Primer Revelations

I’ve always struggled with priming horses, and I thought it was just me. But now I’ve seen the light.

It turns out I was just using the wrong primer. Primer with crappy coverage. Krylon Primer. I told Tracy of my primer woes and she recommended Rustoleum Primer. I picked some up yesterday and today my life was changed for ever. *Cue choir of angels*

I can’t believe how long I’ve muddled along with Krylon. This Rustoleum Primer is amazing. It’s night and day. The horse actually turns white when you prime it! And as a giant bonus, this primer doesn’t smell nearly as much.

My beautiful new primer with my beautiful primed horses!

I am so excited! I shall prime everything and everyone in my path! Thank you Tracy!

Play-Doh is Fun Again

Sara Gifford of FriesianFury Studio did a lovely blog post about using Play-Doh way back in February, but I didn’t have a reason to try it until recently. My resin drafter has a nifty little acrylic rod in his hoof to help him stand, and I needed to protect it from primer.

So off I went to the store to get some play-doh. At first I only found the big packs with many different colors, but then I found this handy zip pack for only $1.99.

I took a little piece of play-doh (man, even this small bag is going to last me forever) and smooshed it over the acrylic peg so it was completely covered. Then I primed him like normal.

After I was done priming, I simply pulled off the play-doh, with the acrylic rod safe and sound and clean.

I won’t have a frequent use for play-doh, but I’m really glad I got some. It’s one of those tools that is the perfect choice when you need it- you just don’t need it very often. But I’ll definitely never struggle with painter’s tape again. Those days are over!

Thanks for the great post, Sara!

Neverending Prepwork

The appy sporthorse and the pinto pony have both gained another layer of color. Meanwhile, I am sanding, sanding, and sanding some more to get Sleipnir ready to paint.

That’s my pile of used sandpaper… from one side. All those pieces makes for a lot of little seams. I’ve finally got both sides done and a couple teeny holes patched, so hopefully is ready for final priming. Fingers crossed!

Patches the Eight-Legged Horse

Sleipnir has a new nickname. Because he is made of so many parts, getting him fully prepped and smooth has been quite a task. Every time I look at him, I find new places that need filling and/or sanding. Last night I sat down and circled everything I could find that needed fixing.

Oy! I’ve got my work cut out for me. After some time with the sand paper and epoxy, he began to earn his new nickname, “Patches.”

It’s the rare epoxy-loosa!

Then I had some leftover epoxy (and time) so I made a bunch of ears for my collection. Ears don’t use much epoxy, so it seemed to take forever to go through my extra. But I used it up before it dried and now I have quick a few more ears for next time someone needs a transplant.

Upcoming Projects

Sleipnir may be getting the most press, but he’s not the only horse in progress. I’ve got a little herd of horses just about ready to be painted.

These two are getting their primer coats. The G3 Warmblood is a commission and will be a black appaloosa. The Roll resin will be a roany chestnut. He’s been kind of a pain to prep and prime- every layer brings out more little imperfections. But he’s getting there.

These ponies are all made of that rubbery plastic that sometimes gets sticky, so after they were fully primed they each got a couple coats of modge podge. That seals them so I won’t have an stickiness issues later. The Shetland (top) will be a chestnut pinto, the Dartmoor (middle) will be a black leopard British Spotted Pony, and the little Toob pony doesn’t have a color yet.

I should add that if you want to create the modge podge seal over the primed horse instead of over a finished paintjob, you’ll likely need to apply a layer of fixative (Dull Cote, Krylon Matte) to provide some tooth for the color to stick to.

I’m really excited to get painting. Sleipnir has a lot of little issues that need to be addressed first, but I’m hoping to start him with this batch. I have some cool ideas regarding his paint job.