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Build Your Own Model Stables
(from "Horseless Horse Fun"
By Jayne Pedigo )
If you have a collection of model horses, be they Breyer Model Horses or Julip
(a collection of model horses in England, similar to the Breyer models) , or
some other make, you may want to make your own stables. I have included these
simple instructions so that anyone can have a go, although your parents may have
to help you out while you are marking your walls and doors etc. You can make the
stables as basic or as complicated as you like. As we were just kids, we made
ours out of cardboard boxes.
To make our basic stables, you will need the following items:
- One cardboard box large enough to hold the required number of horses. You
can use grocery boxes for larger models, shoe boxes for smaller models.
- Sharp scissors with pointed ends - good for cutting holes for windows and
doors.
- All-purpose glue.
- Pencil and ruler (for marking doors, windows etc.)
- Acrylic paints from a hobby shop, with different sized brushes.
- If wanted, you can purchase paper with brickwork, wood or tile patterns
for added realism.
To start out, decide how many stalls you want in your stable and, using your
ruler and pencil, mark out the doors and windows (don't forget a tack room and a
feed storage area if you want them). Also using your ruler and pencil, mark how
high you want the stables to be. In order to make the roof slant in a realistic
way, make the wall at the front higher than the wall at the back and slant the
side walls down between them. Using your scissors, cut carefully around the box
where you have marked your roof height.
You can use the lid of the box, or an extra piece of cardboard if the lid is
not suitable, for the roof. As the roof will be off most of the time you are
actually playing with your stables, it usually just sits in place on the walls
when the stables are not in use.
The traditional Dutch doors - the type where the top
half opens to allow the horse to look out - are the easiest to make. All you
have to do is cut along your markings at the top and bottom of the door and
along the right-hand side. Carefully score the cardboard (using your ruler and
scissors, mark but don't cut) along the left hand side of the door so that it
opens and closes easily. Don't forget to cut it across the middle so that each
door has a top half and a bottom half. Leave the tack room door as one piece.
A rather basic illustration, but hopefully you get the idea.
You can use the extra pieces of cardboard that you trimmed off of the walls
(or any other cardboard) as partitions within the stable. Measure the size
carefully and add little tabs that you can fold over and use to glue the
partition to the outer walls. The partitions between the individual stalls need
not be full height, but the one for the tack room should be the same size and
height as the side wall.
Once you have glued the partitions and walls in place, you can decorate your
stables any way you wish. If you are going to use brick or some other patterned
paper, cut it to size before gluing it in place. The roof can be painted or
papered. Once you have done your papering you can paint the doors.
The finished stable is now ready for its occupants! You can improvise with
accessories. For example, thimbles, or even the tops of tubes of toothpaste,
make perfect buckets. Depending on the scale of your stable you will be able to
find all sorts of things around the house that can be painted and put to use in
your new stable.
I found that I got more daring as I went on and eventually Lorna and I both
had elaborate barns, built on a quadrangle around a central gravel square (a
piece of rough sandpaper glued on to the base) with gutters and downspouts made
from drinking straws. The possibilities are endless.... happy model making.
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