The shoulder lamp is such an iconic part of the USCM kit that I've been feeling kinda naked without one. The absolute best one on the market is the Matsuo fully functional resin reproduction. Sadly, it isn't in my budget at the moment, so I decided to take a stab at making my own.
Here's where it stands right now (note that the angle of the handle looks wonky due to how the lamp was resting on the table):
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The base is part of a McFarlane Toys display stand. I gutted it to make it less heavy. The handle is cobbled together from part of a packing tape dispenser and the sides off the top of a VHS tape rewinder with a lot of two part epoxy and a few coats of black rubber spraypaint. The arm is PVC pipe, the joint from a clip fan, and a piece of a toy gun.
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The "head" is an oddball piece I had in my junk drawer. No idea what it is, but I got it with a bunch of old laptop components. Any ID help?
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An L.L. Bean headlamp will be mounted like this.
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Which gives me this for a light source.
My plan is to scratchbuild the top of the box around the headlamp, and then have it snap in place with a couple of fridge magnets. I should be able to reach up with my left hand, pop the box off to adjust the light (it has both a high and low setting) and then put it back on without too much difficulty.
I'm seeing the need for some reinforcement of the joint where the arm meets the base. I was tipped off to this by Adie1979's thread here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13100So today I'm going to go to the hardware store and see what I can find to fix this problem right off the bat. I also need to buy a set of four rubber furniture pads to put on the back of the base. Then it will need a coat of OD and some weathering.
So what do folks think?