Coastguard rescue shadow box SVG
A rescue helicopter hovering over a rough sea with a lifeboat below it, a lighthouse and the keeper’s house on their rock, a ferry far out under the clouds and waves breaking in the foreground. 6 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
6 sheets at 8 × 8 in, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 6 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 6 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Blue dusk” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 2, “Clouds and far sea”, the slowest: at 0.9 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Breakers”, fills the most of the view, 26% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Low sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 30% |
| 2. Clouds and far sea | Waves, with: Long flat cloud, Fluffy cloud and Ferry boat with cars on deck | 0.9 mm | 8% |
| 3. Lighthouse | Waves, with: Maine lighthouse with a keeper’s house | 1 mm | 11% |
| 4. Helicopter | Waves, with: Helicopter from the side | 1.7 mm | 7% |
| 5. Lifeboat | Waves, with: Motor boat with an outboard and Crashing wave with foam | 1.7 mm | 15% |
| 6. Breakers | Waves, with: Curling ocean wave | over 2 mm | 26% |
Measured from the files at 8 × 8 in. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 8 × 8 in. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 6 in | 152.4 × 152.4 mm | 0.7 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 20 × 20 cm | 200 × 200 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 8 × 8 in | 203.2 × 203.2 mm | 0.9 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
| 23 × 23 cm | 230 × 230 mm | 1 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
| 25 × 25 cm | 250 × 250 mm | 1.1 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Cuts easily |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
Made as a gift for someone in the coastguard or a lifeboat crew. The helicopter hangs on one thread from the top of the fourth sheet, and the two clouds grow in from the frame. The ferry on the second sheet is the finest cutting, at about 0.8 mm at 8 inches, and the lighthouse comes next at 1.1 mm. The helicopter, the lifeboat and the waves are sturdy.
- Cut all 6 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 6.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 6 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
Can I add a station, a name or a call sign?
Not inside the maker yet. Cut it from the lettering in the library and glue it to the bottom border, or write it on the hull of the lifeboat by hand.
Are the helicopter and the lifeboat real models?
No. Both are invented, drawn for cutting, with no markings of any service, so they can stand for any crew.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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