This pic is dated Nov 2003, which was about the time I built the light. It was one of my early creations. I built the circuit which used two transistors (not a true Joule Thief), a toroid, and three white LEDs. Most impottantly it used two AA cells in series, which was kind of odd for the time. The frame (I hesitate to call it an enclosure:-) was made from two short pieces of angle aluminum bolted to the bottom, a flat piece of aluminum. The board and 2 AA cell holder were also bolted on. It fit comfortably in the hand.
Since it was open frame, I decided I wanted to coat it wit a thick coating. I bought a spray can of Grip & Guard, which is supposed to be used to put a thick coating on the handles of tools. But the terms spray and thick coating are mutually exclusive: in order to get the can to spray, the fluid has to be thin. I coated it with dozens of coats and you can see how thick it was in the picture. The only thing I really did was to get the switch gummed up so it was hard to turn on. No, I really did not intend it to be waterproof.
The circuit lights the LEDs very brightly; in fact too brightly with fresh alkaline AA cells. So I had to use depleted cells or else two Ni-MH rechargeable cells. I still use it in some drawer somewhere.