I once made a decision to post more often on this blog. That was in July, and I haven't done anything about it. Part of the problem is school. There just isn't very much time to work on customs anymore. But I'm trying to manage anyway. . .

Recently, my beloved, mint condition, Smarty Jones model took a fall onto cement. After a brief mourning period, I decided he would look great in the dark bay I love to paint! I also recently got a Hartland Lady Jewel model and hope to repaint her. Maybe I'll do something besides bay for once.

So this time I won't only try to post more often, I'll try to have something to write about!

Breyerfest!!!

After three years of wishing and hoping, I'm finally in Kentucky! I can't believe that the opening ceremonies were just this morning - it's been a long, but awesome day! My favorite performers are by far the Cowgirl Chicks. I haven't seen Pecos performing yet.
How does this tie in with my normal blogging? At room sales I saw so many bodies I just wanted to hack apart. But alas, I have too many projects already. But I did add to my CL rearing stallion conga at the swap meet.
I've been told that I must get to my customizing, so expect more posts in the coming months!

The Trouble with Earth

My trouble with earth is not global warming, pollution, melting ice caps, or possible alien invasions. Rather, it's how to customize an Ethereal Earth body. He was one of my very first brand new traditional Breyers, and was also the horse with which I learned not to do a photoshoot on a windy day on rocks. (This picture was taken just moments before he became a body). I now have a new Earth, leaving this one available for cming. But what should I do with it? I don't want to do something too extreme - I was originally thinking of giving him a braided mane and tail until I saw the recent article in JAH that showed exactly that! I could straighten out his head, but that would include major neck work, which I'm not very skilled at yet. Currently I'm leaning towards a simple short mane with a short-ish tail. Something like this; http://www.best-horse-photos.com/images/Wild_Quarter_Horse.jpg
My last idea was to transform him into a doing a sliding stop. I'd just need to figure out if that would take major hip work - I don't want to ruin such a beautiful model!
Any opinions and ideas would be greatly appreciated!

French Bread and Anger Management

Perhaps you recall my Play-Doh post earlier, in which I showed the 'rough draft' of a Fighting Stallion Cm. I since then added an epoxy mane, and am not very pleased with the results. It looks like french bread. You know, those long baguettes that taste delicious? And it's not the first time my sculpted hair has turned out like that. (I'd rather not share pictures of the first time, as it was my very first drastic cm, and those never turn out well. . .. ) I guess I'll be sanding it down and redoing it.
In the mean time, I expressed my wrath on some poor bodies. Morganglanz got more of his neck chopped off, an old Jumper got his neck fully cut off, a semi-rearing mustang got even more mutilated. Etc.. . .
But, I've almost finished priming a classic warmblood, and the CWP is nearly finished!
I need to go take some pictures!

Another finished custom

Nothing extremely fancy here - he's just so tiny that I nearly needed a microscope. Well, he's only a mini whinnie, but still. . . . A long time ago, he was going to be appaloosa, but I felt like making him bay instead. And yes, he's bay, not black. Despite some minor cat-related setbacks, he got finished in a fairly decent amount of time! (That's rare for me!) He is painted with the same color mixture as my CWP, but ended up a lot darker. I have yet to perfect my photo skills, or maybe its just that I don't have a very good camera. . .

Fun with photoshop

Yes, this is a picture-only post; and no, it has nothing to do with any cms I've been working on. But I'm thinking of printing this picture out and hanging it over my workbench! It's not perfect, but it was fun to make!

CATastrophe!

Please pardon the pun, but it's exactly what has been happening at my workbench! When we got an adorable kitten for my dad for Christmas, I had no idea she would created such chaos. After all, our former cat hadn't ever really showed interest in anything that required physical exertion. However, Honey Kitty, as we call her, soon took an interest in my shelves of models. Uh-Oh. She eventually knocked over an entire row of CL models. Thankfully, they were unharmed and there were no more incidents for while. Then, a MW mule I had been working on for a while disappeared. I soon found it on the floor in the other room - missing one carefully crafted ear. I hope she didn't enjoy the taste of superglue and baking soda. That was the first time she injured one of my models, but not the last! A few days ago I found that the CWP I had been working on had fallen over. As a result, she had a scratch in her cheek. Honey-bunches-of-oats had also knocked over another MW, who was unharmed. But the final devastating blow came yesterday, when she again knocked over the CWP. I'd be able to tolerate it if it was just a scratch that she caused this time - but a chipped ear??? So, if anyone knows how to keep curious cats from causing catastrophes concerning cantering customs, please let me know! The models will thank you, though Honey might not!

You're never too old for Play-Doh

Happy New Year! After finally getting my workbench cleared off, I decided to start yet another custom. Except that I'm actually planning on finishing this one! It's an old Fighting Stallion. I'm not doing anything major to him, just a new mane and tail. The picture is from after I sliced off his mane and sanded his neck.
After I removed his old mane, I wanted to plan out his new one. My eyes fell on the tiny container of play-doh that happened to be sitting on my workbench. Play-doh doesn't hold texture very well, but it was great for figuring out how I wanted the mane to go. I've started the mane in epoxy and hope to have it finished soon.

Other projects I've been planning are a SHM and a classic QH mare repaint.