BUILDINGS · INTERMEDIATE

The Stable

Everything in the scene leads to the stable, and it’s the building people most often get wrong: too big, too closed in and too neat. A good nativity stable has two walls, a roof that lets light through, and the look of a shelter that’s seen years of use.

Four principles

  1. Two walls, not four

    A back wall and one side wall are all you need. Keep it open on at least two sides: the side people look from and the side the figures come from. A closed-in stable hides exactly what you want people to see.

  2. Poor, and patched together

    It’s not a house, it’s a shelter for animals. Uneven walls, mismatched boards, a roof with gaps. Poverty is the point: a stable that’s too well built works against the story it holds.

  3. Built into the scene, not just set down

    Against a rock, in a dip in the hillside, against a retaining wall. A stable just sitting in the middle of the scene looks like something someone set down there.

  4. Off-center by a third

    Never in the middle. That leaves room for the path leading up to it, and keeps the scene from looking stiff and symmetrical. See beginner mistakes.

Four principles, seen from aboveviewerstable✗ closed, set down in the centerviewerrockstabletwo walls,backed against the rock,off-centerby a third✓ open, backed, off-centerPoor and patched together: it’s a shelter for animals, not a house.

Dimensions

At the scale of a 3-inch (7 cm) figure, where a standing man is about 5 feet 7 inches tall:

Element Real size On the nativity
Height under the tie beam 7 to 8 ft 3½ to 4 in
Ridge 11½ ft 5½ to 6 in
Width 13 ft 6½ to 7 in
Depth 10 ft 5 to 5½ in
Opening 6½ ft 3¼ in

A common mistake is making the stable too tall, because you picture a building instead of a shed. Stand a figure inside before you glue on the roof: it should have a little headroom, not three times its height.

Dimensions, for a 3-inch figure3½ to 4 inridge 5½ to 6 inwidth 6½ to 7 inThe figure should have some room above its head,not three times its height.

Materials

  • ⅛-inch and 3/16-inch square basswood strips for the framing
  • Thin boards: produce-crate wood, craft sticks, veneer
  • ¾-inch (20 mm) extruded polystyrene foam for the masonry walls
  • Cork bark if the stable backs onto a rock
  • Tiles: see roofs
  • Fine spackling, white glue, low-temperature hot glue
  • Matte acrylics: raw and burnt umber, ocher, gray, white
  • A little fine straw, raffia or frayed sisal

Building it

  1. The back wall

    Stone, carved just like in the stone wall tutorial. It holds up the roof and catches the light.

  2. The side wall

    Shorter, often partly crumbled at the top. It frames the scene and closes it off on one side.

  3. The framing

    Two posts, a ridge beam, and two or three visible rafters. Only a few pieces, but they have to look real: the rafters rest on the ridge beam, the ridge beam rests on the posts, and nothing floats. People will see the joints up close.

  4. An incomplete roof

    This is the detail that makes all the difference: leave a gap, a missing tile, a section that stops short. Light can then shine through onto the manger, one of the most beautiful effects you can create in a nativity.

  5. The floor

    Packed dirt, darker inside than outside, with a little straw scattered around. No paving.

  6. Age it

    Use the four aging steps from the weathering tutorial, with two extra touches: make the inside very dark, and add a dark green streak along the bottom of the walls on the north side.

Believable framing, an incomplete roofthe gapback wallside wallpostridge beamEach piece rests on another: rafters on the ridge beam, ridge beam on the posts.

The manger

The manger gave the whole nativity its name (crèche means manger), and it deserves better than the little plastic trough that comes with store-bought sets.

  • Shape: an X-frame trough, two crossed supports holding a box, or a simple box of boards. Any of them works.
  • Dimensions for 3-inch figures: 1⅜ inches long, ¾ inch high, ¾ inch wide. It should be smaller than instinct suggests.
  • Height: mid-thigh on a standing figure, since it’s where animals eat.
  • Filling: fine straw or frayed sisal, a small amount, spilling over slightly.
  • Position: not against the back wall. Leave ¾ inch behind it for the light and for the ox and donkey to stand with their heads bowed.
The manger: smaller than you think1⅜ in¾ inmid-thigh¾ inLED and animalsNever against the back wall: ¾ inch behind it for the light, the ox and the donkey.

The light that comes out of it

One rule, and it’s the most important one on this page: the stable shouldn’t be lit up like a room. It should glow.

Place the LED behind the manger, hidden by a beam or by the Holy Family, pointing outward. The light spills onto the entrance and the first arriving figures, while the inside stays in a warm, soft glow.

You can add a second, very faint light through the gap in the roof, as if the star were shining in. Keep it so subtle people barely notice it.

Details in the lighting plan.

The stable glows, it isn’t lit upLED behind the manger,hidden by a beama very faint beamthrough the gap in the roofThe light falls on the threshold and on the first figures approaching.

Variations by style

  • Provençal — a low sheepfold, stone walls with lime render, a gently pitched roof of barrel tiles, backed against a rock.
  • Mountain — a stone base, a wooden upper part, a deep overhanging roof weighed down with flat stones or snow.
  • Neapolitan — an ancient ruin instead of a stable, with broken columns and a fallen arch. The Nativity sits among the ruins of the old pagan world.
  • The cave — a very old version, common in Eastern icons, and easy to make from cork. It also solves the “built into the scene” question in one go.