Creative Spraying

Most models have a good handle- their tail sticks out, or they have a base, or something else easy to hold while priming, fixativing, or painting. But sometimes you have to get creative.

When my main projects are drying or otherwise on hold, I’ve been working on some of Maggie Bennett‘s awesome micro mini resins. They are super fun and I enjoy painting them in acrylics.

My current project is Maggie’s sleeping resin, Kahlua.

Because of her size and her pose, Kahlua doesn’t have a great handle. I needed to spray her initial layers with fixative, so I decided to get creative. The advantage to her pose is that she has a large area that won’t be seen- her belly and bottom.

So I grabbed my trusty dremel, picked just the right bit, and caaaarefully made a hole in her belly.

The drill bit I used was chosen to match the size of a toothpick. And thus…

Micro on a stick!

I made sure she was firmly on there…

…and then took her outside for an all-over spray of Dull Cote. Then I simply planted her stick in a glob of playdoh.

Easy peasy! She’s drying safely on the shelf next to her buddy Hazel, who also got a layer of fixative.

Hurrah! This will make the rest of my work on Kahlua much easier.

In the Studio After BreyerWest

Most of my hobby time since January was spent preparing for BreyerWest- customizing and painting RoboClop, making tack and props, and obsessively planning my classlist. Back in the studio now, I’ve got a number of fun projects in the works.

The work in progress cupboard

I’ve got two trade-commissions going: Hazel needs a few more coats of oils and her markings, while Moxie is getting her pinto pattern and acrylic details. I bought two of Maggie Bennett‘s fantastic resin micros at BreyerWest, one of which is half painted and the other of which I have grand plans for. On the right are two new horses (a CM and a resin) that I had just started in oils when the BreyerWest madness really took hold.

One thing that didn’t get done in time for BreyerWest was RoboClop’s pinto coat. He showed as a pretty bay with high whites, but he was always destined to be a tobiano. He got a bath to take off the sticky wax and now he’s getting his markings mapped on in colored pencil before I start layers of acrylics.

I’m loving having the new micros to work on- I like to do micros primarily in acrylics, and it’s fun to work on them between coats on other horses. This fantastic little sculpt is called Bambi, and she’s currently half dappled grey.

Sitting on my iPad with my main reference picture.

Lots of good fun in the future for me! Just one little thing delaying my work… I’m about to fly to Italy for a three week vacation :D Wheeeeee!

Sun and Fun

It’s been really lovely here the past week, which I hope means some I’ll be able to do some cross country schooling soon. I had a fabulous jump lesson this week- Cochise went over all sorts of scary new kinds of jumps with little fuss and no muss. Afterwards it was even warm enough to hose the horses off a bit. It only made a small dent in all of winter’s sweat and grim, but it’s a start.

Cochise and Emily drying in the sun

In the model horse world, I finished up my donation for Plastic Ponies on Parade, a Michigan live show benefiting animals in need. I painted a micro mini standing draft mare to a chestnut tobiano with mapping and little blue ribbons. Her hooves and lower legs have been refined to escape the micro mini blob look. She’s super cute.

Next up- working on my blue roan draft stallion, who still needs a name.

Repairing Damaged Finish

Unfortunately, one of the wounded from last week’s Great Feline Attack was Rumble Strip, the star of my recently finished racehorse diorama. Not only did he break off from his acrylic rod and the diorama base, but he also suffered some damage to his finish.

I am not confident using acrylics to paint a whole model or really achieve any shading, but at least I can do some discrete color matching to fix these boo-boos.

First I identified which brown shades would go into his repair. Then I set about mixing and matching colors to find which matched his damaged spots. The nice thing about acrylics is that you can remove them from the horse with water and a cloth or paper towel if the color doesn’t work- as long as you do it right away. So I could mix a color and test it on a spot without doing further damage to the original finish work.

I needed some darker colors to mix the right shades and to fix the marred spot on his tail. It worked, although I squeezed the bottle of Charcoal a bit too hard…

Happily, it didn’t take too long to fix up the damage. He certainly isn’t LSQ, but he wasn’t before either- and now he’s back to his lovely presentable self.

Attaching him back onto the base was relatively easy. All I needed was super glue with a fine tip and a bit of patience. It’s not as neat as before, but I might be able to file down some of the excess glue- once I’m positive that it’s thoroughly dry. And now the race horses are back on the shelf where they belong.

Alas, the other repairs will not be quite as simple.

Sales List Addition

Smithden Freya is looking for a new home!

Customized MM Draft Horse Mare. Now a bright bay with high whites and a blaze. She has a wire extending from her right foreleg that plugs into the base. The base is made with craft foam, sand, and hobby grass for a realistic “path” that lets this little lady get noticed.

She is painted in acrylics and is a proven photo show winner in breed and color classes. She comes with a halter photo. I will make a smaller, plain base for her at no extra charge. $10 + s/h.

Photo taken with flash. Please excuse the dust!