Horses for larger dolls

Well rats @Rosslyn , that's a bummer. :-/ Was looking through the older part of the thread, did you finish painting your Battat you mentioned making into a buckskin grullo? If so, do you have any photos to share?

 

Yes! The horse is a good size for MSDs, but barely a short pony for an SD. I guess if you made one nice and shaggy it could be a little icelandic horse or moor pony for a bigger doll.

 

Wow, with the wild grasses he really does look like he is riding across the fields. That's fantastic!!

 

Thanks! This was my backyard before I got rid of all the timothy and foxtail and put in a lawn. The lawn is better for mah feets but admittedly nowhere near as photogenic.

 

That really is a beautiful setting for photos! Looks like you're out on the open plain with fields of grain. It's amusing that it was your backyard!

 

Thank you!

 

Hello everyone, this theme is old, but I hope i still can help somebody, who is still looking for... As I see, most of companies are already closed... In Russia, in Moscow toy store I found a Gullever's plush horse, in my opinion it's perfect for SD10\13 sized dolls like not really big kob type horse

 

He indeed does look a very sweet horse!

I customized an antique "Ohrdrufer Schaukelpferd":

/threads/friesian-stallion-tackmaking-chamfron-done.720093/

He is really lovely and even fits my big men.

It is a bit sad that need so much space...otherwise maybe there would be some more in our household...

 

@Ipledreamer Your project journal was amazing! Such a fun look into all th behind the scenes work.

 

You have to do a foam core with a clay shell. Like floral foam. I have one started, just keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the project list.

 

Yeah, but it still needs to be strong enough to support the weight of a doll on it. Some clays may work with a foam armature, but some may not. I would probably build a heavy duty wire skeleton into it, or at least a wooden dowel through the back.

 

oh you'd be surprised what some kinds of foam will hold. Most film sets are built primarily from foam, among other things.

 

Sure, but floral foam?

 

The brown kind used for dry floral arranging is pretty dense. I worked at a floral shop and the green is best used for fresh flower arrangements as you soak it in water. I have used the green for little projects as a base to be covered with paper mache or air dry clay, but the brown is meant for silk flowers and I pretty sturdy. It would need a good coat of something over it, but I think it could hold up the wight of a doll. The best foam to use would be the white compressed kind, like the stuff you get for packaging electronics. I know it comes in sheets and blocks, is easy to carve, but really, really messy! Hope this helps. Best part with styrofoam is it is lightweight.

 

Oh white foam would be the softest thing I'd use! And no, definitely not floral foam that's designed to disintegrate. There's this type of foam that is sold as "Great Stuff" Gap Filler in cans. It is a sort of liquidy variety of polystyrene that cures over about 24 hours to very, very hard. It's super sticky fluff straight out of the can but once it's no longer tacky you can carve it- once it's fully cured you kind of need power tools or a very sharp pick to make more than a dent in it. I work with it a lot on film sets and you can make nearly anything with it.

 

@Rosslyn thank you for the tip on "Great Stuff". I'd never heard of it, sounds perfect for lightweight construction. I have used both types of floral foam, ugh, nasty dusty stuff! Used what I had, but not recommended. I'll add this to my list of useful sculpting materials.

 

Oh, okay, I could definitely see that spray foam stuff working, and making the whole project lightweight too. Do water-based clays like Paperclay stick to it?

 

I can see it being a little difficult to control though. What do you do? Make a container to blow it into? Maybe a plastic bag sealed in the general shape? Very interesting to hear that's what you use on sets. I tried to use similar spray foam around 1000 years ago when I was studying at school. I was trying to make a cave like atmosphere, LOL. the wire wasn't dense enough (chicken wire) so I left it as chicken wire instead, LOL. So I'd be very interested in knowing what the technique is if you care to share

 

Generally you need a framework to spray it onto, or a shape you want to make, and then you can carve it later to get better shapes. You can also make hollow shapes and fill them with it, as long as you leave room for it to expand. If I was going to make a cave out of it, for example, I'd build the cave of wire and paper, then bulk it out and add texture with the foam.
I think to make a horse out of this stuff you'd want to start with a frame and build around that, or with flat cardboard shapes you build bulk onto and then joint together and add more bulk, then carving and shaping.
What's getting me is that I could easily build such a horse, but getting it reproduced in some lightweight material in a cost effective manner would be really difficult...

 

That really sounds like it'd be fun. Maybe some day, but at the moment, I have neither the time nor space for such a project But you never know! One must keep busy in life!

 

Do you think Flumo would be strong enough? I guess abs plastic would be ideal, but I have no idea what kind of process that would involve.

 

I think plastics or vinyls require a vacuum system. The best I can think of is having it made by a 3d printer but that's also super expensive I don't think anyone makes stuff anymore in the USA and you'd have to go to China to get them duplicated. That means you'd have to have a large amount made to make it worth while, and you'd have to pay the up-front cost, with the possibility that the potential sales aren't there Ugh, not easy!

 

I'll have to google what Flumo is when I have a minute, I'm now very curious. ABS or any other light plastic to make a hollow cast would be ideal but injection molding is very expensive if you're not gonna make/sell a few hundred of whatever you're casting, since the dies for injection molding have to be custom made and are quite costly. I think the shape would be too complicated for a molding process like vacuuforming. Resin casting looks like the only plausible bet, but even if you can hollow-cast it, that's still gonna be one expensive horse!

edit: Flumo looks like it is meant for small applications. A horse big enough for SD+ dolls is gonna be nearly a meter high- around 70-90cm- and at least that long. I don't think Flumo would be cost effective for that. I couldn't say if the medium itself might not handle such a large shape, since I've never tried it.

TLDR, the trouble with such a horse isn't even making it- it's finding a method of reproduction that's not so expensive that you have to sell the results for like $2000 USD each. And then don't get started on Shipping costs.

 

Oh being an old timer, I just realized one more possibility, though it would possibly be more brittle than resin, it's still pretty strong... and easy to create. If you've ever done porcelain dolls back in the 80s, LOL - dating myself again-, you probably have also used composition bodies. This material works just like porcelain slip. You make a mold out of plaster, then, after it's dry, you pour the slip in, wait a min or so to build up the wall thickness, then pour the excess out (saving it for next time) and then you let it cure after de-molding when nice and hard, you paint it. I haven't done this in such a long time, that I can't remember any tips... I'm sure they are online though

 

One more note on that, I have a 3' tall doll with large single piece body that is solid and strong, so it really might work!

 

This is basically the method for hollow casting resin pieces as well, give or take a technique or two. I think between slip casting and resin, slip might be cheaper but more likely to break. If that Resins By Randy guy has cast Nahar, he might be able to answer some questions about it if I ever pursue this. I've given it serious thought, although I am nowhere near as good with horse anatomy as the artist behind Nahar.

 

Well, I do have a 30 year old doll that has had stuff piled on top of her over the years, she's always in the way, her girth is...let me measure...19" at the waist and she feels super strong to be honest, I press on her chest and there is no give. She looks at me like, what now??? LOL

She wears a dress my girls played in as tots. It's a white lace dress for easter for 6 years old, but on my 3/4 year olds it was a long dress that tied in the back. This is a big doll, LOL

I'm just saying, if you wanted to try it out just to build yourself your own horse, I think it would work

 

Hmmmm. I see that this is an older thread, and it seems that My Twinn is no longer in business. My daughters have this big, ugly black horse that I scored for like 5 bucks at Goodwill (for their AGs)...and I am unsure whether it can be modified to look anything half close to realistic, but with my 60cm female on it the size is not toooooooo terrible while she is in the saddle. It measures about 20" ears to floor. Any doll larger than this would look quite ridiculous.

 

Bumping this thread a bit.
Does anyone know any "new" horses that may fit the sd13 size? I'm in Europe so the Mytwinn ones was never a choice and now they seems to be gone?

 

I think a child's rocking horse might be the best bet? Getting one of those then modifying it to make it realistic might be a possibility if it's not too scary for you?

The only other thing I can suggest is going down a size to MSD and using the battat horses. Your JID girls should look great with one. I know, if you had an image for one of your larger girls, it's a bummer, but seeing that you have some JIDs it might give you the look you want if your goal was to take pictures of your dolls riding

 

I still think the DPL Leeds horses work well if you can find them, there are so many sizes I found ones for every scale of doll and you can customize them to make them more realistic.

DPL Leeds Horses for BJD by Raewhitewolf, on Flickr

 

Wow, those are awesome @raewhitewolf ! Are they a European item? I've never seen them before!

 

Unfortunately no, not european. You can try on ebay though. Otherwise, i remember there's another brand that make plush horses for children to sit on. I'll make a search for them 'cause i don't think i have it in my favorites website.

Edit : So there's Happy People that make big horse. https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01ET8FNJG/ref=s9_dcacsd_dcoop_bw_cr_x__a_w

I failed to find their website though.
There's another company that make big horse on wheel, i'm trying to find it.

Edit 2 : There's also Plushtoy Peluche cheval à monter noir et blanc 100 cmhttp://boutique.plushtoy.fr/epages/186372.sf/fr_FR/?ObjectPath=/Shops/186372/Products/H728271
With different height too. Unfortunately website is only in French langage and i have no idea if it's really serious or not. :/ And on the 5 horses i looked up, only 1 was in stock. -_-

 

Thank you for all suggestions!
I guess I better start looking around (haven't seen anything like that here in Sweden, I experience that even rocking horses are hard to find :0)

I guess all horses need a bit of modification too.. haha why do I want horses for my 70 cm men!? xD (and where will I keep them if I ever found some 0.o)

IngieBee None of my JID girls is supposed to have horses sadly.. maybe I can give my Benny a horse sometime in the future though...

 

Otherwise Mew-Lidia9 posted a tuto on how she mades a horse for one of her SD size /threads/horse-prop-wip.755786/
And let's not forget Nahar (if i remember correctly).

 

LOL, bummer! @Evoi

Wow, I bookmarked that one, @Blah, that's amazing!

 

While Nahar does look great and I seriously considered him, it is extremely costly to get him to Germany (and I suppose also to Sweden, for this matter). So I gave up on him.

Regarding those Ohrdrufer Schaukelpferde, they are also a bit pricey, even in not so great condition (if you go for one of those, pay attention to the inner layer holding the guy together), as they are antiques.

Regarding the big plushie sit-on-horses: I also considered these. But their backs are insanely long, and their necks are just too weird (too long). And as I am a fan of baroque horses with nicely arched necks, I just did not like them.

As baroque horses are, compared to drafters or warmbloods, a good bit shorter, this still pretty big horse worked nicely. Also you can conceal a bit with the corresponding saddle. You can cheat a bit by placing your rider a bit higher up with a western or Iberian saddle. Difficult with an English saddle though, as these are supposed to be flat-seated.

And yes, I was crazy enough trying to find a horse for my 70 cm guys to ride on. IMO, it was quite successful. Good luck with your search!

By the way, that horse made in layers is IMO a genius idea. I might try that, but not with cardboard. Maybe putting him on a stick, you could even pose his legs for standing or gallopping? Hmmm...interesting.

 

I dreamed getting a nahar but the custo too makes him quite expensive so far (well, more like incompatible with my bank accont and reason). Well maybe someday when i'll have a job ?

For the horse in layer, i was wondering about using also can and bottle. Well that too will have to wait (no room for me to make it among other thing).

 

Can and bottle? You mean out of metal?

Well, I also thought about some kind of not too thin plastic sheets. Maybe not craftfoam. Although put in layers, this stuff gets also quite sturdy. Hmmm...maybe worth a try. But it will also get quite expensive.

Though I have to admit I do not really need such a horse. I have two of that size. But it looks so interesting with its posability.

 

Can from soda can as it's light metal and easier to work with/cut i think, not vegetable/fruit/food can, too heavy and hard to work.
And water bottle, that kind of plastic yes. ^^

 

It looks like it's really hard to find horses for SD dolls! I've been looking through the forum and saw that the My Twinn line is already discontinued, while the other recommended brand has yet to gone into mass production (the one with the Arabian horses iirc). So I decided to settle on a 'pony' look and went to buy a used Our Generation Morgan off Ebay.

He's a lot bigger than I thought! Still a bit small (those stirrups look ridiculous with AS Xi Shi's long legs), but I'm happy with this for now. It's a lot better than what I could've made on my own! Pics in spoiler tag below:

Spoiler

The box from the seller was a combo of other boxes taped together


Here it is for comparison next to a regular AS box for my 62cm girl


Height comparison (sorry, I don't know why it flipped!)

Excuse the doll nudity too, her clothes haven't arrived yet


She looks huge on the horse but it's still semi-believable xD


I'm just happy the horse can hold up her weight well


Until next time!

 

Awesome! What little girl doesn't want a pony? I've seen people ride their small ponies like that, so not so off

 

I think I found the Nahar site, and I am DESPERATE for a horse, haha. But I don't see any way to order?
1/3 Scale Horses

This is what I found when I searched. Anyone have any input? T-T this thread hasn't been responded to in like 2 years, but.. my girl needs a horse.

 

Yeah, that's Nahar's site, but I don't know if they've sold them for a while, now, which is unfortunate. I still really want one, too.

 

Dpl Leeds Ltd do a 'teddy' horses, I have one for my Feeple60 and it suits her size wise! This is the link to a pic of the horse for reference Standing Horse Brown Dappled Beauty Plush DPL Leeds Ltd. Large. | eBay

 

@Shulamite horses are so beautiful and detailed. I love them.

 

Man I feel so lucky to have snagged the My Twinn models when I did! (5 ish years ago) There needs to be more 1/3 options available! @Shulamite I am absolutely in love with your model. Do you sell them blank as well? Super stoked to see how the drafty one turns out. They are where my true love lies in the horse world!

 

The problem with these large horses really is weight and space. Therefore, they are difficult to ship or generally transport - or to lug around, if you will. That means, taking them out for photoshoots in nature is a chore. And if you really want them as a BJD horse, it would almost be better to develop some kind of system to take them apart and carry them e.g. in a big trekking backpack (am I crazy? - maybe).

Sizewise: I have mostly 70 cm guys. So my "Friesian", who already is the size of a small Shetland Pony is no more to them than a smallish Andalusian or a Haflinger. If I wanted them to be in scale to a normal sized Hanoverian (or similar breed), the BJD horse wither height needs to be 20 cm higher (after all, a human's feet normally are covered by the belly of a Hanoverian). Of course, all the other dimensions would need to grow proportionally in size. And by then, I might end up with the question from my hubby "The horse or me"...eeh. Or we build a stable for them (after all, you can't keep one horse alone).

 

Honestly, I don't think that my partner would care how big the SD-sized horse was. They only want one, and our backyard is pretty wooded, so carrying it outside for pics wouldn't be too much trouble.

I, on the other hand, wouldn't mind a SD-sized Pegasus.

Ryu

 

I had hoped to have some photos to show by now, but I’ve been working on a large horse too. At this stage I’m essentially needlefelting polyfil over a wire and wood frame.

Unfortunately, though I just came back from the states, I forgot the jumbo box of fluff and apoxie sculpt I needed to continue. (And just when I’m on quarantine for having been out of the country, too... ok, deep-cleaning the house it is...)

I’ll link a project journal here when I resume work.

 

@Havra That sounds really interesting! I can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

After having acquired a 3D-printer, I am about printing this little sweetie: horse (BJD) by dmstlrc

Yes, it is a BJD horse. As you know me, I have tweaked it a bit. The hooves looked a bit strange, and I am about developing a way to attach a real-hair mane (if you want, a mane wig). Same with the tail. Yes, there is a plastic variant, but I thought it would look funny in combination with the haired mane. Oh, and in the size required for a 70 cm doll, I also developed a pair of ball-jointed ears (horses talk, among others, with their ears). When I am done, I will add these customizations to thingiverse.

I have no idea whether this horsie will be able to carry a big BJD man, but we will see. I am printing my version in my favourite horse color - golden dun.

 

holy guacamole! Can't wait to see that!

 

@Ipledreamer - Oh, I was hoping someone would try something like this. ^_^ And yes, the ears definitely should be poseable too! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

Watching for this! I recently printed Dmstrc's cat, at 200%. It turned out well, but is a little too heavy for itself, and flops down. I have not yet tried sueding the joints.

I considered printing the horse too. Thanks for being braver than me!

 

Can't wait to see what you come up with, your work is awesome!

 

Wow, that would be super cool! You could always try wiring the joints ?

 

You all know I am crazy. If it sags (which may happen), I will feed wire through the entire body, and some through its legs. Here are two pictures. One already contains my hoof modification, and the other shows the full head, ears separate joints (I could not get them to stay in their sockets, they still need to be fitted with tiny hooks and strung). As you can see, the head is quite nicely detailed:





For the eyes, I will get a pair of taxydermy horse eyes. I find these quite realistic, and I am going for realistic here. Oh, and the guy standing next to the horsey parts is my 70 cm Thor. I wanted a horse that really looks good with the big boys, and I am sure this will fit the bill.

For anybody interested: The printer we use is a Prusa MK 3. It has a build volume of somehing 20x20x30 cm. So the big parts such as chest, belly and behind will require to be printed in at least two parts (we will see about that), and glued together. As this pony is printed in PLA, there is no chance of welding these parts together. But plastic glue is also quite strong. I hope it will be strong enough to hold the string tension.

Oh, and for sizing: I am using a factor of 675.

 

I think he's too big??? The horse, that is. I'm afraid your guy will look too small on it. Think about the size of a big man's foot related to, say, a Friesian or, head to say lower leg? Ugh, just hope you didn't print more before evaluating that??

Hope I'm wrong!

 

@Ipledreamer
I'm really curious how your BJD horse will look in the end.