Two Latest Customs

Just a quick post to share with you the two customs that I showed you last week all finished up. Both are now for sale on eBay so I will post links to their listings as well.

Al-Wahed


Al-Wahed means 'The Only One' (it is also a boys name but we'll all pretend that it isn't for now). She is a very pretty and very over the top red bay Schleich Arabian Mare. I do love red bays....a lot of the horses I'm currently working on are red bays, I think I may be going through a faze again...


Mmm.....contrasty :p

Here is her eBay auction link:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360428246043?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649#ht_1635wt_1324

All That Jazz


I now have that song stuck in my head....All That Jazz is a very jazzy dun Ginger. Nothing really very much to say about her. I mixed some gold paint into her coat so that she has a very faint very slight shimmer. I do love it when dun's shimmer :D


You can sort of just see the shimmer in these pictures.

Here is her eBay link:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360428247423?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649#ht_932wt_1270

I also have some charity listings on eBay at the moment which should help raise some money for 'Wellboring'. You can take a look at them here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/diamondsareforever6789/m.html?item=360428247423&sspagename=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649&_trksid=p4340.l2562

If you want to know more about Wellboring then there website is here:

http://www.wellboring.org/

Sanding...Sanding....and more Sanding

There is a reason why I have a massive blister on my thumb...and no it is not because I have been sucking it too much!

Last week I purchased myself two Sagr bodies to be painted up. I decided that at least one could have a bit of resculpting done. So I decided to combine efforts and use him for a tutorial on how to create a windswept mane and tail for February's magazine.

The inspiration for the mane and tail come from this picture here:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.co.uk/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/horse.jpg

(isn't that foal squishyful).

The first step is of course to remove the existing mane and tail. The tail wasn't too bad I just sawed it off and then sanded the remaining blob down so it was almost flat. There was a heavy seam there as well so I dealt with that at the same time.

The next step was the mane. I decided that a multi-tooled attack would probably be the best bet. I used the dremel to literally hack chunks of the mane off (there really is no more eloquent way to describe this process) and then sanded....a lot.

It still isn't finished and as you can see the poor horse now has a hole in his neck but we are getting there slowly!



I put his little friend in the background to show you what he used to look like.

So yes I now have a massive blister and have done a lot of sanding! I should be able to update you with more pictures next weekend.

First Customs of 2012

Over the weekend I finished my first customs of 2012. I started the first on Friday and finished her Sunday and the second one was completely done (or dun) Sunday morning.

The first custom is a Schleich Arabian mare. She has been painted to a heavily contrasting bay, with lots of definition and reverse dapples on her side. She has four white socks and a white star.

The second was done for a colour sheet on the 'dun' colour. I will publish some of the development pictures just as soon as I have uploaded them onto my computer! She is a Classic scale Duchess done to a lovely golden dun (now you get the dun joke) and is rather pretty. I added a tiny bit of gold into her paint mix so that she has a slight glisten to her coat. It makes her look rather beautiful.

So here they both are whilst still in progress. I left them with their sealant drying yesterday so will post pictures of what they look like finished and glossed at the Weekend for you.



This picture is from the side with the flash:



Hope you like them both. I adore the dun she is just so pretty.

Your challenge for the day is to work out how many times I said done/dun in that post....it was far to many I'm sure!

Template Listing - Listing Items on eBay

I just finished listing a load of items on eBay and thought I would do something I had been meaning to do for a while now. I already publish a guide to selling model horses on eBay which can be found here:

http://www.chestnutridge.co.uk/product/A_Beginners_Guide_to_eBay_GUIDE3

But I thought it might be quite a good idea to publish a template which people could simply copy and paste and write into it their description of their item. That way people could remember to include all relevant information. If there is anything you think I should add then let me know.

So here it is...

Template eBay Listing - Copywrite Chestnut Ridge


You are free to use this template as much as you like but please do give credit where credit is due and do not reproduce the template itself outside of the eBay selling context.


Items that are in green are descriptions of what should go into each area

Listing Title

e.g. Custom Breyer Andalusian

Important Information

e.g. Tack is for a MODEL HORSE

Scale

Finish

Mold Name

Manufacturer

Artist

Size

Colour

Face Markings

Leg Markings

Live Show Placings

Condition

About The Horse/Tack

Include a general description of the item including all requirements and in particular order times for hand made items. This should be as long and as detailed as possible.

Shipping Information

Include here your shipping times and policies

Postage Prices

List your postage prices for all countries and methods you offer

Policies/Information

Additional information such as "Buyer must pay within 3 days of auction finishing"

Please take a look at my other items

Please just ask to see any more pictures or for any more information

Thank you for looking

New Saddleset

First of all my apologies that I haven't written anything in so long! I have been completely useless I know! Hopefully this post will make up for that and I will try and update more regularly in future.

Over the weekend I lost another little piggie Maisie, she was 5 and very pretty. Here she is:

To help keep myself busy I decided to finish off a Rio Rondo Classic Western saddle set that I had started over the Summer. If you have never used these kits then I can highly recommend them they are really great quality and so easy to follow that even if you are useless like me you can still create something that is reasonably good.

I had already cut all the pieces and done the tooling on the set as well as starting off the saddle. The saddle itself is made from tooling leather and sciver and is natural in colour with a black seat. It has a tooled flower pattern which makes it look rather attractive:

You can see the tooled pattern in this picture. I added dotted tooling around the outside to make it look as if the saddle is stitched:

The other side of the saddle has a matching pattern. As you can see there are two cinch girths and a black seat for contrast:

The set also has a matching breastplate with similar floral tooling. The breastplate is also made of natural tooling leather and leather lace. It has a tie down strap that hooks onto the front cinch and buckles onto the saddle through D rings.

The bridle is a very plain natural leather bridle with black reins. The reason the reins are black is because I lost my last piece of natural coloured leather lace (I have now actually found it). But I think they help to add to the contrast:

And here is the set overall being beautiful shown off by CRS Rubber Bungs aka Kate:

I hope you like it! I plan to make a few more soon :D And just to finish off the model is an OF Breyer Classic called 'Kate' that I bought from Countrywide several years ago. She is a Lusitano mare.

It's worth doing a test model...

I know many artists don't do this but when it comes to commissions it is something I always like to do. A test model is simply a model that you paint alongside the actual commission which allows you to test paint formulas and techniques as you go so that you can make sure that the commission piece is as perfect as possible. It is something I have always done but only today did I find out how much having one of these models is so useful!

I have been working on a commission piece for someone who wanted a portrait of a horse they have recently had to see go. It is a nasty difficult colour so having a test piece was rather useful. But it proved even more useful when it turned out that my second mix of paint for the second coat was a little bit too umm...'orange'. The poor custom in question looks like he's been tangoed! Luckily I was able to modify the mix before putting it onto the commission piece and hence ensuring a nicer finish.

For all of you who don't currently use them I highly recommend it! It helps you get precision with your colours and give your clients the best possible workmanship.

New Model = Happy Cat

Several months ago I made the decision to acquire a special run of Peter Stone models exclusively for Chestnut Ridge. Around August I ordered a run of 15 Peter Stone ponies (plaited variation) to be painted in bay with a white star and snip and two white socks. I received my customs charge yesterday and immediately went to pick them up.

I opened the box the moment I got it (in the boot of my car) and took out the first one I saw...I was gobsmacked, they are so much more than I could ever have imagined. They are actually beautiful. I am so happy with them it is so nice to have a model that if I saw one for sale I would actually go out and buy. Most of the Stones available in the UK are severely lacking and I would never purchase one (the new UH ones aren't a particularly appealing colour) but if I had seen someone offering this guy I would have bought him immediately.

My guy is called CRS Arthurian Legend and the run has been named 'King Arthur'. I have attached some pictures at the bottom of the thread but there are loads more on his sales page which you can see here:

http://www.chestnutridge.co.uk/product/UK_SR_King_Arthur_PS01

He is beyond gorgeous and I really look forward to seeing some in the show circuit next year as I'm pretty sure they will do quite well.

Anyway pictures: