Wild West stagecoach shadow box SVG
A stagecoach and its two horses crossing the desert in front of a huge setting sun, with far mountains and an old mission on the ridge behind, a tall saguaro at the side and prickly pear in the foreground. 6 sheets of card, cut and stacked with a gap between each, make the picture. The files are free, and every part of the scene can be moved, swapped or resized below before you download.
6 sheets at 10 × 8 in, landscape, zipped, with a note on putting them together.
Free for personal and commercial use, no sign-up. What you can do with it.
The 6 sheets
Sheet 1 is the back and sheet 6 is the front. Each one is a single piece with the same frame round its edge, so they line up when stacked. The colours shown are the “Sunset” set; cut them in any card you like. Cut sheet 6, “Prickly pear”, the slowest: at 0.8 mm it has the thinnest part in the scene, and sheet 6, “Prickly pear”, fills the most of the view, 22% of it.
| Sheet | What is on it | Narrowest part | Seen from the front |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Setting sun | A whole sheet with holes for: Plain disc | over 2 mm | 29% |
| 2. Far mountains | A mountain range | over 2 mm | 6% |
| 3. Mission and cacti | A gentle slope, with: Mission church with three bells, Saguaro cactus with two arms and Cactus silhouette | 0.9 mm | 9% |
| 4. Stagecoach | A gentle slope, with: Stagecoach wagon with luggage on the roof and 2 × Running horse | 1.6 mm | 17% |
| 5. Saguaro | A gentle slope, with: Saguaro cactus with two arms and Organ pipe cactus | over 2 mm | 11% |
| 6. Prickly pear | A gentle slope, with: Prickly pear cactus, Bunch of grass and Ball cactus with a flower | 0.8 mm | 22% |
Measured from the files at 10 × 8 in, landscape. The narrowest part is the thinnest neck of card that holds anything on; sharp tips are not counted. “Seen from the front” is the share of the picture that sheet fills once the sheets in front of it are in place.
Will it cut at your size?
The download is 10 × 8 in, landscape. The scene maker above makes the same scene at any of these sizes; the thinnest part scales with it.
| Frame opening | Each sheet | Narrowest part | Depth needed | Fits a 12 × 12 in mat | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 × 8 in, landscape | 254 × 203.2 mm | 0.8 mm | 20 mm | Yes | Fine detail: sharp blade, slow speed |
Depth needed allows 3 mm of foam between sheets and 5 mm for the card itself and the backing.
Making this one
A wide scene for a landscape frame. The coach and its two horses overlap, so they cut as one piece with their sheet; the wheel spokes are the thinnest card there, at about 1.6 mm at 10 by 8 inches. The mission on the third sheet and the prickly pear at the front are the fine cutting, at 0.8 to 0.9 mm. Nothing hangs on a thread.
- Cut all 6 sheets from 160 to 220 gsm card at the same size.
- Lay them out in order, sheet 1 at the back.
- Put strips of 3 mm foam tape round the border of sheet 1 and press sheet 2 onto it with the edges level. Carry on to sheet 6.
- Fit the stack into a deep frame with the front sheet against the glass. For a light box, run a strip of warm white LEDs round the inside of the frame behind the stack.
The zip includes these steps as a text file, each sheet as its own SVG and all 6 side by side in one SVG. More on paper, frames and lights is on the shadow box page.
The parts, on their own
Everything in the scene comes from the free SVG library, where each has its own page and file:
Questions
Can I add more horses?
Yes. Select the coach sheet in the maker and add another horse from Animals in front of the first two, a little to the right, so that they read as a team.
Can I use a covered wagon instead?
Yes. Select the coach in the maker and choose Swap: two covered wagons and a hay wagon are under Vehicles. Keep the horses overlapping its shaft.
Can I sell boxes I make with it?
Yes. Finished pieces are yours to sell. The files themselves may not be sold or shared; send people to this page. See the licence.
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