Hobby Related Articles

Our goal is to help provide information for expanding your hobby pleasures. Add to your leisure time with another fun hobby to be more creative, relaxed, and satisfied.

The following articles have been written for The Hobby Tool Shed by Elaine Littlefield, registered as an Expert Author with Ezine Articles.

As Featured On Ezine Articles

Articles include:

-   TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF SIZING YOUR HOBBIES

-   7 KEYS TO BUILDING YOUR DOLL HOUSE HOBBY

-   MAKE YOUR OWN DOLLHOUSE SHINGLES

TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF SIZING YOUR HOBBIES

Crossing and integrating the hobby scale genre can be confusing. What are the standards? Which are most prevalent and will they fit together? Once you take the mystery out of the standards you might discover several parallel or similar models that can be crossed and integrated for greater selection, interest, and business expansion.

Much of the confusion of such wide spread standards is due to several factors. First, different manufacturers have standardized on different scales. Each hobby category has a popular scale and many scales have evolved since prewar years scaling both up and down with precision from 1:1000 up to large scale of 1:12. And, the larger riding models go well beyond that scale.

To add to the confusion, Europe and Britain have standardized differently from the US. For example, in the US, the O gauge trains are 1:48, in the UK they are 1:43 and in Europe per MOROP, the NEM standards for model railroading O gauge is 1:45.

Let's explore the more common standards across several hobby genres.

1:12 is considered large scale and is most popular for doll houses with ceilings 8-11” high. Consider this as 12 times smaller than a human house or 1 inch equal to 1 foot.
1:20 to1:22.5 is called G scale and is most associated with garden trains. G gauge refers to the distance between the inside of the rails (1.75” or 45mm). Note: The USA G scale is 1:120.3 and is sometimes referred to as F scale but runs on the same rail size.
1:24 is also called half scale. It is the second most popular scale for doll houses. Some detailed plane models also come 1:24 and 1:30. So, 1” equals 2 feet or is 24 times smaller.
1:35 is used for helicopters.
1:43 and 1:48 or ¼ scale is associated with O scale trains with 2 or 3 rail tracks. This scale is dominated by Lionel. This size is also the second most popular scale for planes. And, compatible cars and trucks are found in 1:43, 1:48, and 1:50 scale.
1:64 is S scale model trains with the most popular being the American Flyer.
1:72 is most popular for aircraft, figures and vehicles where 1” equals 6'. This crosses more genres than other scales.
1:87 is the most popular railroad modeling scale called HO, half O. Each of the railroad scales also offer complementary structures, vehicles, boats, signs, figures, etc.
1:75, 1:96, 1:108, 1:150 are all popular ship building sizes.
1:160 is for N scale model trains which is gaining popularity. The footprint typically hosts a 2” engine almost half the size of the HO train. The name comes from the N in the Nine mm distance between the tracks.
1:220 is the Z scale model train, the smallest train scale, introduced by Marklin. It's just plain cute.

The scales vary widely between hobby categories, but you can integrate several for a realistic look and feel. Although many categories provide a wide variety of offerings, you can mix more disciplines together for fun. For example, hang a 1:35 scale helicopter in range of your 1:24 doll house and O scale train. And, perhaps this could help to expand your hobby business.

Now paint clouds, make mountain ranges and city skylines for a room full of fun and wonder, all scaled for a magical tour.

As you develop your hobbies, we would love to help you with hobby hand and power tools for your well stocked workshop. Enjoy our hobby book selection and free instructional video clips in helping expand your scalable hobby passions and satisfaction in your leisure time.

7 KEYS TO BUILDING YOUR DOLL HOUSE HOBBY

Playing and displaying dollhouses has been popular since the 1700's when the affluent were engaged in the hobby. It is a great creative sport where children can grow in social skills and storytelling, and, adults can enjoy the creative and relational aspects through design, clubs, and forums.

So how do you get engaged in a dollhouse hobby? Let's explore 7 steps to building an enjoyable doll house hobby: Use, Size, Strategy, Selection, Tools, Constructing, and Furnishing.

Step 1 Evaluate the use for your dollhouse. For child's play, the younger the child, the sturdier the construction should be. Consider ¾ or ½ inch base with 3/8 inch sides and roofing, or select plastic construction. As an adult collector, consider the finer and more delicate models for display.

Step 2 Determine the most appealing size or scale. Selecting the scale you will use depends on 3 basic considerations:

If you have dolls that you want to fit, select the size that provides several inches of ceiling headroom and a comfortable fit in furniture. This may mean building a non standard size with custom built furnishings.
The most popular size is 1:12 where 1 inch equals 1 foot. This scale provides a very large selection of products.
If space is an issue or you love miniatures, opt for the 1:24, also called half scale. 1 inch equals 2 feet, or 24 times smaller which is becoming more popular. The downside is a smaller availability and selection of product.

Step 3 - Decide on a strategy for acquiring a doll house. Three obvious strategies include making your own from scratch, buying it ready made, or buying and assembling a kit. Making your own will require some skill and the right tools. If you are a DIY enthusiast and adventurous, you might even design your dream doll house using Google SketchUp, a free 3D modeling software package.

Step 4 - Select your doll house. There are wonderful models to select from. The most popluar styles include a Tudor, Victorian, Georgian, Colonial, and modern. If you are starting from scratch, you may want to try an easy 1-2 room single floor cottage. Purchasing door and window units adds to the ease of construction and professional look.

Step 5 - If you are constructing your own, add the right hobby hand and power tools to your workshop. There are many precision hand tools that will aid in your more intricate work such as mini clamps and helping hands, hammers, pliers, and saws. And, mini hobby power tools are built for finer delicate work. For example, one versatile tool, the Electro-File will cut, shape, sand, and finish delicate models.

Step 6 - Now comes the fun of building, wiring, and adding décor for floors and walls.

To build: cut and organize your parts. Consider painting them prior to assembly.
To wire: Plan out your working lights, ceiling, floor and table locations. The most popular wiring is twin wire or the socket strip method. Drill holes and run wires along the edges from each light into a socket board probably placed at the back of the house. The socket board attaches to a transformer that then plugs into your house outlet.
To add décor: Add wallpaper and paint, and floor coverings of doll house tile, wood, or carpeting.

And, be sure to read all of the directions.

Step 7 - Now you're ready to furnish your home. A wide range of quality and price of furnishings and dolls are available. The range is huge. For example, my relatives had a neighbor who built intricate working models of custom doll furniture priced up to $10,000 per unit and he had a two year backlog. For the more faint of heart, you might try eBay.

If you need that special tool, our mission is to support you with the right hobby hand and power tools to craft your projects. You'll find many hobby books and free instructional video clips for your enjoyment and hobby development. Let The Hobby Tool Shed help you delight in your doll house experience.

MAKE YOUR OWN DOLLHOUSE SHINGLES

Grab that piece of old Cedar and make your own dollhouse shingles. Here are the quick and easy steps:

Begin with a 1 ½ inch wide, ½ thick piece of cedar that is at least a foot long for ease of handling.
Using your band saw, every ¾ of an inch, make a one inch deep cut into the 1&1/2 inch width along the foot long side. Your piece will resemble a long thick comb.
At the top outside edge of each 1 inch cut, rout a V groove using a V groove bit to get an angled effect for each shingle. Picture a beveled edge on each tooth of the comb.
Using your band saw again, rip 1/8 inch strips along the full foot length for a thin comb effect. A single point fence will help you maintain the 1/8^th inch thickness.

A course tooth saw blade will help to gain that rough sawn look. And now, your shingles are ready to go. Just cut them to the required lengths, layer them to get your desired look and hot glue them in place.

To add character and a more weathered appearance to your house, apply a paint wash by watering down shades of brown or gray paint and broad brushing it on the shingles. Get detailed by painting veins on some of the shingles with a very fine brush. You can even spray an adhesive on several spots and throw on some fake green moss for an aging effect.

Take a leisure break and find that special tool to finish your dollhouse project with ease. Find your next engaging hobby by exploring our hobby book store. And, as a bonus, watch our free instructional video clips to gain a new trick or insight. We're here to serve your tooling needs.