Livestock - HO Scale

Sheep, a goat and horses in one yard

A farm is known by the fact that only one kind of animal is never kept on it. This set starts from that and mixes sheep, one goat and horses together, with the pieces differing in size as well as in posture. For a modeler it means that one purchase fills several different places: sheep on a slope behind a fence, the goat in the yard by the cottage and the horses at the barn door.

The different sizes of the individual animals are intentional here, not careless. On a real farm young and grown animals stand side by side, and a herd in which every piece is the same height gives a toy model away at once. It also helps that the postures are not uniform: a lowered head, an upright neck and a turn to the side are enough for the group to read as alive.

The presence of a single goat is a small thing with an unexpectedly large effect. A goat is a rarity on a layout and a viewer who notices it feels the scene was built with attention. It therefore pays to find it a place where it will be seen, for example at the edge of a pasture or by a low wall.

The animals match a ratio of 1:87 and come painted. Nothing on them is assembled. When setting them on a pasture it is good first to make a small hollow in the growth, so that the animal does not stand on the surface of the grass as if stuck on, and only then to apply the glue. Around the sheep it suits to cut the grass a little shorter, as a grazed area is natural around a flock. Anyone who wants to go further can add the marks of use to the farm as well: a worn path to the watering place, scattered straw by the gate or a darker band along the fence where the animals walk most often. Such details cost only paint and a few minutes, but they give a scene more than another figure bought in.