Quarter Scale Coaching Inn

Updated 8/28/2021 with new shops I've noticed: I have been afraid to start on this post because it means going back through SO MANY posts and Pinterest pins and who knows what else, but I also know it's something I can do because I can recall how difficult it was to find items when I was looking to source everything I needed for this project. So this is as complete a list as I can make it, which means it's probably not complete at all...there are certainly shops missing where I just forgot where I got things or purchased one item from an Etsy or eBay store. I hope it will still be helpful to folks, though! Shops are generally listed under the category where I got the most items from but if I got a lot from several categories they are cross-listed. I've also included some web sites that have been on my radar or used for other projects even if I didn't use them for this one. They're  noted as such. These are all 1:48 scale or O Scale unless otherwise noted. Please...

 I had to take a big break on the coaching inn project to do a couple of Christmas projects, so it's only been lately that I've gotten back to this one. Which was a bit of a shame as I was *almost* done, but then again I didn't want to rush this one, given I've been working on it for years. I got the rest of the houses in and wired, and did a lot of gravel work to lay that down. Then really the last thing to do was to put in the details...lots of animals, baggage for the yard, and other items. Except for the horses, the animals are from mini-gems . The wooden trunk and gold bird cage are from Petworth Miniatures , while most trunks and barrels are either from Skytrex or S&D Models . The pump and trough are from Herdwick Landscapes . The hand cart in the yard is from Petite Properties , with a basket from Stewart Dollhouse . The stagecoach in the yard is an old Tally-Ho stagecoach and horses kit; since I already had the Matchbox stagecoach and horses out front I jus...

 I've been scarce again because while I've been making progress, nothing has been tangibly done...until TODAY. Landscaping for this project first involved prepping the base. I first looked into gluing a bunch of traditional quarter scale lighting drawers together, but it was going to be super expensive to buy that many of them. So I ended up buying two custom monitor risers from The Paper Skiff on Etsy.  These I glued together and then glued the whole unit on top of a dollhouse turntable (I got mine from Manhattan Dollhouse ). It became apparent pretty quickly that I was going to need touchup paint as I made a bit of a mess on the risers while working above them, but the seller from Etsy let me know the paint color so I could buy some for touchups. Once everything was together it was time to drill the holes for wiring. Lacking any better tools I also used the drill to make the channels for the bulk of the wires to fit into. Because of the way I kitbashed the houses, I knew I ...

I did indeed manage to finish more rooms today! These were the upper floor of my Hobbler's Loft kit (the stables are on the lower floor). On the left is the servants' hall, which is doing several different duties. The big, wonderful Braxton Payne  fireplace with the Herdwick Landscapes spit allows it to serve as a second kitchen (probably needed quite a bit of the time given how many rooms are serving up food!). It's also where the servants eat, but unlike the rest of the fully set tables, I wanted this to look like just two people had sat down to eat, as it's likely they would be in and out in an establishment such as this, perhaps grabbing a bite between stagecoaches. The big swinging arm with tea kettle is also from Herdwick Landscapes, while the kettle itself is from S&D Models . The cauldron is from  Virtual Dollhouse . I believe all of the bread is from Medieval Miniatures on Etsy, but it's also possible a loaf or two is from Stewart Dollh...

I've been making a lot of progress again, but hadn't really completed anything until today, and I'm excited to share this one as I'm quite chuffed with how it turned out. This is one of the rooms in one of my few non-Petite Properties buildings, a Coaching Inn Arch from Scale Model Buildings . I have to say, it was definitely not as user-friendly as the Petite Properties kits. With those, because they're built with notches and tabs that go together, you can almost figure out how to assemble without the instructions. Yet the instructions are still super detailed, so all in all it goes together easily (even if you are kit-bashing like me!). With this one, however, the front just did not make sense to me and the instructions did not show visually how it had to go. I ended up messaging them through their shop on Etsy and she was very helpful, actually taking down her model and showing me pictures of how it had gone together, and that was enough for me to figure it out...

I've been working away on multiple buildings, and did finally manage to complete some interiors. In addition to the larger stable, I also have another Petite Properties stable kit that includes a small storage space. I've decided to make it into a laundry and got some fantastic pieces to go into it. Most of them are from Herdwick Landscapes , with the exception of the boiler and shelves, which are Petite Properties , the larger bucket (picked up from eBay at some point, I believe) and the larger washboard, which was from S&D Models . Strangely enough the most difficult part of this was the horse! After a good amount of success with horse painting in the large stables, I ran into huge issues with the ones I was trying to do for this. Since it is a large, open stall I figured there needed to be some reason why the horse(s) were in here and decided I'd use the mare and foal I'd picked up (again from eBay). Their colors weren't very natural so ...