Scales/sizes for dollhouses and miniatures Part 2

Here are a couple more of the more popular scales

1/48 inch scale or 1" = 4' has a very dedicated following. Someone can correct me, but the 1/48 people that I talk to seem more taken with the illusion of a house or a scene. They are concerned about the total effect and look of it. They are less likely to redecorate and move furniture around and play with their houses. There is a whole separate world for people who are into this size with their own suppliers, websites, etc. I have a feeling that there are more people actually into 1/48 than 1/24. Most of them have multiple houses than are often set up like a village, not a single house.

• Only a few artisans make opening windows and doors.
• Original materials are often not used. What counts is how it looks. People are not going to take contents out of a 1/48 house and play with them.
• There is a really good organized community on the web of people who love this scale, so it is easy to find help.
• It is difficult to find tools and materials to do things yourself. 1/12 is often too big.
• Many of the nicer items can cost 3 to 4 times as much as the equivalent would in 1/12 scale. I am not saying they all do, but many are a lot more expensive because they take so much time and such specialized tools.

Barbie size is 1" to 6". Everyone has seen Barbie houses.

• You can do everything in this scale that you can do in 1/12 but it takes up 8 times the volume of space and gets really heavy, so they usually sit on floors, not tables.
• If you go for furniture and houses that are not the cheap plastic ones, they are at least twice as expensive as 1/12. They are everywhere and if you look, in every price range and quality.
• You do not need any special tools or materials to work on them. Regular woodworking tools and craft supplies are all you need.
• People who do these houses are usually not concerned with miniatures. they just want somewhere for their Barbie to live. The doll is the important part, not the house.
• There are 1000s of online sources for information about everything Barbie so you will be able to find a group that fits you.

American girl is 1" to 3" approximately. There are not really any dollhouses out there for her because she is too big, but there is a lot of furniture and accessories.

• The doll is 18" tall and all of the furniture labeled for her should fit her.
• Most of what is available is premade, but there are some patterns out there for her.
• She is another one that has a vast internet presence so information is fairly easy to find.
• She does not really fit here, but my great niece got one for Christmas and we spent a lot of time playing with it! I may be making her some furniture or clothing soon and she is to a scale!

There are a couple more scales out there that I will cover tomorrow!

Please let me know what you think of my posts or if you have any comments or questions.