I have returned!

Very very long absence due to the brain in my laptop crapping out on me and saving up for a new computer. I decided to go with a desktop this time, and I'm slightly intimidated by the large monitor. I have been doing some hobby stuff, mostly experimental painting, and of course spending my waking hours at home with DeEtta and the others. I'm not too sure what else to put for the night so I shall entertain you with a few pictures from my few months of silence.

 

After a trip to Anchorage for medical testing I made a shelf for Stablemates

 

DeEtta was heartbroken that Bengal Buddy couldn't fit in the box with her

 

One of my grails achieved thanks to Chelsea's Model Horses!

 

Somebody loves paper bags...

 

...really really loves paper bags

 

The sisters are the same size, and DeEtta keeps growing and growing

 

One of my many fails, but it has helped me get a better idea on what I'm doing

Daring to decorator

Small while again, but alive! Have been gradually working on some of the many projects at once, and really wanting to try non realistic, but popular vintage decorator colors. I figured I have the best victim, a G1 thoroughbred mare who I decided to try and prep after a few beers. Bad idea. I have her mostly fixed but decided that her fate is to live on my desk as a lesson pony about adult choices. I also tried to primer her while intoxicated (ugh!) and had to sand off half of it trying to fix her.

I have been driving myself mad with realistic colors not turning out as expected so I decided to find a new definition of insanity. Decorators. I have noticed that non-realistic colors really help me relax from the stress of making things look realistic. I even went as far as buying my first custom! She is a G2 running thoroughbred that I decided to name Tiger's Eye; and her color really resembles the Bengal girls. But when I tried getting a comparison photo of her to DeEtta's fur, the girls decided to be...."helpful."

 

"What'cha doin' momma?"

 -DeEtta

 

"It smells funny..."

-Gizmo

 

"It also tastes funny!"

-DeEtta 

I love the marbling on her, and I can't figure out how the artist does it. I got her from the eBay seller abcrv; and they have some rather gorgeous customs every week on auction. I want to get a couple more of their lovelies, but I'm also trying to save up to potentially go to next year's Breyerfest. I was considering doing a bunch of decorators on the models in the body box and selling as shelf sitters, but at the same time I'm still learning how to make my personal models look nice.

Too early for a New Year's Resolution, so how about I make it my Breyerfest Resolution?

 

And while talking decorator, I want to share a sneak peek of a WIP before calling this blog entry good.

 

 

Summer sluggishness and looney times

Okay Mother Nature, the constant 80 degree weather is getting very annoying! Granted it is nice for me priming a bunch of bodies, but it isn't fun working in a fast food restaurant in this weather. Not to mention how hot vehicles can get....ugh. Once the summer solstice hits I will be eagerly counting down to winter.

 

Bengal babies have been liking it.

One plus side to the warm weather is being able to catalog my models when I'm not at work or being lazy. It's nice knowing that I'm three quarters of the way done, and that much closer to getting a number of how many horses I have. I have found some I even forgot I have! Storage has taken its toll on at least one of my larger models, which I am really attached to. Goffert, my first Traditional scale model, has developed seam splits on his back and where the plastic holds the metal stand in his leg. When I packed everyone away last summer he only had a hoof rub, so finding him in this new state has had me bummed out of photographing the others lately. I have decided that once finances are kinder to me that I will look for another and give this old friend of mine a new life to the best of my abilities.

If that happens sooner than later, I might end up overloading myself. For some silly reason I thought it was a good idea to multitask with projects. So far the count is at Bengals Find Me Tasty (acrylics), a G3 Arabian Stablemate (acrylics also), a G2 trotting Stablemate foal (who I decided to do in pastels), a cantering Stablemate foal (who is being done in eye shadow to see how different it is from pastels), a G1 Arabian Stablemate (in resculpt stage),  and G1 and G2 Thoroughbred mares being primered for who knows what. I might have lost my mind. Big. Time.

 

And I don't know why I am using this to represent my loss of sanity but I'm going with it.

Cataloguing and the mystical modern chalky

I got the crazy idea of photographing and cataloguing all my models. Have found out a few things, like I have over 100 Stablemates and way more micro minis than I expected. Also found out the two times Gizmo and DeEtta toppled over my box holding the little fellas, it damaged and scuffed them more than I initially thought. Not only that, my phone doesn't tell me that it's overheating, unless I try using the flash on the camera.

 

I also had these fellas for 10 (left) and 2 (right) years and didn't realize they were identical!

Can see the difference in painting methods over 8 years with these guys.

And onto the damage...two horses that broke and I repaired back in my "carpet herd" days broke again, in the same spots, and a third one lost its ear. Most of my white horses and leopard appaloosas got scuffs on them, and one blanket appaloosa that came with the Hidalgo Buffalo Bill play set has a boatload of scuffs that make her look like a poorly executed pintaloosa (yikes!).

 

I don't remember the white going that close to her shoulders, and the other side is worse.

My old customs fared well, one stallion yellowed, but back then I was using shellac that my dad also used for his woodworking projects. Mohair fell off of a Classic sized model I had in there also.

 

Had a random butterfly photobomb my micro minis from Grand Champions.

This is the only one I saved, where he wasn't whapping them with his wings.

 Then there's this guy. When I packed everyone away he was in PSQ condition. I was appalled when I pulled him out at the damage, and then was curious at what was underneath.

 

This is his pretty side, but you can still see alot of scuffing on his ears and back hooves.

And underneath the gray....

 

IT'S

 

WHITE

 

PAINT??!!!

Obnoxiously opaque white paint under the steel gray topcoat! Only thing I could think was why??? It is something I only heard of with vintage chalkies, or white horses (duhhh), but this is neither. Granted he's from 2002 which some people call vintage which I strongly disagree with. He isn't vintage or white, so why.... I dug around and found out about modern chalkies. The people I have asked say he has the characteristics of a modern basecoat chalkie. I was floored. Never knew there was such a thing until today, and would have never known his little secret if the kittens weren't destructive. I almost wonder if I have any others, but I'm not about to hand my unscathed models to DeEtta to chew on!

 

 

Survived the sickies

Okay, that last cold I got was evil. I actually was out of work for a week, and I now have gunk in my lungs again. I do have some exciting things to share though. My Patriot came in the mail, and so did my dapple grey foal. In the midst of having a fever over 102 for two days I thought cleaning my desk was a good idea, took me this last week of feeling better to remember where I put everything but it is nice having my workspace back. Clumsy Gizmo knocked horses off my desk so I had to touch up the works in progress and finish them up to keep them safe. Believe it or not that includes Stonewall Lee!

I still can't decide what to call his color, but I think I know what my next experiment will be. I see this one being a possible black with a brown base coat.

 

Bengals Find Me Tasty is coming along well with her layers of white. She's almost done before I move on to the details and mohair.

Getting things done

Again I have been silent, but still doing things! I have two projects that are making progress at a lovely pace, and I'm learning things along the way. And in case you're wondering, yes I've had "help" from the Bengals.

Behold the ever helpful DeEtta putting her trademark kitty staple holes in my spray box! Since she was 11 weeks old she has had a fascination with my model horse hobby and tries to help in her kitten ways, including chewing on the newer models. (Something about the smell of fresh plastic with these guys drives her berserk...) Gizmo has been helping her little sister in the eat horses department, but doesn't discriminate and goes for any and all of them. Their hobby has named one of my project ponies, get ready to meet Bengals Find Me Tasty in her early stages!!

Not too shabby so far. I'm trying a new method for her, which is using matte sealant between each layer. I found out real quick that whatever Breyer uses for a primer doesn't hold the paint too well against my twitches so I had to find a way to protect each detail. So far the only downfall to this method is the fact that I have to step out onto the porch to seal each layer, and Alaskan weather can be far more unpredictable than me after a week off my meds. Let's just say that is not a story to delve into.

I have another project pony making good progress but I'm not ready to show pictures of her yet until I get the giant hole in her belly exposing the speaker parts in her covered up and closer to painting. I have tested the sound and it's great! Best thing is the kittens are too confused to chew on her.

Perplexing

Good 'ol eBay knows how to drive me crazy. Here's the recent confusion.

Flocked Rearing Stallion. Says that it's the Classic scale (aka Rex). The problem is to date the two rearing stallion molds made by Chris Hess have only been confirmed to be flocked once. And it was King (the Traditional scale) as a white circus horse. So I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this black flocked Rex as a circus horse. I almost want to get him to see in person what the blazes is up with him, maybe a possible custom....

I also have acquired one thing that is a few different weaknesses of mine in one. He's rather beat up but I love him because a) he's the vintage style dapple b) a Maureen Love mold c) an oddity. Behold a mislabeled Arabian stallion!

I got him with scuffy alabaster Arabians from the same time period, a mare and stallion (in his proper mold). Plus side to getting vintages is that DeEtta isn't too interested in eating them. I also have a dapple PAF on it's way to my mailbox; sad part is the cutie got shipped with standard shipping so we are on day 6 out of possibly day 8-12 for the journey through Canada. Also eagerly awaiting some reference books for vintage Hartlands and Breyers. Finally got my first Traditional scale Peter Stone horse! He's the older morgan mold in a seal bay coloring and is nearly flawless. At the price I paid I thought I was getting a Chips scale, so it was quite the surprise. He came with his tag from live showing with the name Dracula, so I decided to keep that as his name.

In the subject of names I have someone who will be needing one soon. Since it is the first day of working on her I'm not too worried, I have hopes of her becoming a pretty appy.

Little this, little that

Okay, that was a longer than expected hiatus. Got bit by a cat, had to get a tetanus shot the next day, then a couple days after that the doctor decided to take a bit of blood from me (different reason). All of this happened on my right arm, so it is a little sore. I also got involved in redoing a fanfiction I was working on a few years ago, never got too far in it so there isn't much to tweak. Those things along with being on an antibiotic that my body doesn't take kindly to kept me from opening my laptop-the fanfiction is on my phone so it was in easier access.

First things first, I told y'all that I would show off my childhood holy grail. Here he is!

 

Northern Lights was the first decorator I was introduced to back when I was eight, and my mom would only buy me Stablemates, so I was out of luck. I now have him, 14 years later, and he is still in his box, fat white zip ties and all! DeEtta has already tried to nibble at the box, so I'm definitely keeping him in there for now. He sits on my dresser where I see him when I wake up and giggle at my fortune. If only it was that easy to find all my childhood holy grails...

I also got around to photographing my little Hartland foals.

 

They're so darn cute!

They are both the Arabian foal mold unpainted, but they have a few differences. The color is the most obvious. Little pale fella's head is also facing downwards more than its darker companion. then there's these mold marks I know nothing about.

 

"D"

 

 

"A"

I know nothing about Hartlands, so it might be something simple. For now I don't know. In a way they do remind me of the youngest and most rambunctious kitties of the house, and I managed to get a picture of them together without them moving. They are both alike, but have their own unique quirks.

 

DeEtta is quickly catching up to Gizmo. 

I have other things I've been working on, but will save for another time when I don't have hormonal kitties crawling all over me. (Gizmo is in heat, and Bear is acting like she will be soon also...)

 

One crazy week

Well life threw a few twists. The weather has been causing my nerve endings and other neurological tweaks to go haywire to the point of my non medical remedy for my sleep seizures to not work. I've thankfully gone three nights without one, but very exhausted nonetheless. I ripped my pants picking up Snoopy (the 18 pound bundle of ornery at the shelter), and he seemed to find it amusing.

 

Here he was telling me that he had nothing to do with it.

Work was bustling like crazy, I thought I was going to have dreams of all the customers who were saying "We're from Fairbanks!" "Do you have a Fairbanks special?" "Why don't you guys open an Arbys up in Fairbanks?" (There was an Arbys in Fairbanks, but it got no business at all so it got shut down), and then the good 'ol "I'll have (insert multiples of 10) roast beef sandwiches/sliders." I'm still not sure what in the world was going on to have alot of people from Interior Alaska down here, but it was nuts. With how often we get asked for a Fairbanks special, which is something we stopped doing 8 years ago, I have strongly considered doing a group of decorator custom stablemates and call them "The Fairbanks Special."

I have also managed to create jeweled Egyptian Arabian halters, nothing too fancy but they turned out way better than I expected. Honeysuckle and Sundown really like them.

 

Honeysuckle's bald face does not like my camera at all.

Spot also gave us a huge scare. She started acting lethargic and uninterested in everything, and the Bengal kittens were watching over her intently. Because she's the leader of the little "colony" and was showing a great deal of weakness, Bear kept on attempting to attack her but was foiled by DeEtta's speed and Gizmo's size every time; so my service animal in training decided to be Spot's body guard. We started to get worried when she stopped grooming herself and was turning down the offer of treats, and started wondering if she needed a vet visit on Friday.

Between Friday night and Saturday morning things took a very bad turn. Spot had been sleeping on my bed since Wednesday by DeEtta's beckoning so I got used to sleeping like a corkscrew. Around the midnight hours going into Saturday I woke up to a very upset and distressed DeEtta who was mewing up a storm and worriedly mothering Spot with Gizmo sitting on the floor upset also. I turned on my light and found Spot bleeding all over my bed and herself and barely responding to the Bengals. Fast forward to a few hours later and we had the vet telling us she has pyometra, basically the cat form of endometriosis, and they were giving her a very small chance of survival. For those who don't know what pyometra and endometriosis are, and are too lazy to look, they are basically infections of the uterus and are very life threatening.

The vet told us the recommended choice was surgery that had a 30% chance that was out of our budget despite getting paid the day before, and there was a smaller chance with how weak she was of it being successful. She did give us the option of trying antibiotics, but told us it had just as much of a chance of being successful, but was way cheaper; so we took that route knowing that if she wasn't better in 48 hours we had to take the sad route of euthanasia. Saturday was still scary with her, but Sunday morning we found her eating and moving around. Since then she's been improving wonderfully, and is strong enough to not need a guardian kitty and swiftly reminded Bear of her place. She still seems a little tired, but I don't blame her. Here's to hoping the next week goes smoother!

 

Sunday night she was being herself trying to make Jason stop playing Division.

Struck by stars and stripes

Guys, I am screaming. Look at this fella!

 

 He is so awesome! I've never been attracted to the translucents much, but something about this guy just draws me to him like ants to sugar water. For those who haven't heard or don't follow me for my model horse obsession, World of Model Horses revealed the 2016 4th of July Breyer horse on their Facebook page this morning, and he (maybe I should mention his name is Patriot) is a 3000 piece run that they have pre orders of already. I am just purely awestruck by him, the red points, the stars on his hindquarters like a blanket appaloosa pattern, the blue, oh that blue....I know for sure that if he's giving others such happy vibes like he is with me the pre orders will be filled quickly and he won't be cheap on the secondary market for a while.

Speaking of the secondary market, eBay has had some interesting gems. I'm not a big fan of the Breyer elephant, but these pieces are in great condition and rather neat.

 

If I was to pursue getting one, it would be a decorator like this cutie.

And here are some more with some info on them. They all were clearly from the same person who was a collector that tended to their models very well. 

 

There was also this. Not too special, but one of the "custom ideas" in this auction really threw me off and made me ask myself why someone would do such a weird idea...

 

Welp, that's all I really got for today. For those who were hoping to see kitties, I will give you eye candy of a couple of the cats I was working with at the shelter.

 

Finn and Holly were placed in the community room together since they were both declawed and possessed passive personalities. They couldn't agree on who could sit with me; Holly won until I got up and stretched then Finn did a victory prance as she hid on a shelf.

 

Sawyer was a lovebug who wanted to be everywhere but his kennel. The full time vet got a kick out of hearing me tell him we weren't going to play "The Adventures of Tomcat Sawyer"

 

Zara was one of Tuesday's transfers from the stray room, and not even a half hour later I had people wanting to adopt her. I love knowing there's people who can find room in their hearts to adopt adult kitties, makes me look forward to going back next Tuesday.