For every action...

There is a lot of inaction.

Still prepping away, although going slower now. Cold weather makes me want to sleep and do nothing, but I did manage to get some more details done on Nightmare. She has some enhanced hoofers! 

In one of her feet I hit a wire, so that has to be ground down before I can resculpt that foot. Then I can throw another layer of primer on and hopefully call her done. 

In the meantime, sitting gives plenty of time to think, and thinking means it's time for the jumper cm to come back out. 

Yes, this looks, emmm, close enough

This guy needs his own song, I don't know how many times his legs have been on and off and on and off and....  Oh well.  Currently I'm debating scale, he's just on the edge of needing to be chopped up and scaled up.  I think once I actually start adding muscles and details I will have too for sure, but until then I'll just keep moving limbs.  And maybe give him some eye balls.  He's kinda creepy at the moment.  

Ok, ok, less thinking, more adding of epoxy.

Tomorrow.

To braid or not to braid

I have quite the backlog of resins to get through, with the bare minimum goal of getting them all prepped and primed this year, since some of them are beginning to turn an unfortunate shade of yellow.  A couple of them are nice and straight forward, sand, fill, prime; no extra work needed.  A number of them I have plans for some small changes, new mane, tail, small profile or ear changes.  And one or two are getting a pretty major overhaul because, well, why not!

One of the biggest guys I've got here also turned out to be one of the easiest to prep, Morgen Kilbourn's Quartermeister.  

He was all set to get a layer of primer today, but I couldn't help but think how nice he would look all braided up like a proper dressage horse.  Now, I have two possible colors picked out for him (ok, more like four, ha).  One a dark dapple grey with light/white mane and tail, sort of like this filly.

so pretty

The second being a lighter dappled grey with flea bites, like Unbridled's Song here.  Not sure on light or dark mane and tail.  

Of course, I can also see him in black with minimal chrome.

yep, perfect.

The current standing up mane would really highlight the white mane on the dark grey.  But, it could look pretty with the braids too.  So, I suppose it comes down to whether or not I want to add another horse to my braid list.  Hmmm.  In the mean time, I'll just keep prepping away.  

Technology age

That's it, I've gone and done it now!  I've created a Facebook page for the studio!  I'm hoping that this will help me be more active by allowing me to post more random or in the moment things rather than feeling like I have to compose a (fairly) cohesive blog post.  I know not everyone use Facebook, and I have no intention of isolating readers, so the blog will certainly not be abandoned!

As far as actual work goes, I'm beginning to prep up a storm and trying to narrow in on color choices for everything I plan on painting.  Eventually.

Today I worked on Kitty Cantrell's Nightmare, mostly finishing the prepping and getting a layer of primer on. Nowadays I only really prime my pieces in gray or red depending on what color they are going to be painted. Nightmare here will end up mostly black.

She is such a cool resin. I love the fantasy horses, even if I never plan on getting them in the show ring. I've got a special idea in mind for this piece, but we'll see if I can pull it off. It is way outside my knowledge as a painter. Should be fun!

Remove the cobwebs and dust off the blog

Let's give this another go because exciting things are in the future!

2015 was a rough year for me, but I'm working towards making 2016 better.  So in that vein, I'm going to do something very unusual for me.  I am not the kind of person to make resolutions, but I am going to aim to update this blog a minimum of once a month.  Yes, the bar is set very (very) low, but if I succeed that will be 12 more blog posts than last year.  Huzzah!

So, it's time break out the paintbrushes and carbide scrapers, fire up the heat gun, and pick up the dremel (and maybe even dig into some clay!)

Shifu approves! 

Check please!

He's done!  *flail*

Prepped, primed and ready to prance into your (or your favorite painters!) studio for some color!

I am very pleased with how he came out, and hope somebody out there will love him from his flippy forelock...

to his flagged tail!  It's always a little sad when one of my customs sells, but I love seeing them in some real color!

Somebody snap him up so I can go torture... err, treat!  another pony!  You can find him on MHSP here!

Chop chop!

Riding the slow train

But good things take time, yes?

"I fall to pieces..."

 Okay, that guy needs a lot more time...

But this one is nearly done!  A simple mane and tail change, only 15 months in the making.  :P  Why yes, I do feel like the slowest customizer ever.

Mr. Fancy Prance

 Just a tiny bit left to do on him, then I can get him prepped and primed.  He will most likely be fore sale unpainted as I have nowhere good to paint at the moment.  So look for him on MHSP in, say, another 3 months.  HAHAHA, maybe I can find some magic and get him up by the end of September.  No one hold me to that!  Good things take (a ridiculous amount of) time (around here).  ;)

Long Time Gone

But with any luck, there may be some things in the near future!

Shifu is pleased with creative cranage

Two Transformations - Part 2

Let's just forget the face that I can't count days to save my life.  It's tomorrow right?  :D

Here is my second victim....err...project!  Same as the first guy from yesterday's (ish) post, he was also originally for Blab's stablemate custom challenge.  He is currently even less done than the other!

He started life as a red roan...

And swiftly fell to pieces

This is way to much fun to be legal  XD

Reattach the important parts...

And I shall call him Stumpy

More wire since I lost the legs...

What?  Those are someone else's legs, I swear!

Taking a break, it's difficult pulling yourself back together!

Shifu the stalker

And finally getting ready to jump!  Shifu lends a helping head, err, hand.  No, head.

So lots of work left to be done on this guy.  Finishing the neck, adding muscles to the shoulders and haunches, legs (only semi important right?), he will be getting a totally new face, ears, mane and tail- braided of course, and then he'll be topped off in a luscious bay with a little bit of chrome.  The perfect A rated 4-foot hunter.

Two Transformations - Part 1

In my last post I said I had things I couldn't share yet.  These two pieces were supposed to be for Blab's Stablemate Custom Challenge, but with the end days away there is no way they are getting finished in time.  So now I can show them!  Yay!

The challenge was to start with a selected mold, this time Breyer's G3 Cantering Warmblood, and make it into something else.  This could be with just a paint job, a simple custom (just mane and tail changes), drastic custom (anything beyond many and tail) or a fantasy piece (divided into repaint and custom).  And there were two categories amateur and professional.  I don't know what I would have gone into.

Regardless, I started with just the one piece  and he had no idea what was coming.

So first you cut up the pieces...

Then you rearrange them...

Hmmm, this looks wrong maybe.

Lengthen the back...

WAIT!  TOO MUCH!

Using the head as a guide.  

"I feel funny... and really short."

Reattach the head...

"Yay!  I don't see the underside of my feet anymore!"

Fill in some holes, make a base for the neck, and make a few leg tweaks...

 Add muscle to the neck!

Change the legs some more and sand...

and sand...

and sand...  ack too much!

Around this time is when I got a second idea that just had to be done so I got another body!  A comparison of the changes so far compared to the original.

 Ok, time to put some muscle back on!  This is where he is at right now.  He still needs his legs to be finished, chest muscles added, the right haunch is going to be resculpted, feets, face, ears, details, wrinkles, mane, tail, ears....  And to top it off more sanding!

I haven't decided on a color yet.  He is definitely going to be fore sale once completed, so I might offer him unpainted too.  I'm going to give the second guy his own post as this one has gotten very long!  Until tomorrow!

Rise from the ashes

Silence is brutal.  Even worse is having something to share and not being able to!  For the past two months I've been working on one, then two stablemates for Blab's SM custom challenge.  Part of the rules is no sharing of photos allowed!  I got my mojo back and I couldn't do what I like most, post it everywhere!  Haha!  Just over one month more until the deadline, so I'll be able to post them after that.  Whether I finish them in time, ehhh, that's another story.

But in the mean time I've just started using the time waiting for my stablemates to dry to work on other projects.  I purchased a Phoenix around Christmas since I had some cash and she was cheap.  And I loved her so much that I got another one recently.

The first one is getting new ears, straighter profile, braided mane and tail, fixed neck muscles, small eye changes, shoes removed, flatter cheeks and bigger cheek bones, tucked head, longer withers, and a bunch of other small changes.  I really want to get onto the mane and tail, but those are for last.

The second is getting a much smaller makeover.  Straighter profile, fixed neck muscles, eye changes, longer withers,and possibly a banded mane and new ears too.  She is most likely going to be for sale once completed, painted or unpainted I'm not sure.  I have a ton of colors I would love to see her in, but painting will add more time to how long I need to spend on her.

Yikes, I couldn't take a photo to save my life last night.  Now to get back to working on the SMs again, whee!

There and Back Again

Pick up, put down, move on, repeat.


Back in August, I essentially left the hobby to focus on my real horse instead.  Riding, training and teaching is what I want to be my life, my profession.  The hours I spent trying to work on customs was time I could spend bettering my riding and training techniques.

Poor video still frame of us clearing 3'6"

Things were going great for a few months.  Beauty looked amazing, was fit as can be, soft and responsive.


Then October 14th, it all fell apart.  What was supposed to be a simple hack around the property turned into what would be one of the worst days for any horse owner.



Beauty fractured her pelvis.



So now I had a decision to make.  One vet told me to put her down, there was nothing to be done.  Another said she could get better, but of course there were no guarantees.  I was prepared to put her down.  Well, not really, but as prepared as I could be.  I visited her everyday for a week, feeding her her favorite treats.  She was obviously unhappy, hiding in the back of her stall and being non responsive.  The day I was going to call the vet to set up the appointment, I visited her again.  And it was like I had a new horses again.  She was bright, happy.  So I didn't do it.

Now it's just a waiting game.  Three months in and she's doing better than any one expected.  She's walking better than expected, she's been approved for limited turnout, and is still bright and perky.  The vet calls her a miracle horse.  I'm still holding out that one day we'll be able to ride again.

And no it isn't Christmas anymore, but these are the most recent torture pictures I have of her.

So, now that I've got all this extra time that I'm not riding, the model horses have called me back again.  My totting Wixom is getting a complete makeover starting with some eye balls.

And I purchased a Phoenix during Seunta's Christmas sale.  She is really lovely in person!  I intended to braid her up and sell her unpainted, but she is so pretty I'm not sure I want her to leave now.  My only question is whether I braid her tail or not.  I know that Quarter Horses typically leave the tails loose, but I have seen a few braided all around at Congress sooo...

So, like everything in my life, I am and will forever continue to be all over the place.

 

"Not all those who wander are lost."  - J.R.R. Tolkien