Category: NaMoPaiMo 2018 - The Art Of Carissa Kirksey ✝

NaMoPaiMo Draws Near!

1/28/2019

Wow, so, I guess I win the award for blog neglect, huh? It was just before the conclusion of last years NaMo when I fell off the Earth! My computer chose that time to finally start showing signs of impending death. Which brought on the side effect of panic on my behalf as I didn't have anything backed up. My circles are pretty low tech, so no one had ever showed me how to save things. But I digress. With the discovery of the library having a (brilliant!!!) tech lady, I got everything backed up, a new computer located, ordered, & set up! Still, that took me over a month, & by that time, I was completely out of my blogging groove.
But, here I am to at least partially rectify that! We all "Did It" & completed in time! So if I may, let me present to you the 2018 "I Did It" NaMoPaiMo ponies!

Here we have Kim's CM AR MM Pegasus.

Isn't she just fabulous??
& Angel's CM Classic Shire to a Gypsy, who won double seconds at his first show!

Carole's CM PAM, so preety!

& my Nocturno AR, who I've yet to get a decent picture of, poor fella.

Armed with a fresh computer that had better not have even the vaguest thoghts of dying on me this year, I once again will be taking my NaMo progress to this very blog, as well as sharing it with my friend Kim Prosek of Longwing Studio. Us face book-less hobbyists, lol. ;)

Kim is all signed up & rearin' to go with her restored & prepped 'Sleepy Shire', who she aims to paint a beautiful contrasty dappled pangare bay like this guy.

& my chosen pony this year is a Traditional 'Kipling' AR sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn...

…& is a commission from my good friend Laura to be a portrait of her Mini boy Astro. THANK YOU Laura for about 30 pictures of Astro!!!

Today, with all of four days 'til the start of NaMo, I thought I should maybe prep my dude for this year. Sounds logical, right?

As of my posting this, there are still about three days left to register for NaMoPaiMo if you'd like to join us in the fun! You need not be a master painter, just dive in & have fun! It isn't a contest, it is simply a challenge to paint any 3-D model equine, in anyway you choose, with any media you care to, & try to do so between February 1st at 12:01 & February 29th at 12 midnight. If you still need convincing, I suggest watching this video by Christina Riley. ...Actually, I suggest watching it anyway as it's fabulous! For NaMoPaiMo rules & registration be sure to check out the Braymere Blog here! Also, if you have face book, take a look at the NaMo FB page where the greater majority of the action takes place.

Stay tuned to my blog for a forthcoming post on prepping, & many updates on painting progress from both Kim & I!
Bring on February!!

Progress & Distraction

2/25/2018

Day 25 of NaMoPaiMo & Kim & Angel are still hard at work!
Kim had a little set back on wings today, they just weren't meeting with her approval.

So they were whited out & started over.

But she's much happier with the second try! I believe that she now just has details to go on her!

Angel has had good progress too! She's done fiddling with CMing & has been air brushing the base on her Gypsy! She's never air brushed before NaMoPaiMo! Kudos to her for trying something new!

She's also been having fun running with the inspiration that NaMoPaiMo has brought on & painted a couple SMs too!

Carole's still showing us all up. ;)

Me? Oh, well, um, I, haven't done anything with Nocturno this weekend. What have I been doing? Everything else! As usual I have a whole herd that is calling. Plus an experiment that I've been dyeing to try.
Today I broke new ground for myself & tried my hand at molding something for the first time ever. I made this medallion last week just for this endeavor.

Built my first ever mold box.

& mixed & poured my first ever silicone.

You have no idea how much I want to pull it apart & see if it worked or not. Morning can't come fast enough!
There are still three more days in NaMoPaiMo, we still have hope, right Nocturno? {:|
Happy painting all!!

Plodding Along

2/21/2018

One week to go in NaMoPaiMo! I have been neglecting my blog, but things are still moving, albeit slowly, for us all!

My Nocturno is still working on dapples. ...My my but we had go rounds on them! He was fighting me tooth & nail about them. But eventually, after the fifth try, I got them going how I wanted! I still have more to do on the other side before I can move onto the next step. *sigh* No matter how you do them, dapples are time consuming!! Alas, I do have other horses to work on too, so he has been getting my in-between time, poor boy.

Kim, likewise, has been picking at her NaMo Pegasus, but has other horses that have taken priority on being finished.

"This past week (Feb 12th) has involved me frantically painting and finishing another MM for an upcoming show next month. This will be my first show ever! And Carissa has kindly agreed to proxy for me. :)
Now that I have everybody done (well, almost) I can turn my attention to Furia. I am planning on painting her similar to the light morph hawk in the picture. This reference comes from The Sibley Guide to Birds. It’s an awesome book that is illustrated by the author, David Allen Sibley.
Cross your fingers that Furia cooperates!"

Fingers crossed, Kim! I think she looks good so far though! Can't wait to see what ponies you send me to show too!

Angel is still CMing her Shire-turned-Gypsy, but after a bit of a shaky start with sculpting, she's finally getting to the point of being pretty happy with him! She's still picking on the tail, so he may be a NaMoPaiMARCH pony. ;) I know I would prefer to be late but happy with my model, than finish in the month & forever dislike something about him, & I think that is how she is looking at it now too. :)

Carole, on the other hand, is still showing us all up. ;) She's sold her NaMo PAM, who was finished earlier, & has gone onto paint two medallions for herself! I think they look lovely!!

Wish us luck in this last week! We're still plodding along!
Happy painting all!

NaMoPaiMo Day 6

2/6/2018

Not a whole lot was accomplished in the way of NaMoPaiMo for me today. Other models were calling, so I did not do much to Nocturno, or any writing at all. I did start to add dapples in pastel, but I'm not sure if I like them. They look too small to me.

Yeah, I dunno. I'll leave it 'til tomorrow, but I might wash them off & start again. At least I'm not too far along! I also shaded his mouth, nostrils, & eyes, & a little around his head. Not much to look at yet!
Carole's moving right along though!

"Today I worked on the flaxen blending on her mane and tail. This was shades of cream, light tan, gold Pearl-X, white and pearl Pearl-X. Also popped the chestnuts on because that is a step I had forgotten before. ;D I also sent different pictures besides straight sides. She will be done fairly soon so I am thinking I should paint one of my 3 medallions."

& Angel's working on getting her Shire CM's tail attached, etching foals, & making tassels for her Arab costume!

"Tail wire... used what I had. Your right glue and soda on fingers is impossible to remove! Used razor blade; pretty sure I don't have a finger print on index finger."

Glad you still have fingers left Angel!

The fun continues! Check back later for more! :)

I Spoke Too Soon!

2/5/2018

Carole has a report today too!

"After more pigments I have her body pretty much where I want. I can do touch ups when spotted. I added acrylics today. Mane and tail French Vanilla and watered down white on socks. Just a base for m & t as they get more colors."

"One big problem is getting accurate pictures. I played with camera settings and they are so varied. Deleted nearly all and kept 2. You can see the differences."

Thank you Carole! She's looking beautiful, in both pictures! I dare say you are going to be the first of us to cross the finish line!

A Short Day Five Report

2/5/2018

Just me today, & not much to say at that! I am happy to report that Nocturno's oils dried in 24 hours, so he got a couple coats of Testor's Dull Cote today! Unfortunately for him, I spent my free time writing a tutorial on mixing oils instead of moving forward on him!

Boy am I ever pleased with him so far though! Hopefully tomorrow he'll get some love. I still have his oil session report to type up too though. We'll see which project gets my time tomorrow!
I hope everyone is having a great NaMoPaiMo so far! Keep painting all!

Mixing Oil Paint

2/5/2018

It's not pretty after so many months! But a lot of horses came from this mix!

Back in January I finally had to mix a new batch of oils since the last mix, the one I used in part for last NaMoPaiMo actually, had finally dried out. I had mixed it in Dec of 2016 & it lasted until Nov of 2017, so it certainly keeps!
This round I actually took the time to take pictures of how I mix a bay/red pallet so I could share it with you!

What you'll need:

* Pallet paper (not wax paper as it is too thin) I like Artist's Touch brand best.
* A pallet knife
* Paper napkins or towels
* Oil paint in colors of:
     - Van Gogh Burnt Sienna
     - Master's Touch Burnt Sienna
     - Master's Touch Burnt Umber
     - Van Gogh Raw Sienna
    - Master's Touch Raw Sienna
     - Master's Touch Naples Yellow
     - Master's Touch Lamp Black
     - Master's Touch Titanium White
* Pearl Ex powder in colors of:
    - Aztec Gold
    - Super Copper
    - Antique Bronze
    - Carbon Black
    - Micro Pearl (I prefer Pearl White but I'm having a hard time getting it)
* An apron, if you're smart, which I usually am not.

Now, you do not have to run out & buy the same colors in different brands. I use two different brands, Van Gogh from Pat Catans & Master's Touch, the Hobby Lobby house brand, because the tint varies from company to company. Since I have them both around I have the liberty to use both when mixing batches. I would warn against Winton brand oils though: In my experience, they have a very lurid color which I did not like in the least. It may work fine for you though! Everyone is different!

When painting in oils, or at least how I do, you start with the body color (the middle, medium shade of your color) & move out from there adding the highlights (the lightest color of your horse), & then the shading (the darkest color besides any black points). So you are going to need to mix at least three colors. Since I paint many colors on a regular basis I mix oils in bulk so I don't have to spend a chunk of my time mixing paint every time I need it. I also mix several different shades at a once so I can move up & down the 'scale' of color to do different shades & colors. What is body for one horse may be shading for a lighter horse. What is body for another could be highlight for the darker colored horse. It all depends on what base color you put down & what three shades of oils you put over them.

For this batch, I mixed five colors. For need to call them something I named them, as seen in the picture below.

To start, fold a sheet of pallet paper in half. Once the paint is mixed you will fold the paper over to store it, so you will only be mixing it on one half & the crease.

I've tried several brands of pallet paper. I really like the Master's Touch brand best. Do avoid grey colored pallet paper; it throws off the look of your color!

As I said, I mix bulk batches. If you don't plan to paint a herd of horses over the next year you won't need anything near as much as I am doing here! It really takes very little oil to paint a whole Trad scale horse. That said, better to have too much than too little, & it does save very well.

Starting with the Red mix: I used both brands of Burnt Umber,

You can clearly see the difference in shade from both companies! I *think* that it is Van Gough on the left & Master's Touch on the right.

Mix it up thoroughly with the pallet knife.

Now add Pearl Ex. The main purpose of Pearl Ex it to add a gleam to your finishwork. The effect of adding several different colors of Pearl Ex to your mix is akin to looking at a furry creature's coat in the sunlight: have you ever noticed the prism kind of glow they have? Same thing when your finishwork is in sunlight. It also has the extremely helpful benefit of making your oils dry much faster! I do not use any driers at all in my paint. Honestly they scare me! They can be dangerous. So I pour in the Pearl Ex to just short of making mud out of my paint. Depending on the colors (some oil colors dry slower than others), & the weather at the moment, my oiled horses are usually dry to the touch in an easy one to two days.

With the tip of the pallet knife, dip out a bit of Pearl Ex; in this case Gold. Don't make a mess with it like I did though! Go easy on adding Pearl Ex, it likes to pouf everywhere while you're mixing if you add too much all at once.

To this Red mix I also added Copper, Bronze, & Black Pearl Ex.

For a finished mix of this. Much more luminous, isn't it?

From here on out I didn't take as many pictures, but it's pretty much the same deal. The same technique was used for the other mixes, just different colors used. Make sure to wipe the pallet knife clean with a paper towel when you move on to a new color mix.
Here is the Light Red. Both Burnt Sienna, both Raw Sienna, & Master's Touch Naples Yellow oils. Gold & Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

The Gold Mix is both Raw Sienna oils, Gold & Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

Again you can see the difference in shade between the two companies.

Yellow, Master's Touch Naples Yellow oil & Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

Dark brown, which is mostly used for shading is almost black. Once you blend it in with your body color, it mixes with the body enough that it tones down to a little bit lighter brown than it starts. ...If that made any sense!
It is a mix of Master's Touch Burnt Umber & Carbon Black, with Black & Bronze Pearl Ex.

Then I add a little Master's Touch Carbon Black & Titanium White straight out of the tubes to the pallet. The white is for particularly light areas like mealy muzzles or bright flaxen hair tips. The black is for points, which will look even darker black if there is no Pearl Ex bouncing light.

Once you are happy with your new mix, fold the paper over on itself, write what color this pallet is & the date it was mixed on the back of the paper, & pop it into the freezer. You can put it into a zipplock for further protection, & a tupperware container is a good idea if there's a chance your pallet might get squished in the freezer.

& a great way to store your oil tubes is to hang them with binder clips!

So you don't have to sift through later, here is my loose red/bay color recipe for you:

Red:
Van Gough & Master's Touch Burnt Umber oils.
Aztec Gold, Brilliant Copper, Antique Bronze, & Carbon Black Pearl Ex.

Light Red:
Both brands Burnt Sienna oils.
Both brands Raw Sienna oils.
Master's Touch Naples Yellow oils.
Gold & Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

Gold:
Both brands Raw Sienna oils.
Gold & Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

Yellow:
Master's Touch Naples Yellow oil.
Micro Pearl Pearl Ex.

Dark Brown:
Master's Touch Burnt Umber oil.
Master's Choice Carbon Black oil.
Bronze & Black Pearl Ex.

Master's Touch Titanium White straight from the tube.

Master's Touch Carbon black straight from the tube.

There is no precise measurement for mixing oil color, so trust your eye & mix it to your need & taste.

An interesting note too is that these six colors are my entire stash of oils. From just Burnt Sienna, Raw Senna, Burnt Umber, Naples Yellow, Carbon Black, & Titanium White you can pretty much mix the entire rainbow of the horse world. I do add some Cobalt & Ultramarine Blues to blue-based blacks, but other than that, those are the only colors I ever use.

Hopefully that helps you on your journey in oil paint! If anyone ever has any questions, feel free to drop me a line!

Happy painting!!!

Whew!!

2/4/2018

Three CDs of Journey to the Center of the Earth & four episodes of Doctor Who & this is where I am:

He still has layers to go in oil & pastel chalk, but this is a good start! I am cross-eyed, so I will elaborate more later. Until then, here are Carole & Kim with their reports of the day!

"Here we go with around 5 layers. Working creams, black and metallics in there. Have my TOPSA show finished so she gets all my time now. ~ Carole"

"Our first weekend has come and gone already! Mine was actually quite productive, both in painting and household chores. I got multiple horses based. And the house finally cleaned after having the flu for two weeks. Yuck!
I thought I would include my airbrush setup/booth. I like to base my horses using an airbrush, I feel it gives a very smooth layer. I have a Badger Anthem airbrush. I still don’t know much about airbrushing, all of it has been self-taught and lots of watching YouTube tutorials. I would be very curious to know how other people mix their paint for airbrushing. I’m still struggling with that!"

"My setup includes putting down a plastic sheet, newspaper over it, and a box that has been cut open to contain some of the spray. I also like to have paper towels handy for any drippage. It’s not the prettiest setup but it works for now. Also, make sure to wear a respirator of some kind!
Pegasus Furia is based in a warm white and I started some chestnut color on the lower legs. Since she will be similar to a Ferruginous Hawk, I’m thinking her body color will be varnish roan. There are two color morphs in these hawks and I’m leaning towards the lighter color morph. We’ll see if that’s what she wants! I’ll try and find a pic of a ferruginous for the next blog.

"Until next time, happy painting!
~ Kim"

Happy NaMoPaiMo all! Check back later for more!

Dive In!

2/4/2018

Alright! We have tea...

It says READ, just so ya' know. ;)

Ten hours of unabridged listening...

Seriously good book if you never read it!

A brand new mix of red/bay oils...

A tutorial on mixing oil paint is coming in the next few days.

& a prepped, shod, & based horse.

Reference is pulled up. Time to finally dive in!!

Some Progress Today

2/3/2018

Those are the words of my friend Angel who text me this picture today! I invited her to do NaMoPaiMo with me kind of at the last minute. On Tuesday she came by to root through my body boxes for a victim & officially sign up. She found a classic Shire A that called to her & decided she wanted to make him a Gypsy; to take off his mane decorations & swap his braided tail for a Smart Chic Olena tail, also from my hoard. His new do was just started today! Once that's all finished, he'll be headed for a dark liver chestnut with flaxen m&t! It's going to be fun to have someone to paint with this year!

Carole made some progress as well!

"This is my first sealed layer. Used Brown Ocher (body) and a dark grey mix on eyes, hooves, etc)"

Her PAM is going to be flaxen chestnut with a little white when she's finished!

As for me... Still shoes! I wasn't going to finish them until after he was painted, but I decided to go for it. His shoes are made of pounded out 12(?) gauge aluminum florists wire, groove pounded in with a screwdriver & refined with dremel, filed & sanded to a fare-thee-well, studs added with sewing pins sculpted over with epoxy, & toe/side clips & nail heads sculpted on with epoxy. Anything sculpted was filed & sanded to where it's meant to be & painted silver with Precious Metals paint. Then I painted in some dirt with a little acrylic, which made it all pop! These were the only two shoes I detailed; since his weight baring hooves are not detailed on the bottom I cheated & left the aluminum flat. ...Apologies for the fuzzy pictures!

Kim does not yet have anything to report. She hopes to by tomorrow, as do I! I plan to have a serious oil session in the afternoon!
Hope everyone's having a great third day!! Check back tomorrow for more on our NaMoPaiMo journey!!

Ready, Set, PAINT!!

2/1/2018

NaMoPaiMo started today!! Can you feel the spark in the atmosphere? I can! Everyone is so excited & I love that!
Since last I posted I have been joined by yet another friend for NaMoPaiMo, having talked my friend Angel into painting with me! She's joined a bit last minute, but has a great idea for her classic Shire A!

Earlier this week Jennifer, NaMoPaiMo founding mother, asked painters & their victims to take a selfie for a start-of-the-month collage, which we all did. I can't help but share my beautiful friends here! Here are our self portraits, except Carole, who does not like pictures & wished to remain off my blog, which is perfectly fine! *Edit* Carole took a new selfie & gave permission for it to go on my blog! So we all are here now! :)

It's been a slow start for us all on this first day of NaMoPaiMo. Carole has been judging a TOPSA photo show, but is set & ready when the time allows. Angel has been working on an Arab costume, which is looking pretty darn good I think! Kim has been stuck at work; you can bet that her weekend will be full of painting though! & I have been shoeing my chosen pony.

Detailing & fitting Nocturno's new sneakers was the majority of the work done on him today. I'd meant to do it before day one, but other things called. The shoes are still not completely finished, but they are done enough that I won't be endangering my paint work now.

...I'd like to take a moment to mention how much I love my ferrier! Carl is always more than happy to show exactly how different shoes are done!

I did get Nocturno's first few coats of base laid down before quitting for the day at least. That's the first official paint of the month!

Much more to come later! Check back soon for updates & how-tos!
Happy painting everyone!!!

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

1/20/2018

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.

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

*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!

NaMoPaiMo Is Coming!

1/2/2018

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!

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.

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!