Unique little ponies

Why hello strangers I'm still alive! Just been busy and sick, but doing things nonetheless. Been spending alot of time on eBay acquiring horses and wishing I could get others...

 

 I am really coveting this guy, his shading is beautiful! But alas, I am already at my horsey budget for this pay period, so I had to say farewell to possibly giving him a home with me.

 And then there's this beauty that is far too above my budget. I feel honored just being able to see that he exists, very mystifying coloring for the Adios mold. Backstory included!

 

I might have missed out on some beauties, but I still have become victorious. I had two unpainted Hartland arabian foals come in the mail, each one very unique on its own, along with a couple more models en route. One is a model I identify as one of my "childhood holy grails," and I will definitely be showing him off when he arrives, and I got an older Peter Stone model coming also. Once they arrive I will be taking a respite from adding to my collection until I can get a DeEtta proof display cabinet to put them in. Something about the smell of the newer Breyers seems to scream "eat me" to the cute terror, so thankfully my vintages are safe...for now. They do have a new toy to keep them occupied for a while, I already woke up a few times last night to them enjoying it.

 

Finally a picture of all five! Sabbat at the top, Bear to the right, Gizmo on the left, DeEtta on the new toy and Spot at the bottom. The Bengal babies love it.

Speaking of Bengals, DeEtta has been getting restless and wanting to go on an adventure lately to the point of trying to walk out the door when I go to work, and Gizmo has been very clingy to me. It's almost like they know that I'm struggling with this infection with how Gizmo soothes me to sleep, DeEtta wakes me up when I stop breathing, and they greet me as soon as I get home. I even have an editor for tonight's entry, but it might be because I'm extremely exhausted from the day. On that note, I better rest up and get ready to help the shelter kitties tomorrow get love until they find forever homes.

 

Yeah, Gizmo doesn't look smug at all.

Feline shenanigans and a scary little machine

Last few days have been a hit and miss with my health, and the antibiotic was wreaking more havoc than the sickness, but I am still alive! And let's just say there were a couple kitties that kept sticking close to me, so I caught them in their "natural habitat." Please forgive the horrendous photo placement.

   




Gizmo was "helping" me braid...

    

I was also front row to a Bengal battle! DeEtta was having a good time lounging back, even while slapping Gizmo's paw.

I love this shot, it shows how close in size they are. Gizmo still has more muscle tone than DeEtta.

I also started working on my pony pouches again, and with a new method. It is definitely one that I'm still trying to figure out, and it has bite. So far it has pricked my innocent thumb and nearly mangled a piece of material. Who knew a handheld sewing machine could be so scary....it took me an hour to make one pouch for one stablemate. One. Hour. I would be better off hand sewing them unless I can get better at not getting attacked by the machine and making giant snarled messes somehow. It would be nice to get the pouches made for at least the stablemates so that they can quit chafing against each other in their storage tote. One step at a time, or else I will trip and fall.

 

So cute, but also intimidating...

And don't forget, tomorrow is pi(e) day!!

Triumph and trial

Well this sickness is more than I wanted. Doctor said that I have an ear infection...on top of my respiratory infection that I thought I was done with. Awesome. Hopefully the medicine I got this time around will help, because it's no fun being drained halfway through my work shift.
Despite the not so appealing health, I have some good things come my way. My recent mail has come in, and I have been stoked since I opened them.

 

I am not a child, just child like.

My two latest Breyers came in, and I have been as giddy as when I cook myself a batch of deep fried pike bites. I have since put them down but I was holding and gawking at them for the fifteen mile ride home and the first few minutes after I got in the house. It also occurred to me that my current breed crush is Arabians, I actually only had two (not counting stablemates) until a few weeks ago. For being older molds, these guys are gorgeous, especially the proud Arabian stallion I just got. Since I'm exhausted I'll end it here with pictures of my two new beauties.

 

This is the one I referred to as Tamarisk's new girlfriend, I have named her Acacia.

And say hello to Sundown.

 

Research struggles

With the near completion of one project (Stonewall Lee), I am preparing to do the research portion for another project. For being a mess up on base coloring, he is turning out gorgeous, almost like a steel gray snowflake appaloosa. Speaking of appaloosas, I have decided that will be my next project. I finally succumbed and bought a stablemate sized artist resin mare that is rolling blissfully on her back. I fell in love with her at first sight and decided that I was going to get her.

 

I might be a fool for horses that aren't the kind you would put in a winner's arena setting.

As soon as I saw her, I immediately pictured her as a leopard appaloosa. Simple enough on the basic end, white horse with spots like a dalmatian. That would be the case if I was making a doodle of a leopard appaloosa, but I want to do it right, mottled skin and all. It wasn't hard to gather reference pictures for the eyes, hooves, genitalia, and muzzle, but there one big gaping detail I'm struggling with that is out in the open on this beauty. Her belly. I know the hair is thin on parts of the belly, so pinking and mottling will show through, but I can't remember exactly where, and Google is acting like a stubborn critter about my search terms. At least it hasn't given me anything traumatizing like when I've looked for other things in the image search, I actually got lucky and found an adorable find!

 

Behold the mythical "Cataloosa"

Of course before I would go slopping paint on an artist resin with a pattern I've never done, I need a test pony. Thank god that I have a body box of beaten up models I've acquired in multiple horse lots on eBay, so I have a few to pick from. My victim of choice is a little bit/paddock pal quarter horse that was painted a yellow brown. When I removed the paint from him and his little buddies soon after I acquired them with a method I used many times before, something......strange happened. Unlike other times, I used a cheap oven cleaner which seemed to cause a very acidic reaction against the plastic; and took off not only the paint, but it dissolved the top layer of plastic in some places into a gel like mess. I managed to rescue them and clean them before too much damage was done while cussing and muttering and wondering if the cheap crap had acetone or something in it. Here I am, pulling him (well, her, his manhood was a victim of the death slime) out of the body box, and I'm debating on bathing it, it still smells like the lemon scented oven cleaner from eight months ago. If you ever decide to do the oven cleaner in a baggie method to remove acrylic paint from a Breyer, I advise using a brand name oven cleaner instead of the bargain brand stuff at the corner store, it will save you a night of wanting to rampage through a basement apartment and go upstairs to ask your landlord for a cigarette although you are trying to break the habit. I have determined that once I lightly sand down the rough edges around the resulting slime craters and put a gesso layer on him (her!) then it will be safe to practice some mottling.

Sick day and ramblings

Just my luck lately. Get crushed in a door over the summer, have my left lung forget how to function, catch a respiratory infection in January, and get a nasty cold once I'm healed up from the infection. The most annoying part is when it keeps me from going to work....how am I supposed to add to my collection if I'm not making money?! At least the cats are happy that there's a human to pick on all day, three of the five commandeered my bed when I got up to get a drink. The other two were playing, but it got suddenly quiet. Knowing Gizmo and DeEtta that can mean anything from nap time to plotting on how to climb the walls in a different fashion.
In other news, I got a girlfriend for Tamarisk (I'm keeping it a secret from him) and I'm perfecting my braids for Arabian tack. I found a four strand method that works nicely as long as I have a way to hold it down, and it has a smooth symmetrical result to it. I think a bit more practice and I can create some lovely pieces for my growing Arabian collection (I wonder what color will go well with the wood grains). The joys of a berserk nervous system makes me contemplate working on my stablemate sized customs, but there's one I would love to finish and another that I believe I have found a good color for. There was a time a couple years ago when the only blockade from finishing a model in one sitting is my tendency of having to put it down before I get annoyed, now that happens faster depending on what kind of day it is with my twitches and shakes. I also found another flaw of mine is being impatient and not wanting to clean the brush or water down the paint to make more smooth brushstroke-less layers.
One fine example of this is my custom Epona, who I completed in a record two hours (not recommended). She did turn out as I wanted but also atrociously. If you look closer you can see little balls of dried acrylic paint that stuck to my brush that I decided to not have the time to clean.

 

Bad Ali, no pretty ponies or potato salad for such impatience! 

Here is my work in progress whose color turned into a whoops. Stonewall Lee was supposed to be a dapple grey, but I went wrong somewhere in the beginning and didn't notice until I was too far along to want to retry. He is almost done, just waiting on a good day to not twitch everywhere while detailing his mane. My major mess up was not thinning the paint, so there are a few brush strokes on him, especially his black stockings, and I'm theorizing that is another reason his grey came out far darker than expected.

 

Points to whoever can think of a name for his coloring!

Working on him will be for another time when I won't potentially cough up gunk on him. These two definitely aren't my first customs, but the others are packed away. I am thinking of sewing together some pony pouches to better pack everyone in, and I'll take pictures as I find them. And to end today's random entry, I shall display a photo of what all the cats are possibly doing! Starring DeEtta, who is keeping an eye/ear on me.

 

Zzzzzzzzzz...

My recently new addiction

My dad has a tendency of picking on me: I talk to my cats and dachshund like they're people, I'm not exactly tall (that would come from the genetics from his side of the family), and my model horse hobby. He's always shaking his head when he sees packages in the mail with my name on them, and asks me "Really Ell? Another damn plastic horse?!"

 

"Would you prefer that I'm into drugs or a raging alcoholic?"

(-Me almost every time he gives me a hard time.)

Anywho, that's not the subject of this post. Last time I said that I would introduce a part of my collection. They aren't winning models, or anything of high value,  but I still treasure them like they are.They are my lovely little oddballs. There are some that I know none about, while there are others where I have a pinch of a clue. Here is the eye candy starring each member and a little backstory of what I do know about each

Lady Facade

 

First glance one might say "Oh that's a Breyer Western Horse" or "Hey is that a Hartland Victor mold?"

Both are wrong, it's a Ohio Plastics horse. She briefly fooled me, then sent me on a four hour internet research spree. So far she has earned her stay by teaching me something new.

Unnamed grey stallion and foal

 

I know very little about these two. I do know that they are in atrocious condition, if I clean them the paint and glue holding the halves together might dissolve, and that it is supposed to be a three horse set (the second foal is missing) from WS Toys in Hong Kong. When I search for this specific model set I get moot, but have found some other sets that put these two to shame in terms of integrity through the decades.

 

This adorable family is for sale on Etsy, I've been on the fence about getting them.

Tamarisk

 

Here's a familiar face to this blog. I know, he's a woodgrain Family Arabian Stallion wearing vintage Breyer tack, borrrrriiiinnnnggggg, but there's more to him than that.

 

He is a souvenir from Lexington, Kentucky. I had no idea this was possible, and haven't had much luck in the research realm. Again, the bit of info I do know is from a model for sale.

 

This lovely lady (who I couldn't afford) is a souvenir from Owensboro, Kentucky with the same style sticker as Tamarisk on the same side. I am pretty sure that the stickers are an aftermarket addition, but I can be wrong. The mystery shall go on for now.

 The Mysterious Moo

My last featured herd member is not of the equine type, but is still unique and worth mentioning. A coworker who knows about my hobby had this in her trailer home collecting dust and gave it to me. She wasn't sure of the material but I quickly found with a tap on my head that it's made of rubber. I will be honest-I have no idea at all as to what company made this, all I know is that there's a "Made in USA" stamp on the bottom and a sticker that says "Circa 1930's-42 Auburn Indiana." The date does explain why its made of rubber; toys pre WW2 were typically made of rubber, until the war required the manufacture of rubber soles for combat boots and other needs which largely stopped toy production for many companies. After the war plastic injection molding became king of the toy figurine industry. Definitely a unique piece and my oldest possession without a doubt.

It is currently a small portion of my collection (introducing all my Stablemates would be the death of me) but the one that I talk everyone's ears off about. I might be the type of  person who talks nonstop when excited or intoxicated, but then how else will I express all my thoughts?

Oh, and happy leap day!

My new pretty and ideas abound!

So much for posting my new addition the other night! (The bengals can be very demanding and giving me no choice but to step away from hobbies.) I've always had a soft spot for palominos, and finding this family arabian mare from the 70's-early 80's in rather decent condition didn't help. I think I'll name her Honeysuckle, not fully decided on it yet.

 

Not too scuffy, and a lovely color.

Also got around to picking up one of my ongoing projects last night, an alabaster unicorn on the running stallion mold. I'm on the fence about if my modifications will make him look better or worse...

(I would put a picture here, but the ways he looks right now is a bit creepy and also constitutes as nightmare material, no joke. I recommend not cutting off his mane and ears and placing him in a spot where he's constantly watching you.)

Some mornings start earlier than I would like, so I use the time to rake up ideas. Today's inspiration was a scene for a performance class, but not your typical "this horse is a badass winner in the arena." More like the riding academy horse who isn't in the mood to run the course, or the stud who breaks his form while being judged in halter because there's an irresistible smelling mare nearby that he wants to meet. That's right, the arena bloopers. For some reason my brain exploded with ideas that would be easy and amusing to replicate, and it is something I sure wouldn't expect in a show if I was a judge. Not only that, but it can be a drag being serious and trying to replicate something and achieve 500% success. Got to find humor and keep lighthearted in life to try and rise above the negativity.

 

Not gonna lie, that's another nightmare piece.

In the next installment of this mess of my thoughts, I will introduce a part of my collection that always interests me and keeps me learning new things!