How to make your own Light Tent

After recent success with my homemade light tent or light box as I call it, I was asked by a few people how I did it. So for all of you that need a better way to photo your minis on the cheap too, this is for you!

What you will need:
3x plasticard A4 sheets
1x Medium Cardboard box(height 12 inches, side width 10 inches and frontage of 13 inches)
1x Small miniatures box(eg Mage Gothic Ruins box)
2x Luminous Desk Lamps(available in the UK from Argos under item number 4308148)
1x 3 megapixel camera and tripod
1x Roll of kitchen towel
1x sheet of plain A4 paper

Stage 1: Getting started:

Firstly get your cardboard box and make sure its fully assembled(i.e so its a full box), then cut away the areas marked in red and grey on the diagram below.

The lips are important for holding the plasticard later.

Stage 2: Adding the card

Now its time to add the plasticard, make sure that the reflective sides are facing into the box(as some plasticard has a dull and shiny side), now we add the two sides first(left and right) and make sure they fit snugly against the back of the box. Then add the 3rd plasticard sheet to the back sideways so the sheet is shorter from top to bottom, now you'll want to try to make it arc towards the back of the box(so the sides are held in place by the back piece) with the ends curving out to the front by approx 1 inch. The diagram below shows where to place the plasticard:

Step 3: Platform
We will now need to make a platform to stand our minis on so the camera doesn't suffer from tilt. To do this you need a small box around 2-3 inches high and wrap it in the plain A4 sheet of paper. Place the box as close to the rear as possible, like so.

Step 4: Positioning the camera
Now position the camera 5-6 inches away from the middle of the small box this may mean that the tripod camera is inside the box:

|< 5 to 6 inches >|

Step 5: Position the lighting
For this you'll need to position the lamps either side of the box with the lamps over the box(see diagram below), position the lamp further away from the box at an angle that makes it show light into the box from the top and front.

Finally add some plain kitchen towel around the lights to diffuse the light and you are all set to go!
The last thing you'll need to do is adjust your camera to settings which will benefit your images, I suggest you play around with the cameras settings to get the perfect settings for yourself.