a lot of little corners and it is easier to get to them before the bulk of the stripe has been painted. 

Once the stripes have been painted, carefully remove the tape and wax paper masks. If everything worked out right, you should have some nice stripes on your lighthouse. Let this dry completely (at least overnight) before handling.

While the lighthouse tube is drying, we can work on detailing our entry house. On the bottom of the entry house I have excess brick fascia from our Christmas Village. Like the stone work, you can use printed brick paper or other material of your choice.

Place the brick fascia on the house and marked how far up the wall they go. If you are using a brick (or other fascia) do not paint the area to be covered by the fascia material. This way you will be gluing directly to the foam-core, and not the paint. 

Paint the entry house white using the same paint as used on the lighthouse tube. Do Not paint the area where the fascia material will be glued and Do not paint the roof. By using the same brush as I used on the tube, I was able to get some ridges in the paint. This gives it a more realistic look.

To give the Entry House roof a metal look, use the thick cardboard to cut more strips about 1/8-inch wide. These are then evenly spaced and glued to the roof. To cover the center roof seam and strip seams, cut a piece of cardstock about 3/4-inch wide and slightly longer than the length of the roof. Glued this to the top of the roof. Once the glue is dry, paint the roof using craft paint and a soft brush. I used black but you can use any color you want.

When all of the house paint is dry, the brick fascia is glued to the three sides of the entry house. Next cut some foam-core into 1/4-inch wide strips. These are painted white and glued directly above the brick fascia. Depending on the height of your octagon wall you may need to cut/notch these foam-core strips where they meet the octagon ring. Use white cardstock to hide the brick seams at the front corners of the house. 

The roof edging is finished using thin wood craft strips painted white. These are attached to the sides and front of the roof. I added a decorative touch using a couple extra wood sticks to create the simple ornamentation on the front of the roof above the door. 

The door assembly can now be installed in the house. Attach it from inside the house using hot glue. Attach the steps to the front of the house using Fabri-Tac.

Once the lighthouse paint is dry, add the clear plastic window pane that came with the window kit. Use clear canopy glue to secure the clear plastic in place (it dries clear). Next hot glue yellow tissue paper behind the window. The yellow adds a bit of contrast and warmth to the lighthouse. It also hides the inside of the tube that would otherwise be visible through the clear plastic window. It also helps diffuse that any lights you my add inside the tube.

On an actual lighthouse the large clear globe at the top is typically a series of rectangular glass panes arranged in a circular framework. To recreate the look of the "window panes" use chart tape. The tape strips are evenly spaced around the globe. Place your first piece of tape over the plastic mold seams to hide them from view. Add additional stripes evenly around the globe.

If adding a navigation lamp cut a small hole in the top to allow the wiring to pass through. 

To give the top of the lighthouse tube a 'metal' look use corrugated cardboard/cardstock. Cut several strips about 2-inches wide out of corrugated cardstock with the corrugations placed in a vertical orientation. These strips are painted the same satin black as the base of the rotating lamp. 

Once dry, they were glued in place even with the top of the lighthouse tube. I needed to cut three strips to cover the 8-inch diameter lighthouse tube. Trim as necessary to get an even , continuous look.

Almost every lighthouse you see has metal arches supporting the base of the lighthouse lamp. To recreate this effect, I 3D printed a number of plain arches using black filament (see attached STL file). Print enough arches to allow them to go around the top of the lighthouse being placed between each railing support in the lamp base. Its a good idea to print a few extras as these tend to get knocked off of the lighthouse tube if not handled gently in transit.

To install the supports, first place the base of the rotating lamp, with the railing, on the top of the lighthouse tube in its intended position. Glue the arches to the corrugated strips, with each arch spaced between each railing post and placing it between the raised corrugations if possible. Do Not glue the arches to base for the rotating lamp, or you will not be able to remove the base and access the electrical connections. 

Begin by gluing the roof onto the top of the globe. If using the navigation beacon, thread the wires through the opening in the top of the clear globe. 

The navigation beacon is a 5mm red LED lamp. The two wires going between the lamp and the Arduino are covered with black heat shrink tubing. The wire is routed along the inside roof of the clear globe and aligned with the black chart tape at the rear of the globe. The black heat shrink tubing helps blend in with the chart tape. The wire harness is glued in place using Fabri-Tac adhesive. Modeler's tape or painter's tape can be used as a mask on each side of the harness to prevent the adhesive from spreading out inside the globe.

Black poster board is used to create the strips at the bottom and top of the clear globe. The strips are about 1-inch wide, but adjust as necessary for your particular globe. These strips help secure the chart tape into place.

Because I have to go around the base of the Kojak light, I started gluing the bottom strip at the front of the globe until about halfway around each side. I used Fabri-Tac here as well. A number of clamps are used to hold the strip to the globe until dry.

Once the glue is dry, the remainder of the strip is positioned around the Kojak lamp base. Where the two strips meet in the back, a separate small strip of poster board is used as a connector. This allows the two ends of the strip to butt against each other cleanly. Clamp the assembly until dry for a strong joint.

A piece of card stock is used to cover the top of the rear opening over the Kojak light base. First cut the cardstock using the outer diameter of the globe. Fit into place and trim as necessary. Then mark the remainder of the cardstock using the outer wall of the strip. Cut and fit into place. Paint the cardstock to match the lamp base. When dry, glue into place from inside the poster board strip.

The second strip is glued at the top of the globe. It should butt up against the bottom of the roof ring. In addition to helping secure the chart tape, this strip also helps hide the rounded edge of the globe.

The 2x2 base can be detailed to suit your taste. For our lighthouse spray paint the wood a walnut brown. While the paint is still wet sprinkle ground foam over the paint, using the paint as a glue. This is done over the entire top of the board.

The Lighthouse Tube and Entry House are then placed on the base. Model railroad ballast rock is used to create the walkway up to the Entry House. Using some rocks from our backyard they are glued to the base. The lighthouse tube and Entry House are then removed and the entire based is sprayed with hair spray to hold everything in place (the cheaper the hairspray, the better the holding power).

To finish the lighthouse, two more items were added. The first is a 3D printed row boat that I found at Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4600887). It is printed at 120% using white filament and then weathered using gray craft paint. This can be placed anywhere on the board. I also had a replica "Life Saving Station" token that I purchased in the Outer Banks. This is glued to the right side of the base.

Six felt pads were attached to the bottom to prevent any scratches on the table where it would be displayed.

These next few steps describe how I added lighting to the lighthouse. This is optional and you can skip down to the final assembly if desired.

Create a 2-wire wiring harness to connect the power supply to the Kojak lamp. Use 18g wire with bullet terminal connectors to connect the harness to the Kojak lamp wires. The connectors are reversed (power supply has female connector on positive wire, male connector on the negative wire. The lamp has the male connector on the positive wire and the female connector on the negative wire. This helps prevent the wires from being connected backwards. Two smaller jumper wires branch from this power supply harness to supply power to the Arduino on the breadboard. Use the proper terminal type to connect the wiring harness to your power supply.

Because of the height involved in the tower, a 3D printed block was designed to hold the wiring harness in place and stop it from falling back down into the tube. This block was epoxied into place. Once cured, the wires are inserted into the block.

Two 10mm RGB LEDs are used to provide lighting in the windows. To secure the LEDs above the window, a 3D mount is printed and epoxied into place. 

The 22g wiring for each lamp is soldered on to the LED and these connections are covered with heat shrink tubing. 

Once the epoxied brackets are hardened, the LEDs are installed into the bracket. The LED goes under the bracket, with the wires being fed up through the center hole in the bracket. Hot glue is used to secure the lights into place. The other ends of the wire are connected to the breadboard (see breadboard diagram below).

3D print the bracket to mount the Arduino and breadboard. This mount is epoxied in place. Make sure you place it low enough that it doesn't interfere with the lamp base that will be mounted above. Don't go too low or you will have trouble making the connections on the breadboard.

Prior to installing the breadboard on the mount, an Arduino Nano was placed on the breadboard. The wiring for the LEDs was put into place, including the resistors for each lamp (see breadboard diagram). Once the epoxy hardens on the bracket, the Arduino and breadboard assembly is installed. The breadboard has an adhesive backing that is used to secure it in place.

I use an Arduino Nano to provide the lighting for the lighthouse. The code is simple (attached), as it simply turns on all 3 LEDs in each RGB lamp and then turns the red navigation lamp on and off each second. I had hoped to add some additional lighting effects, but ran out of time. Because I did use an Arduino we can always come back later and update the code to provide additional lighting effects. 

As all three bulbs in the RGB lamp are turned on full to create a white light, I used the available pins instead of the PWM pins. If you want to change color or add flashing, dimming etc, you will need to move to PWM enabled pins and adjust your code accordingly.

For plain lighting I know there are better ways to accomplish this without the use of Arduino, so feel free to use whatever method works best for you. 

To assist in transport, a large cardboard box is used to hold the Entry House, Globe and Lamp Base.

A long cardboard box (I used one from a rolled up memory mattress) is used to hold the Lighthouse Tube. Each end was cut in a half circle large enough to allow the tube to fit down in it. It is also high enough that the arch supports do not touch anything around them. These openings were lined with packing tape to provide smooth edges that don't rough up the tube's paint finish.

One last thing to consider is making some extra parts if traveling a long distance to set up the lighthouse. Despite our best efforts, something will almost always break, and it is likely to be the arches. Spares on hand can save the day.

When you arrive at your destination, it is time to assemble the lighthouse. You will need the following tools 

• Philips head screwdriver
• 7/16" wrench (adjust according to the size nuts and screws used)

Assembly Procedure

• Place stone octagon base near bottom of lighthouse tower. The gray panel faces to the top, while the white (unpainted) panel faces the bottom.
• Insert the four screws into the wood base.
• Insert base into the lighthouse tower 
• Screws go through the centering blocks
• Place washer and nut on each screw and tighten down
• Place assembly in an upright position, removing it from the cradle
• Slide stone octagon base down into position
• Insert the 110V power cord through the round opening in the base of the lighthouse
• Attach the red and black wires at the base of the lighthouse to the + and - points on the power supply
• Plug in the power supply
• Place globe on globe base.
• Run wires for navigation lamp through opening in base
• Connect main electrical connections
• The large power cables from the rotating beacon are attached to the large power lines coming up from the power supply
• The small red wire coming off the larger red cable goes to the VIN connection on Arduino (row 16 on breadboard)
• The small black wire coming off the larger black cable goes to the GRN connection on Arduino (row 17 on breadboard)
• Connect navigation lamp wires
• The small red wire from the globe is connected to row 30 on the breadboard (pin 13 on the Arduino)
• The small black wire from the globe is connected to any opening in the Neg (-) row on the back of the breadboard
• Set the top globe assembly on to the top of the lighthouse tower
• The centering blocks should be inside the lighthouse tube
• Test the system
• Turn on the power supply to proper settings for your lamp (I used a setting a 7-volts and 1.25-amps. Use the settings that are appropriate for your setup)
• The red navigation light at the top of the lighthouse should blink on and off
• The rotating lamp should be moving at a steady speed and the lamp should glow
• The LED lamps in the windows should be lit
• If everything is working as expected, place the entrance house in place
• The magnets will 'click' in place when properly aligned
• Place boat anywhere

Sit back and enjoy your new lighthouse!

I hope that you found this walk through on the construction of this lighthouse entertaining and educational. Because I used lightweight materials such as cardboard, cardstock and foam-core, the final project doesn't weigh a lot, despite its large size. The modular construction also makes it very easy to transport the finished lighthouse from my house to the church and elsewhere.

This was a fun project and totally different from the types of projects I usually build. I hope you have as much fun building your lighthouse as I did.