diorama.mossdev.com

Welcome to my Rural Diorama Design Page!

This is the personal web site for Dale Moss. It is a password protected site meant for viewing by the owner's friends and family only.

HO Scale

HO scale is the most popular model railroading scale (1:87), and therefore offers the greatest variety in accessories available for purchase. As I'd like to make a rural diorama of approximately 1 acre, the scale allows the model to fit on a board less than two and a half feet square.

The scale translates to about 3.5 mm per foot. An acre is 43,560 square feet, which would be about 208 feet 9 inches on a side. At 3.5 millimeters per foot, that translates to a little over 730 millimeters. Since there are 25.4 mm/inch, a scale acre would be 28 and 3/4 inches on a side, or 2 feet 4-3/4 inches.

Since a corner of my diorama would be occupied by a county road which would not be part of my land, I would make the entire scene 2 and 1/2 feet on a side. That should allow for a rural property of about an acre in size.

Elements

I have drawn a schematic of the diorama viewed from above, which I'll display on this page when I can locate it. It has the following elements:

Small rural house with porch, chimney, and air conditioner inset in a window
Two people sitting on the front porch
Firewood stacked by the side of the house
Several chickens, two goats, a border collie, and some cats
Vegetable garden surrounded by picket fence
Garden shed with window
Wheelbarrow and gardening implements
Chicken coop with fenced running yard
Goat overhang with feeding trough
Outhouse at the base of the north hill
Garage with old style wooden door
Small station wagon parked in front of the garage
Gravel driveway with widened turnaround area in front of garage
Trees along the western edge of the driveway
Sunken creek along the road with stones and steep rocky edge
Eastern shore of a pond
Tire swing overhanging pond from a tree limb
Tall grassy field leading up to edge of pond
Wildflower field nearby
Permanent campfire pit
Picnic table
Telphone poles along the road
Steep rocky hills to the north and east with shrubs
Portion of a county road with a yellow center lane
Rural mailbox by the road
Metal swing gate at driveway entrance with "No Trespassing" sign
Culvert under driveway near the road for creek flow
Beehive supers stacked on a raised wooden ledge under the trees near the field
Post and rail fence at property edge near the road
Wire fence inside the rail fence surrounding the property for the animals
Apple and pear trees with beaver protection fences around each one
Beaver dam made of sticks

Can't Find

The elements below are those I haven't found yet on the internet:

Border Collie dog
A good chicken coop
Goat overhang with feeding trough
Light green fruit for placing in a pear tree
Rocking chairs for the front porch
Wire fencing for the chicken run or the property border
Metal swing gate with a "No Tresspassing" sign
Plain corrugated tube for the culvert
Green station wagon

Buildings

American Model Builders laser cut wood house 152-0129 - $26.16
2-1/2" W X 5-3/4" D X 2-1/2" H = 18' 2" W X 41' 9" D X 18' 2" H
Preiser lawn chairs 590-18359 (for the porch) - $4.19

American Model Builders laser cut wood garage 052-0796 - $9.20
2" W X 2-1/2" D X 1-3/4" H = 14' 6" W X 18' 3" D X 12' 9" H

Wiking VW Tiguan blue with glass sun roof wik6839 - $23.40
Wiking VW Golf Variant emerald green with sun roof wik5838 - $19.80
Wiking VW Golf blue 4-door 781-6140 - $18.26

Vollmer beehive shed 770-3725 - $19.13
B.T.S. laser cut wood tool shed 464-27112 - $11.86
SS Limited double hung window 650-2071 - $2.43
Dimensions of tool shed unknown - could kit bash by adding window.

Woodland Scenics garage treasures 785-1928 - $11.20
Includes tire swing, garden tools, and garbage can for side of the road.

Noch outdoor privy with birdhouse 528-10910 - $9.23
Durango Goose and Gander Outhouses 254-120 - $10.04
Shelley Finishing Touches rural outhouse 675-607 - $8.41
There are many outhouse models to choose from!

Animals

Preiser goats and hogs (10 pieces) 590-14162 - $9.23
Will use one brown goat, and one white goat.

Preiser chickens (18 pieces) 590-14168 - $19.23

Woodland Scenics Chicken Coop 785-0215 - $9.59
Faller slat fence (for chicken run) 272-180405 - $8.39
May be too run-down - lose the chopping block.

These two chicken coops are not available as models; they're real!
I scanned them in from an ad in Hobby Farms magazine. Scratch build?

Garden

Busch cabbage and lettuce 189-1213 - $14.27
Vollmer 120 daffodils 770-5123 - $13.04
The daffodils can go in front of the house - I won't be planting all 120 of them!

Faller lattice garden fence 272-180407 - $8.39
Faller scalloped picket fence and gate 55-1/8" (400 scale feet) - $8.39

Model Power white picket fences 490-0547 - $5.75
Noch garden fence 528-13070 (paint it white) - $13.43
Kibri green mesh chain link fence 405-8603 - $24.35
Would like to avoid using chain link fence, but the mesh fence looks nice.

SS Limited pitch fork 650-2116 - $2.26
SS Limited spade shovel 650-2240 - $2.26

Field

Woodland Scenics beekeepers and bee supers 785-1897 - $9.99

Noch 2-slat pasture fence 528-13030 - $13.43
Walthers wood fencing 933-3521 - $10.06
Vollmer post and rail meadow fence 770-5012 - $14.78

B.T.S. Logger picnic table 464-32018 - $4.21
Micro Structures picnic table kit 502-879440 - $10.04

Woodland Scenics people on benches 785-1924 - $9.59

Campbell Scale Models park bench with slats 200-930 - $4.45
SS Limited park bench 650-2320 - $1.94

Water

Preiser angler in a boat 590-28053 - $5.87
Is fishing allowed on the beaver pond? The boat is named "Mary".

SS Limited set of 10 tires 650-2407 - $2.26
Evergreen Hill Designs set of 5 tires 261-625 - $3.19
For the tire swing.

Roadside

Pikestuff highway guard rails (6) 541-13 - $5.25
Each rail is 50 scale feet long (6-7/8 inches).

JL Innovative Design roadside cones (5) jli898 - $2.97

Preiser Kg garbage cans psr17202 - $15.30
I'll use one black and one green.

Woodland Scenics 17 mailboxes 785-0206 - $5.59
Durango Press rural mailboxes (5) 254-25 - $2.48

Walthers electric utility pole set 933-3301 - $8.38
Atlas set of 12 telephone poles (2nd and 3rd pictures) 150-0775 - $4.20
Lifelike telephone poles (4th picture) 433-1621 - $10.06
There is no shortage of telephone poles available!