Modification Armour for knight and horse - arms WIP

Before BJDs, I enjoyed model horses (Breyer size) a lot. Basically tackmaking. But as I am very picky and everything had to really work, the tiny buckles drove me crazy when closing them (what is the reason of tack if you it just laying around). So I sold almost all of my stuff. Only the little horses stayed with me.

Of course my big men can only play with them...much too small for riding.

So I abandoned the idea of turning my daughter's old rocking horse into a Friesian - he is untouchable (so she says).

But now this old stallion crossed Spock's path. He fell in love with him and he brought him to my house. Now he is here and I have to turn into a beautiful Friesian stallion.





Lots to do:

- Remove slides and wheels - done
- remove old bridle (let's what is still useable - maybe the snaffle bit)
- repaint muzzle and hoofs in a realistic show manner (he is a high-gloss show Friesian)
- make new ears out of leather, with wire frame
- pull off old coat and put on new one
- make new mane and tail
- put some kind of landscape onto the support plate (don't know yet whether it will be meadow or a dressage ring)
- start tack collection with bridle and saddle (in any case, something baroque - maybe my former horse's actual tack?)

Like I wrote, lots to do - let's get to it!

 

We shall see how it goes.

Sorry for the bad pictures, but a photos in the garden fell flat due to rain (they are both not really waterproof). But I wanted a documentation of Spock's intermediate finished state (this is his Vulcan outfit), and Alegria's current state.

Or should I say not so current? His old bridle, mane and tail are gone, and I started to remove his coat on the legs. These are really beautifully sculpted, I do not think this horse would get a permission as a toy nowadays... quite thin and elegant. I am rather reluctant to cover these with fur again.

 

Now his coat, ears and eyes are completely removed, he is naked:





I still have to remove the old colour of his muzzle and hooves, as I want to repaint both. Muzzle and nostrils should show less red. The hooves will be repainted with a coarse brush to get the structure right. They will be finished with high gloss (though you won't see much of it due to the long hair at his legs).

I have to change a bit the shape of the coat around his muzzle. And where a horse has this supersoft muzzle parts, I want to recreate this using a fine brush.

I also want to try to design the folds and creases around the eye with thin, black leather. And he will have lashes (my guys don't, but the horse will).

That's it for now. At the moment, I am trying to draw a pattern for Friesian ears in 1:3. Let's how it goes...

 

Still no coat...but a new muzzle, glossed hooves, ears and eyes (I am soo generous):







And I managed to modify the saddle tree I made for my daugther's rocking horse like...3 years ago? (man, these baroque horses really have superwide backs):



I really have to do something about his eyes. It scares me a bit having him look so terrified. It is really not like I want to pull of his coat...quite the contrary.

 

Ah yes, sometimes life is so embarassing...don't anybody laugh:



Now you might say that hairstyling at this point is pointless. But I have never worked with human hair before (these are hair extensions), I have to get a feeling for the right look of a Friesian. Remember, these have one of the longest and densest mane and tails in the horseworld. So the look is most important here.

 

Thank you!
Basically, that is a good idea. However, the only point I will probably change is the transition between his back and his butt. The only way to change things is by stuffing or removing wood wool. Any kind of moisture or weight, I do not consider to be beneficial for him. He needs to stay dry, otherwise he will be destroyed. So no papermaché.

So we will see. Most likely he will stay just the way he is.

 

I decided to fill up his butt a bit with some pretty stiff packaging foam. Though I have to be careful to not create and visible edges. Maybe I can use some black felt to cover this up. Would be better anyways, so that you do not see the white throught his furry coat. Otherwise, it could look quite funny...

 

This is what (mainly) happened today:


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As you can see, the transition at his behind was smoothed out. However, now his butt is far too flat for a baroque horse. But I am pretty sure he can be helped here as well...just a little bit of patience, please.

 

I modified his butt a bit more, so that it is nicely rounded:

 

Shapely butt...ah well, I have one myself, so maybe you could call me baroque as well. Maybe that is why my horse (Junito) was also a pretty baroque guy (though I have to admit that 10 year ago I was not quite as baroque as I am now, so he was okay with that).

This horse is indeed an antique, he is about 100 years old. They were produced in the little town of Ohrdruf in the German region of Thuringia. There was something like an industry up the 80ies of the last century. They were also an important exporting item of the former GDR (generating money, mainly). After the reunification of both Germanies, it died out almost completely. I know only of one expert who remained and had a lot of bad luck. I wanted to contact him regarding my old guy, but I am a bit afraid he will be quite angry what I am doing to the horse.

Though I have to admit I see tons of potention in these horses. They are pretty much comparable to the classic English rocking horses in detail. Sure, with abroad competition I do not think mass production the way it was is possible. But I sure e.g. portrait horses (just imagine how cool this would be - you send in pictures of your dream horse, and it gets created in every detail. This way, realistic model horses even for large BJDs would be possible. Besides, this horse is not heavy.

If anybody is reading this - maybe this could be a business idea? I find it so very sad this craftmanship is dying out/has already died out. But oh well, this is the way things go.

Unfortunately, he has lost his workshop due to a terrible fire. So he is not actively repairing horses. But he still has material and will help out.

I am pretty sure to create these beauties the way they were, you would have to calculate 1.000 € or more. And who is willing to pay this?

But enough rambling now, my personal dreamhorse is impatienly waiting.

For anybody interested: Beim Ross-Macher

This is the last guru of these horses. Just google "Ohrdrufer Schaukelpferde" and "Rossmacherei Thüringen". Unfortunately, everything is in German. If anybody needs assistance or is interested, I am glad to help out.

 

They were made for children as rocking horses. You had the option to use them with bows, or remove these and pull them along on wheels which were attached to the platform (I removed both and plan to decorate the platform).

And I think they must have been indeed a highlight in every child's toy collection. They were available in many colours - grey, black, bay, chestnut, pintos...

 

No problem! I just changed the title.

Ah, I am having big trouble with that tail. This has always been a very fiddly part of model horses, particularly the transistion from the body into the beginning of the long hair. The goal is that you do not see that the tail hair does not grow out of body, but is just attached. I tried several techniques, but got it not the way I want it to look. I am not yet willing to let it go, so updates have to wait until I am satisfied. Sorry for that!

 

Finally I managed to get his tail right:



As we will be on holiday and not at home for one week (and my hubby refused to put Alegria into our trailer to take him with us), he says goodbye for one week.

 

Aand...we are back. His mane is attached:





That might be the last update for quite a while, because now I have to braid all his long hair and put it into plastic bags so that it stays nice and clean.

I decided not to change anything about his neck, as then it would become too bulky for the chest. So yes, it will be a bit thin for a baroque horse. But I can live with that, otherwise all proportions will be off.

Otherwise, I decided to add chestnuts to his legs, as well as carefully carve out his raised hoof (maybe add a horseshoe? We will see). And...the parts which mark him as a male also will be added.

When all of that is done, I can proceed to give him his final coat. I will keep you updated!

 

He will be fully covered in short, black fur, which will look really good for a horse's coat. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I still have to add feathers to his legs to complete the look before the short fur will be applied.

 

Right now, I am making his stallion parts (no close-ups of this). His long hair is all braided and he will be wrapped in clingfoil. I decided to shape his raised hoof, which will cause a lot of dirt.

 

Hoof carved out:



Not perfect, I know. But the wood was really hard, and I did not want to remove too much material (and in the end, it will be black anyways).

 

To be honest...I am working with a Dremel as much as possible.

 

Yes, that's right. And I need this thing to speed up a bit what I do.

So, I have applied the chestnuts to his legs (the littlle hard spots), and applied his manhood.

I tried to put together the long hair Friesians have over their hooves, but I just failed miserably. It did not look right. Ah well, just try again...

And I must not forgot to paint his carved out hoof black again.

 

Sooo...this is the worst this horse will look (at least I hope so). Just to give you a little laught, here are his uncut leg feathers:





Now it is time to apply his coat of fur. Let's see how it goes...

 

Actually, Friesians come from the Netherlands, so they are Dutch. But in Germany, they are also much loved.

His neck and head are covered in black fur now. However, I will try to shave scrap pieces of fur to flock the area around his muzzle. I would love to get this effect of a supersoft horse skin around the muzzle.

 

Finally, his head (and neck ) is done:

 

This is pretty high-quality fur, slightly stretchy. The short stuff on his muzzle was created by shaving this fur and glueing it on bit by bit.

 

Soo..he is fully coated (just a word of warning: it is not perfect, some glue squeezed through a bit. So there are some rough spots, but I can live with them. No high-glass show Friesian.). He still needs a haircut, particularly on his feathers. And some grass on his plate.

I will show you him from all sides when everything is finished. So right now only a tiny bit:

 

@SisaSama: I understand where you are coming from. After all, this guy is 100 years or older. So antique collectors or restaurators may absolutely despise what I did. It was never my goal to use original material to restore him to the German Warmblood he was. I just did not want that (it may be a fabulous breed, the most successful sport horses in the whole wide world - but I find them a bit boring. Just my opinion, of course (having ridden several of them throughout the years). And I always dreamt of a beautiful, black Friesian with loooong hair. Got myself a grey, with...average hair growth. With this little guy, I just wanted to make this dream come true. And I think he works quite well for knightly or baroque displays (my dolls are so impatient to be allowed to get onto his back - but no bridle nor saddle right now. So...patience is the key.

 

Soo, he is done:









Not perfect, but I like him a lot.

 

Thanks! Now the fun part starts...making tons of tack (in a scale I would have called myself crazy to get it for my real horse). And his coat color can carry any color or pattern...

 

@Hasel: Yes, of course. Everything a horse needs, up to his own stable. I will begin with Portuguese tack (which will double as his historic tack) , apart from a halter and everyday stuff. Then some English dressage stuff, several saddle pads (you can't have just one), and then we shall see. I will keep you updated here what is going on.