Several months ago, my husband and I were looking around in our local hobby shop and came across a super cool model kit. It was a model of a stagecoach, made by a company that specializes in museum-quality replicas.
I could not believe the amount of detail in the picture on the box.
The box was open and we were able to see some of the materials inside - bundles of wood, a big box of miniature hardware, sheets of leather... a thick instruction book. I was amazed by the model and by the amount of work it seemed that it would take to build it - starting with mostly just raw materials!
Fast forward to a couple of months ago, on my birthday. We were visiting my husband's family and his mom had organized a big birthday party for me and for his niece. Well, he came out of the room we were staying in, carrying the box with the stagecoach model! It turned out he had bought it shortly after we saw it that day. He'd kept it hidden, and somehow managed to get it cross country in the car without me finding out. I was SO excited as I started looking through the box and we were all fascinated by the detail in some of the parts.
For the next week we were there visiting, and the long drive home, he had to endure my random cries of "STAGECOACH!" haha. I was chomping at the bit to start working on it, though I was a bit intimidated too.
Once we returned home however, I decided that the first priority was to get the Studio room in order. There was no way I wanted to start on a project as big as this one will be in the middle of the mess that was down there. The Studio overhaul is pretty much complete now so.. a few days ago... I started on the stagecoach!
Here are some pictures showing the contents of the kit:
The instruction manual. Quite a hefty book:
A fold-out poster that shows the finished coach full-size, from all different angles:
The backside of the poster, showing the from and back of the coach, along with the wheels:
Here are all of the materials, laid out:
These are the only pre-formed pieces of wood in the kit:
All other wood has to be cut and shaped from this bundle:
A handful of metal cutouts:
The rest of the metal work comes from this bundle - rolls of wire and flat strips:
Two sheets of super fine leather, one black, one brown: (The seats, door panels, and luggage have to be upholstered from this!)
Lastly, the hardware box - full of teeny tiny nails, hinges, door latches, wooden wheel hubs, and a lighting kit: (The finished model has battery-powered lamps on the sides)
As if the coach itself wasn't enough of a project, I also have plans to do a team of custom model horses for it... as well as harnesses for them. I've already started brainstorming poses for the horses and I've begun researching horses and harnesses that were used for the stagecoaches.
I'm super excited about this project! I've already begun work on the coach and will share another post with the steps finished very shortly!