Micro Mini Sculpting & BreyerFest Absence

 Hi ho all!
 I am homebound for this BF weekend. No, there's nothing wrong, just lack of funds (it's that starving artist persona). So while I sit here, reading the texts from my friends who ARE in Lexington, I am starting two new ponies & working on the existing WIPs. 
  I started two MM scale OSs yesterday. AND I took pictures along the way so I could write the first tutorial of my new blog! Are you proud of me? ;) It is hard to stop & take pictures!
 Disclaimer (don't be scared!): This is a tutorial on how I make a MM. You may do it totally different! & that's ok! There are no rules to sculpting a model horse other than it must look like a horse & preferably hold up fairly well (as in playdough is probably not the best medium for sculpting a MM, though someone may find it works perfectly for them!). So never be afraid to experiment & forge your own path! You may break some exciting new ground! Even if it's only for your own sculpting, it will be worth it! 
 OK! Here goes!
 Supplies are: 
* An Idea
* Paper, I just used note book paper
* A pencil with a good eraser
* Wire, I'm not precisely certain of the gauge of this stuff, between 24 & 34. I've had it for years & bought it for something else actually (look for the small gauges in the jewelry isle at the craft store)
* Wire cutters or scissors
* A+B epoxy putty
* Aves Fixit epoxy putty (or Aves Apoxy Sculpt)
* Water
* Something to sculpt with, your fingers are too big to smooth say, in between the legs! You could probably use a pencil or something. My favorite tool is the 'etching' tool from one of those craft store etch a picture thingies. I got one for Christmas one year, kept the tool & ditched the kit!
* Carbide Scraper (from Rio Rondo. Money well spent, trust me! & get ALL of the tips!)
* Sand paper, about 600 grit (look for the fine grits for automotive detailing)
* Needle Files, especially a small round. A flat & half round would be a good idea also. (Note that I have no clue if these are their actual names! ;) )
* I may add more as I think of them!

 I decided to do an Abaco Barb; it is the rarest horse breed in the world with only one mare, Nunki, left. They are a really amazing old Spanish breed that has lived feral for over 200 years on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Just to challenge myself, I decided to do a mare & a teeny filly to go with her. I've never done a MM foal before! I'm looking foreword to it!
 Once I have my breed, pose, etc. & whatnot chosen, I sketch it out. I draw a 3" x 3" square, this is just to show the scale of what I'm working on in the in-progress pictures; I show a MM at the Fair in the Miniature class in art every year, & they have to be under 3" x 3"... I've got that part down easy with a MM! In the square I sketch the horse I have in my mind, they are never particularly GOOD sketches, but they don't need to be. All they need to be is as close as possible to the real life size & corresponding proportions of the model I am hoping to create. This is, in essence, my blue print, as I will use it to build the armature & begin the sculpting.     

 Once the sketch is satisfactory, I grab the wire & guess a length to cut, estimating for longer than too short. You will need three lengths of wire, so guess your first strand & then cut two more.
 Then twist (or braid if you wish), the three strands together so you have a back length twist in the middle of your wires. You will want the 'non-twisted' wire ends to be about where your legs will start, not too far back & not too far forward.

 Then mix a smidgeon of A+B epoxy, which is the strongest, densest epoxy I have found so far, & cover the twist with it. Set it aside to cure. You can rub a little baking soda on the 'wet' epoxy so it wont stick & cure to whatever it's up against when you set it aside. I happened to set this one on the light bulb of the lamp over me while I moved onto making the filly; heat makes epoxy cure faster, while cold will slow it down. Being impatient, heat it got! (Be careful when you pick it up if you do this, it will be HOT! & don't forget it's up there either!)  

 While that one was curing I started the filly. I did her in much the same way as the mare. About the only difference was that I did not use A+B on her. A+B is very hard, & with these little guys you need would have to hold onto the sculpt too hard to carve the A+B well- Squished OS! So for the skinny filly I did her entirely out of Fix it, which is the second densest epoxy I've found. If you do not wish to buy so many types of epoxies, just use Aves Apoxy Sculpt or your choice of epoxy, they're so small it won't make much difference in the end! (I would not recommend Apoxy Clay though, it is the softest & tends to 'chatter' with the scraper. They are too small for this to happen to.)

 After the epoxy had sufficiently 'cooked' on the lighbulb (I did burn the mare a bit I think! Oops!), I bent the armatures to match the poses of the sketches.  

 Then it's just a matter of   s l o w l y   building up the horse shape with Fixit. They are so small, this has to be done in stages, very tiny stages, letting it cure in between. Here is how far I have gotten on them.

 & that brings their story up to the present. I will keep you updated on them as I move along! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment or contact me! Thanks for reading!