British Phone Box Model

My wife and I lived in England for around six months back in the early 90’s and she loves old British Phone boxes so I decided to make her one this Christmas. 

I found photos on the internet that I scaled to 1:12 so the model is around eight inches tall. There are over a hundred dados and rabbets in the model so a high precision table saw was critical. The top is carved out of basswood and lined with foil as a reflector. A master crown was carved out of basswood and a mold made for casting the four crowns out of resin. The “PUSH”, “PULL” plates and the front of the A/B box are made from etched brass. The door pull was made by drilling a recess in a piece of maple and using a matching ball bearing to deform the brass to form handle. The hinges were hand made to scale from brass and the lighting consists of four high intensity white LEDs. These have appropriate resistors to limit amperage and are powered by a six volt battery pack recessed into the base. LED’s were chosen to limit heat. The “TELEPHONE” signs are 10/1000 sheet styrene with homemade decals applied to the front. The phone is carved from basswood with a brass dial. The posters and emergency dial instructions were scaled down from artwork graciously sent by Tony from Unicorn Kiosk Restorations in the UK. The tops of the phone book stands were gilded with silver leaf.