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Pre-NaMoPaiMo Reports, & Tutorial: Fixing A Broken Tail

1/20/2018

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 With NaMoPaiMo fast approaching the first day of February, work on prepping chosen models is in full swing! This year I will once again be sharing my blog with my friend Kim Prosek for reports on her project. I am pleased to welcome another of my friends this year as well, Carole Ingram, who will also be sharing her NaMoPaiMo progress with us! 
 Without further ado, let me hand the screen over to Kim for her pre-NaMoPaoMo post! 


 My NaMoPaiMo entry for 2018! Maggie Bennett’s Furia, customized into a threatening Pegasus.
 She is mostly prepped and primed here. I hope to paint her similar to a Ferruginous Hawk.
Let the madness begin!!


 Isn't that Peggy awesome?? Kim did the CMing on her, of course, managing to find a bird figurine the right size for MM wings!
 Kudos, my friend, for wrangling wings onto such a small pony!!
 & now for a word from my friend Carole on her chosen victim!


 I just signed up (Jan. 7th), I'm going to do a PAM in chestnut.
 Here is where I am now (Jan. 15th) on this snow globe snowy day here. I do have an issue; balance. I was hoping the apoxie/mane would throw her weight to that side. Nope. Tried to add to hoof. No good. I hate to have to peg front hoof.
 Got the mare pegged (Jan. 18th) and worked more on her neck. I had a hoof edge and didn't want to mess up her frog so it turned out to be a trench. I glued it and next day used apoxie to even the hoof wall again. Just trimmed the peg to even all hooves, yay!! Have lots of time to prep so here is where she is now. I added to her ears and cheeks too.

 Yay! Glad she is standing steady now Carole! She is such a sweet looking mare! She should look great by the end of Feb!!
 As for my NaMoPaiMo horse, I have wanted to do a tutorial on how to paint the basic color bay ever since NaMoPaiMo last year. So when looking for a prospect for this year's NaMoPiaMo, that was on my mind. I found a Nocturno by Kitty Cantrell for a song, & I think he would just rock a deep & dappley bay!
 He is second hand, his mold having been released in 2002! (Good Lord, was that really 16 years ago?!?) He had a basic prep job, a coat of white primer, & a layer of airbrushed acrylic. He had also suffered a cracked tail which had been repaired. His great price more than made up for any of this though.
 My! I never realized how BIG this sculpt is!! He's quite a hunk!

 Even though he was packed really well in a box that was a good size for him, that tail didn't agree & completely broke in shipping (much to the dismay of his seller!). I was fine with this though; I had planned to reinforce it anyway, to prevent just such a brake from happening in the future. So I was not in for any more work than I had already planed to do. It also gives me the excuse to share with you how to reinforce breaks!


Reinforcing Breaks With Wire Or Brass Rod

 I have used this technique many times on weak & broken legs, tails, ears, & hair tendrils. It gives the weakened piece much better support than simply gluing it back together does.
  
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You will need:

 *A Dremel
 *A high speed spiral flute cutter bit (I had to look that up! I have no idea what size it is, I've had it forever.) ...Or whatever size & shape bit will work for your project
 *A 1/2" sanding drum ...or files & some elbow grease


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 *A respirator & safety goggles
 *Wire cutters & two pairs of pliers in a size hefty enough to cut & bend whatever gauge you are using
 *Wire or brass rod in a gauge suitable for your brake (I used brass rod from the hardware store, in 2.38 mm & 1.57mm.)
 *Locktite super glue gel control
 *Baking soda
 *Epoxy, I used Aves Fixit, which is a very dense & sturdy epoxy
 *Sand paper, my preferred grit being 220
 *Any sculpting tools needed to resculpt lost details


 
 Regardless of where the break is, the approach is pretty much standard:

 With your chosen bit, mine being the cutter bit, Dremel a groove deep enough to inlay your wire across the break. I often draw a line where I want to Dremel, just to keep myself on track. For this break, with it being such a pressure prone spot, I decided to add three lengths of rod. The more wire you inlay at more locations around the break, the stronger the result.
  As you can see, this is dusty work, so be sure to wear dust & eye protection!
 Cut your wire & test it for a snug fit. I am using the bigger 3/32 (2.38mm) rod here.

 Then with pliers, bend it to fit the contour of where it will be inlayed. Being a nice straight tail, this wasn't too difficult. If you are doing a leg though, it can sometimes take quite a bit of tinkering to get it to flow with the bends & shape of the leg.
 If your break has a gap, glue the two pieces together as best you can before you add the wire. Once that is done, lay down a line of super glue in the groove you made, sprinkle a very little bit of baking soda on top, & carefully lay in your rod. Pliers come in handy here to place the rod & to force it down snuggly into the groove. You may wish to wear gloves to keep from getting glue on your fingers.
 Add a bit more glue around any gaps between the wire & the resin/plastic, wipe off the excess, & then pack it with baking soda. You can press it down firmly with a paper towel, but be aware that some of it may get glued to the horse (or you). Scrape off any wayward glue/baking soda before it sets well, I used a carbide scraper.
 After doing all three rods, the tail was much sturdier but I felt it could use a little more support. Best I could, I Dremeled a groove under the tail as well. I inlayed a length of 1/16 (1.57mm) brass rod the same way as the other three. I used the finer rod  just to simplify it considering the awkward place it was needed. 
 Sometimes the rod winds up being a bit above the level of the sculpture. That is where the sanding drum &/or files come in: grind down any wire that would show above your sculpture until it is level with the surface or even a smidge below it.
 Once all the brass rod was laid & ready to go, I mixed some Aves Fixit epoxy & pushed it into any crevices remaining, then resculpted the lost details. I chose Fixit since it is a very dense, hard epoxy once cured. I often use A + B epoxy which is even harder, for the more breakable areas like this. But it is more difficult to work with. Since I needed to sculpt hair here, I opted for the easier-to-use Fixit.

 Here is the repair after sanding the entire horse good & hitting him with some primer. The repair still needs sanded & worked a little more before I am totally happy with it, but it is now sturdy enough for me to hold him by the tail!
 I have used this technique for many scales, the finest being a LB scale foal, a Spark AR. She was a second, missing a wire in one of her fine little baby legs. I used, I'll guess 32 gauge, steel wire meant for the foundation of frames in a bee hive. Being steel, even as fine as it is, it is sturdy enough to use as reinforcement (works great for tail tendril armatures too!). I have also repaired the leg of a Lrg SM AR, Sherbert Lemmon, with a steel paperclip!
  So as long as you can Dremel a groove & find strong enough wire, this technique can be used on many scales & for many weak pieces!

 Stay tuned through the end of this month & all of February for many more reports on & tutorials for NaMoPaiMo!
 Cheers all!

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BF Recount: PS!

1/12/2018

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 I don't know how, but I managed to forgot this very important part of the last installment of my BF recount! At the campground, the office had a mighty special supervisor! Meet Graven!  
 Graven is a baby Crow who had fallen out of his nest when he was so little, he was featherless! The Campground owners found him & took him in. With the helpful input of a vet, they raised him to the handsome little guy he is here!
 He was a cute, noisy, & hungry little fella. I got to hold him too. :) He will be a part of their family now, as Rachelle said that he will have imprinted on people too much to ever be accepted by wild crows. They plan to let him have free rein once he can fly, but he will always be able to call the office home.

 NOW I think I am done with my recount!
 Cheers!

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NaMoPaiMo Is Coming!

1/2/2018

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 The National Model Painting Month (aka NaMoPaiMo) was a smash hit in its inaugural year of 2017! It must not have totally scared off its founding mother, Jennifer Buxton, because the party is on again for this year! Happily,  it is no longer a one woman show, which is good to hear! Jennifer has a staff, & a sign up system this time!
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 For those who don't know exactly what NaMoPaiMo is, it is a month long challenge for anyone, seasoned professional to curious bystander & everyone in between, who cares to join in; To take an unfinished model horse of any scale (prepped & primed is permitted), & in the span of February 1st to February 28th, to paint it with whatever medium & technique you choose.  
Picture
Check out Rastus's 2017 NaMoPaiMo journey here (click picture to link).
 I participated in NaMoPaiMo last year & had a good time with it! Since I am not on face book, where the majority of the chit chat goes on, I take to my blog to post my progress, as well as making the most of the opportunity to post a month long tutorial on my techniques for others to enjoy. So look for that!
 Last year's victim, er, project, was a hair-prep 'Rastus' AR by Kitty Cantrell with CM work by myself. This year's prospect is in the middle of a transaction, so I will reveal him, & also sign up, once he is in hand, just to be sure!  
 NaMoPaiMo is not a contest of any sort, merely a fun challenge as well as a chance to learn new techniques from others & the opportunity to share some of your knowledge too. But if you do sign up, you might find a goody in your mail box if you finish your pony within the month! 
 Please do go over to Jennifer's Braymere Blog to read  the official rules regarding it! Sign up is open now through January 31st.
 I hope that you will join in the fun! Paint a pony for February!

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BF Recount, Part Six - Finally: Nature & History

1/2/2018

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 Hey all! 
 First post of the new year & last post in my BF series (finally, right?). Amazingly there are no horses involved in this last one. ...You didn't think I'd let all these posts go without adding some nature did you?

 In 2016 I went down to BF with my friends Alayna & Laura. We tented at a little camp ground Alayna had stayed at before called Three Springs up in Corinth KY, about 30 min. North of the KHP. It was such a pretty place, nothing fancy & certainly nothing to satisfy the priss & prim, but that's why I liked it so much! They certainly care about their little valley & the nature it holds, so it is not manicured much more than mowing the camping areas. It also holds a good deal of history as well, which I had not learned of until after I had gotten home.
 When I knew I would be able to go back down last year I reeeaaally wanted to stay at this campground again. Tenting would have been fine as well, but Dad did not care for that idea. His original thought was to just go down & then find a hotel ...until I pointed out that about 10 to 15,000 people come to BF every year. He then decided that booking a hotel might be a good idea! But, surprise surprise, there was not a room to be had that was not an exorbitant price (remember, this was a mere six days before BF opened). He asked me if the campground had cabins; yup! They sure do!
 This is one of the examples where God's hand showed: Dad called to see about reserving a cabin; come to find that they had JUST had a cancelation a few minutes earlier which freed up exactly ONE cabin! *yes*! Good compromise! I got to see my campground & Dad didn't have to sleep in a tent!
 This is (a crappy cell phone pic) of our cabin. Nothing real fancy, it had electricity, bunk beds, a little kitchenette (we only used the mini fridge)... It was big though! It was meant to sleep something like 18 people, so Dad & I had plenty of room! There was a second floor, but we didn't use it; neither of us felt like climbing that attic ladder! It also had a nice little balcony with a pretty view of the valley. Even with the space, the thing only cost $50 a day! (My cheapskate heart rejoices!)
 I should have gotten more & better pictures, but I didn't. Oh well!

Picture
 I was smooshed into the far corner to get this pic & still didn't get everything. The kitchenette was to the right along the wall, the bunks where I slept were to the left, I am standing over the table, which was right next to the door, & the door you see part of led out to the balcony.
Picture
 Here's a pic I found from 2016. It was from where we tented. To the left is the hill where the cabin is (if you went far enough),  down that drive is the office/bathhouse/pool. The pond you see in the middle left there is where the froggy choir sings!
 This valley is really neat! During the War Of Northern Aggression (aka Civil War), it was a camp for both Confederate & Union troops. Rachelle, one of the owners, said that occasionally they still find relics in the creek that runs through the grounds.
 One of the interesting things still remaining is an old stone wall built by slave labor. Now before you go 'politically correct' crazy on me (which, honestly, if you are one of those kind, you probably shouldn't be reading my blog anyway!), he was a kind man who basically just came up with the idea of this wall just so that it would look like he was making his slaves do something. But anyway, it's a very pretty structure & I took many pictures of it.

 Ok, probably more pictures than you wanted to see of an old pile of rocks.
 Across the little valley from our cabin, up the other side you could follow a trail past a handful of old graves,

 Past an old well,
 & just beyond the well, the path ended at a little quiet space with benches & a cross.
 ...Dad put up with me very well, wanting to tramp all over the place.

 A few random interesting individuals crossed our paths: this moth (which I have no clue what it is since it's not an Ohio moth!),

 & a few bright red mushrooms were a couple.
  There was also a very pretty butterfly, but he was having none of the paparazzi, thank you very much. ...Darn him.
 One of the things I REALLY wanted to capture while I was there were the frogs singing. According to the owners of the camp ground, they are Chameleon Grey Tree Frogs, & they are only found in two places because of their specific chosen environment. I forget where she said the other place is, but apparently they were 'seeded' at both by a university study in the, 50s? I think? Here is a picture of one of the little guys from last year. Again, taken with cheap crap phone camera, so they are HORRIBLE pictures.

 Little froggies, BIG voices!!
 Saturday night, I spent a bit of time stalking the little wretches: I wanted to get audio of their very unique song. They must have radar though, because even with my hiding behind a dumpster, & waiting for minutes on end, they would all shut up as soon as I would carefully hit record!! I finally got them though!! Here they are, singing away!
 I spent a year trying to describe how they sound kind of like wooden beads being rattled around in a plastic drinking cup. Really cool sound!
  Let me say! They make an awesome lullaby if you are tenting right next to them! Plus all those hungry little skeeter eaters keep the vampire bugs controlled! 
 With it being so late at night I didn't bother actually taking video of the pond. But during daylight I did take a couple pictures of it.

 & with that, this ends my BF recount series! Thank you all for reading!
 Happy New Year & a Happy Ninth Day Of Christmas all!!

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  • Home
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  • Finished Piece & U/P AR Sales
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  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Thank You
  • Dictonary: Terms & Abbreviations
  • Wayne County Ohio Fair