Losing my head!

Technical Difficulties: &&^%%$*!!!!!

I still have not gotten a tripod, so many of my pics planned for today were very blurry, GRRRRR I am going to get one after school, pinky promise!
But here is another head swap...this is a Memphis Belle with the Lucas warmblood head. Now this model I did NOT use the ears. Instead I drilled a hole and inserted pieces of metal sheet that I sculpted the ears over. I did this a while ago so I didn't think to take pictures, but I will do a demo on this soon. Ears can be a tricky thing, sometimes its best to just start over. The extra head is how I swap plastic heads. First I cut the head off, fill with foil and apoxy, then stick two sculpture wires into it. Once its dry, it give me a stable head that I can adjust the position and length of the neck with. Make sure to use two wires though, otherwise building up the neck is way too difficult....will do one of these for you too! Sorry its so fuzzy, will take a better one tonight, WITH A TRIPOD


Here is the Godiva. Now these are the Lucas ears...BUT to put them on, I drill a small hole into the ear then into the ear hole in the skull and but a piece of wire to pin them together. Again, poor focus!

Swapping heads is a GREAT way to make a really cool remake without having to do major resculpting...Below is "Kiss My Purdy Azz" (for the record, I did NOT name him, blame Linda!)

He is a multi multi live show winner and was National Champion CM longear in 2008

Man this pic is way too small, but this is the Miz Charisma/godiva cross that was featured yesterday...Charismatic Gentleman

And here is a resin with a new look, a CM ravenhill revisted. Stacy herself kept him for her collection! Now my unpainted I got in exchange for this guy is spoken for (another tack goddess sacrifical victim), BUT I just found out that I will be getting another one....any ideas????

And for the record Stinky....you know who you are ;) I am a SCIENCE teacher, not EANGLISH so forgive my grammer! giggle

Off with their heads!

Tribute to a Tack Goddess

Well big shock, I forgot my camera at the show this weekend, but I will get some pictures of those stablemate remakes soon after I get my new tripod....
So instead lets start with a lesson on switching heads! Now I love to remake, and I like to paint, and most of all, I am crazy for performance showing but HATE to make tack! So I am very fortunate to have three tack goddesses that are willing to trade for horses. I would like to take a moment to share the stories behind how I met each of them. Today stars the lady who was responsible for making the very first LSQ western saddle I ever had and is totally at fault for thus getting me hooked on performance, Kathy Wiggins.
Years ago when I first started remaking and went to a few live shows I saw performance as something amazing, and wanted to get into it. But being in college I didn't have extra cash to buy tack....I saw this beautiful WP set with this amazing beaded bridle, breastcollar, and matching halter and I had to have it. It was made by Kathy but I didn't get it from her directly. So I had this saddle for years, it was always my favorite, took it to Germany where it was great admired as well.....BUT during a rather nasty divorce it and many other of my personal belonging magically disappeared. Years go by and just a few years ago I was selling some extra Aegis resins, Kathy wrote about them....wait, is this THE Kathy Wiggins, the Wigmeister?? Turns out it was and Kathy has regretted it ever since! She is a GREAT friend and feel so lucky to know her, and the stuff she can make is amazing. Best of all I can talk to her about everything and anything, and with all this talent goes a fantastic sense of humor.
She has this incredible ability to see a picture and just make a tack item, no matter how unusual. Her knowledge is just unreal. I have never understood how model horses can sell for so much with what I know is relatively few hours of work, yet tack never seems to reflect that as much. So I am telling all of you, worship your tack goddesses because they are talented treasures that deserve so much more that what they get!


Kathy made me this portuguese set, I really need to take a picture of just the seat on this saddle, it looks so real and the stirrups are REAL carved wood! The horse is a remade Keltic Salinero and I remade the bull out of a Herden steer.

This parade set is my favorite. All the leather has this incredible braided trim, looks like a real edge on a saddle! I made the silver pieces and the doll for this set, so its a bit of both of us and one of my most treasured pieces

She made my NAN winning spanish tack, it has every little detail down to the little handhold things on the saddle! There is so much more to share too!

Kathy is working on some new special things for me, and the goddess needs a sacrifice...Kathy loves gaited horses, and we decided that Godiva, the Kilbourne morgan, would make a neat jennet with a new head......

Godiva's beautiful head did not go to waste, here it is on a Miz Charisma body. The finished horse top tenned at NAN last year.....

I decided to use on of the Lucas Iberian heads. First this is to take off all the extra resin behind the cheek bones. I use a large sanding drum for this. The blue line marks where I sand too. This makes it much easier to get a nice joint to the body.

Okay this stablemate shouldn't be here, why can't I delete the picture?????

Below is the Godiva body. You can see I sanding away all the edges from the neck after the head was cut off. Its always better to take extra off. That way when you sculpt in the new part it will not look so bulky. I drill two holes in the neck and two into the head, fill with apoxy, then insert armature wire to wire the two together. No way the head can come back off without a really good saw!

More tomorrow, I didn't take as many in progress pics this time, kinda got distracted by the Masters (Go Lefty!) but will share with you many frankenstein photos this week!

Training Barn, NAN preview!

TGIF!!!!!!! as a school teacher I can't say that enough!


Here is the next edition of the Training Barn!
First up is a bit of a NAN preview for my auction piece. Last year, I remade a breyer FAM to a camel, yes thats right, a dromendary camel cow. All because Danielle wouldn't sell me her Herden camel! Just kidding, but Danielle has been such great inspiration for me over the years I have to give her a hard time! She really wouldn't sell me the camel....but because it was already sold. The Fliegender Feldman is named after her too. She is such a great person and friend and I am GREATLY saddened she had to leave us in the midwest, but good luck at school girl!
Anyway, I worry about Imafam staying in one piece since there was so much apoxy and foil involved, so I am making a mold. The NAN piece will be a resin Imafam complete with rider and camel tack, leading a snarky arab stallion. NOT this horse, and the horse will only have a halter presentation set, but thought everyone would like to see the inspiration for the NAN piece. More will follow later! Resin copies will NOT be for public sale except for the one in the NAN auction.
Below is what Imafam looked like in progress, and yes, I drink a LOT of diet coke! You can still see the breyer hooves in her feet from the underside. Last year at Breyerfest I offered a free paint job for anyone who could guess the model she was made from. Over a hundred guesses but no one got it!

This Huck Bey remake is the Bey Ali....Bey Ali is a great showhorse in halter, performance (costume) and workmanship. He is offered at $500. I try to price my models for the hours in them, and am trying to keep prices down. Some, like Mole Bait, were so much work and how shown so well I ask more, but I try to resist the ebay temptation for postings. Of course, getting $2000 for a custom would be awesome, wouldn't we all agree????

Here is another pic of him, this was taken outside at the last show. he has tons of NAN cards!

And Docs Diana, a very successful little western/other performance horse, and a winner at halter! She is offered at $450. She has a stack of cards to her credit as well, look for them both at NAN and Breyerfest!

See the other Training Barn post for the barn details, and keep the comments coming!

These next two are really fuzzy, my tripod got thrown away accidentally on Wednesday, I left it out at the end of the driveway where I take pictures, oops! The WBs pic was way too fuzzy to post, but here are two of the little stablemates that were featured in the customizing articles.

Thanks again for reading! I will post pictures of them all completed this weekend.

Mini show tomorrow, will NOT forget the camera!

Stablemate Remaking, final day!

Welcome to the final day, the day where you can finish up remaking and prepare a model to paint! To answer a commom question, I get my dental tools off ebay, but you can find them in flea markets too. For priming and sanding, I get my sanding sponges and the rustoleum primer at Menard's (home improvement store, Wal-Mart doesn't carry the thin sponges) and the spray gesso from Dick Blick's www.dickblick.com
First step, sand models all over with a 150grit sanding sponge after all apoxy is dry. You can use the cordless dremel on low to sand in the ears and pasterns with a diamond dust bit.



Brush off all dust BEFORE you spray, I have a stiff stencil type brush I use for this. Dust will make little bumps in your final finish.

Here they are with the sanding sponge type I use. Allow to dry for about an hour, this really depends on your room temp and humidity. DO NOT use spray white primers. The chemical pigments they use to make white really tend to get sticky on models. I have researched to find out exactly why the is, but best I can figure its a reaction with those white pigments and the plastic of the model itself. I use the gray primer since it seems to have a smaller pigment size than the rust color so that leads to a smoother surface

The warmblood after one layer, can you tell I hung on by the tail? He still needs some buffing on the belly.....for this I a 180 grit sponge or an old 150grit that doesn't have as much tooth to it. Making sure I get all sanding marks out too.

The little drafter, standing up he really is neat, but thats not until he is painted!

And the little reiner who I completely didn't take progress photos of. He has a whole neck neck with a long reiner mane..but apparently I only copied this side onto my flash drive...sorry V was on last night and I was distracted!

After they are perfectly smooth I spray with gesso. You can paint right on the grey primer, but for certain body colors a white base is better. Spray gesso is AWESOME to paint on. Has just enough tooth that paint holds on wonderfullly from the first layer, so do pastels, and best of all, its NOT sticky!

Okay next you will see them painted, and next week its a Frankenstein remake, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!! LOL

Keep the comments coming!

Stablemate remaking, Day 2

Thank you for all the great comments! I do want to make some additional safety comments. I place a small fan behind me to blow the alcohol vapors away, and better yet have a window open too. Alcohol fumes, if inhaled excessively, can be harmful so its better to be careful. As far as the apoxy itself. I put lotion on my hands before I handle it and wash thoughly afterwards, and try to do as much sculpting with the brushes as possible. When was working in a lab I hate to think of all the stuff I had all over my hands (like benzene, yikes) so I try to use caution. If I am mixing up large amounts for larges bases, I wear gloves. Research for yourself and make sure you are comfortable with your personal safety!
Speaking of bases, since both of these guys are on two legs, they will need bases! So I wrap a hardcover book in foil, then pressed out thin oval sheets. I make the sheet long enough so it entends past the stride of the horse, and about a 1/4" wider than the horse on each side. Then I put a LOT of alcohol on them, and press the horse into the clay, making good hoof imprints. Gently lift the horse out, you may need a finger to hold the base down. The excess alcohol keeps it from sticking too much.


Then I place these in front of the space heater to dry. Several people have said that they are scared to try remaking, please don't think that! A year ago my parents moved out of the house I grew up in, and I found this guy in a box, the very first horse I remade over 20 years ago! I used a candle and bondo to do it, he still has one shoe that I remade flattening solder on the basement floor....oh man what a memory! So try and try again and don't be afraid to make mistakes. Remember Edison said he never failed, he just learned over a 1000 ways how NOT make a lightbulb!

Another thing, even with a simple remake you can make a big difference by cleaning up the pasterns and ears. This reiner is getting a new mane, but I want to get rid of all that extra stuff in his pasterns. Here are the little diamond dust bits I use to do this. The variable speed dremel is a must for that. At high speed it would tear his legs to bits! I do have a cordless one I use to do seam sanding, but it just doesn't have enough torque to really drill areas out.

Now here is the drafter with his neck bulked out. I to this by laying down little pieces of clay roughly shaped into the muscles outline, then smoothed into place first with my fingers, then with the brushes. Let the clay set up a bit (about 30 minutes depending on your room temp) before you try to put in details.

The brush I use is in the picture, a golden taklon flat. I use cheap brushes, but be warned, sometimes the alcohol with cause the bristle glue to dissolve and they fall out! Try several till you find a brand you like.

Above I have used the sculpting tool to make wrinkles, lightly score a line into the clay where you want the winkle, then smooth using a ROUND brush, like the blue one here. Now he has to dry, and hour in front of the space heater does this. When dry sand the neck area nice and smooth, I use a 150grit sanding sponge. Not perfect, just get rid on any big goobers. Now I block out the mane. I want him to have a double sided typical drafter mane, so I make little chuncks in the approximate shape I want the mane and tail to be.

I forgot the last picture of the mane with hair details, but its the same process I did on the warmblood tail. I use the little plastic tool, sharpened pencils, dental tools...try different things and see what you like! Tomorrow I will do through sanding and prepping, and then off to paint!

Stablemate Remaking

Mini Remaking 101

Here is the first installment of what I hope to be a popular series of customizing blogs. For this one I have chosen one of the new stablemates and the popular drafter mold.
To start with you need materials. I use Apoxy Sculpt in natural color that I get from Aves Studio. You can contact them at avesstudio.com. To smooth the apoxy I use denatured alcohol, NOT water! Then a couple of sculpting and dental tools and some golden taklon brushes (yes brushes!). Arm yourself with a good coping saw with a 6"clearance, a variable speed dremel, and a heat gun. And most of all SAFETY GOGGLES!!!!!!!!!
So lets start!
I love the new warmblood, but I want him to be in correct extended trot with the hind leg in the air. So I make a cut on the inside of the hock joint. Rule of thumb, cut plastic away in V shapes on whatever side you are trying to move a part towards. If this were a big horse, I would then make into the back of the hock to make is easier to move. Not needed with the stablemates.

Next I want to do the drafter as a snorty stud with a tucked head, so I make a V cut on the underside of the neck, the side I want to tuck the head to, then a slit in the neck right behind the ears. I do this sitting down, with GOGGLES (I am a science teacher by day, can you tell?) with a towel across my lap. Rest your arm and hand holding the horse against something or sawing will be a bear, and you may snap the leg.

Then heat VERY gently, especially the legs. With stablemates, a hairdryer is enough to move the legs, but a heat gun will be needed for bigger parts. Hold the gun at least 6 inches away and test the joint ofter to see if its ready to move. Use a low heat setting if your gun has one. The problem with the newer plastic is that it tends to bubble easily from over heating, if that happens you will just have to sand and maybe fill in the area. Once the parts are moved where you want them. Dremel away the plastic on each side of the moved area, down past level. This will make it look nicer when you sculpt the new muscles in and prevent it from looking bulky.

Above here they are with the joints moved and excess plastic taken away. I use the diamond dust grinders and a small sanding drum to do this on low speed. I also heated the warmbloods tail to give it some wave and more movement than the original.

Next to start sculpting! Mix up small amounts of apoxy. Really try to remake in layers, not only will it turn out smoother, but you will be able to put more details in the apoxy. To start with, I just do a basic fill in of the neck area to give the foundation to the actual muscles. Smooth in the apoxy with denatured alcohol and your fingers, then brushes in the alcohol. Leave brushes in a GLASS jar with alcohol on them to keep them from drying out. And make sure you wash your hands. It is drying, so best to put some lotion on your hands after you are all done as well

The drafter needs to dry now. I place them in front of a small space heated on low. Not only does it speed up drying time, but will help get rid of the finish chemicals in the plastic that can cause leaching later on (make you model shiney)

Next I roll out little snakes of clay and lay them on the tail. I rough in tail strands with a small plastic sculpting tool. You can make the hair wavy or straight depending on your tastes

Then smooth the hair with a large taklon brush in alcohol. Make sure you stroke in the direction of the hairs. Use a small brush where the apoxy meets the plastic with some pressure to ensure a smooth transition between the two.

Okay enough for today, tune in tomorrow for more! Please let me know what you think and what else would be helpful!

Show Results!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to Latrisha Wise's all halter NAN qualifying show in Iowa. It was a fun show with great competition. The only thing that was a surprise was that all customs and resins showed together. For me, this is always a challenge since I show mostly customs, and in many class such as the sport horses, they just don't do well against the valor, victrixes, and all the other amazing sport resins out there. But I was happy with the results. "The Fliegender Feldman" above did win the other spanish class, Hooray he can go with to NAN this year! Now you will notice not many of these pics were actually taken at the show. I was trying to work on finishing this Bitty Bosco that was for a donation all day, so my photography was a bit lax! You will get to see him in a couple of days

This guy was a great surprise. My good friend Shannon Rodgers was there and she had this little guy, and original LB size sculpture I did back in 1996! There are 5 resin copies out there, I don't even have one, but it was a great memory to see him! Thanks Shannon!

Docs Diana is a remake off the new breyer arab mare. Typically I show her in performance where she is a great little western horse. But she does well in halter as a part arab pony. I will be showing her at NAN this year in halter and performance, and at Breyerfest, but she is for sale in the training barn. Will be posting her offically later this week. I took this picture outside the show, lying lopsided on the ground...LOL. What was amazing to see was this town was destroyed by a tornado a couple years ago, to see how the trees were growing back and the path on the new houses outlining where the tornado hit was incredible. I should have taken pictures of that too!

Mole Bait won his class and was division champ. I will be taking offers on him until the end if April for his sale after NAN. Just contact for details privately please

This is Sue Peet's scarlet Susie Mae. I redid her with a tack friendly mane, forelock and tail but she does well in halter too. She won the other draft class. This picture was taken at a show a month ago though!

Jennibray won her class too. Another model meant for performance, but she is pretty too, even without spots! She is a remake off the Eberl Nancy resin. Don't even ask, she is going to the tack goddess Jen Buxton (I mean she is even named after her, not that I am trying to say Jen is a bit of an a$$...giggle oh I will pay for that!) after NAN this year. Jen made this amazing pack set too

This is Lady Liberty. She is breyer clockhorse with a Keltic Salinero head. She won her class and the division against some stunning resins. I really love this horse and can't wait to take her to NAN and breyerfest. She is a project that my good friend Linda Jensen inspried, so she is going to Linda's house after the show season.

Look I actually took a picture at the show!!!!! oh course, I had already packed have the horses....oh well what can I say I am having a blond lifetime! Don't forget tomorrow I will start the stablemate remake with some of the new molds, and at bloggers request, one is a drafter!

Thanks again for tuning in, this is a blast to do!