Frank-A-Storm

Today I did return to school. I was sad about going back, but it was a great to have two days off and be lucky enough not to lose power or suffer major damage.
Now getting back to model horses. This guy I started during the storm, but Someone Like You (Hurricane Sandy) took up most of my time. When I first started customizing, hacking up a perfectly good OF was off limits. Back then my collection was also very small and my ears had never heard of the phrase, 'body model.' Today, my collection is a nice size and I always am searching for body models whenever I go to yard sales and flea markets. You never know what you may find!
One of the OF body models I have I hacked up. I always thought Zippo could do more than jog! In my mind, I had him loping on the bit. The great thing about model horses is that one small change can completely redo the model's look.

First, his front leg needed moved. (Wonderful, right? Poor horse)

Next, I made a cut under his throat and behind his ears so his head could be lowered. Then his legs lower legs were cut so he was in the right position.

So this is Frank-A-Storm, named in honor of the stormy weather and the storm. And Happy Halloween!

Snow..err...Hurricane Day?

Today and tomorrow has been announced as no school. Hurricane Sandy hit today. Most stores closed at one, but my mom and I went to the craft store to make sure we had enough entertainment.

Getting back to model horses, Someone Like You is getting his final touches. All that is left are hooves, eyes, muzzle and a few touch up areas. I'm thinking about naming him Hurricane Sandy.

The lights have been flickering, so I have no idea how long the power will be on or if it will go off.

Spots

Someone Like You has gotten his markings blocked in. The most important thing to remember about painting any type of marking is to always find references. Since Someone Like You is a paint horse, I just searched for pinto horses. Whether or not it was an actual paint horse didn't matter. If the horse is a breed that's really specific, then it's a good idea to only look for pictures of your breed.

Well, Frank-A-Storm hasn't hit yet, but it's getting pretty cloudy. I've heard that Harrisburg will be in the eye of the storm, so I have no idea if the power will stay on this week.

Never Mind I'll find...

Someone Like You....
Since Frank-A-Storm has yet to hit Pennsylvania, I got to get some model horsey stuff done. I haven't air brushed in a while and this was my first time trying a palomino.
Someone Like You, l I finished painting right before Breyerfest so I could show him in performance. But I always had the image of a palomino paint in my mind for him.

So I prepped him today and painted him with my air brush.  Some of the paint ran, but his new white markings will cover that.

He still needs shading around his eyes, markings painted, and eyes done, but he's coming along.

What name brand?

The Volunteer Fire Company has a very easy way of telling when their ponies were born.

On the hindquarters is a two digit number. The brand tells you what year a pony was born.

So this pony with 96 was born in 1996.

                               

And this lovely pony was born in 1995, the same year I was born!

Hope that helps! The first time I went to Chincoteague and Assateague I was confused about why the adult horses had numbers on their hindquarters!

Round Up

Every year, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company has a fall roundup for their ponies. The goal for this isn't to gather foals, but instead to vaccinate the ponies. Compared to Pony Penning week, barely anyone was here. So everyone could get front row seats!

Trekking on a little trail, my aunt, mom, cousin and I waited. Soon someone pointed and the sound of thundering hooves came. But it was a false alarm, they were tame horses.

After waiting a little bit longer a new louder pounding noise came.

The ponies were galloping in a line with the cowboys riding and guiding them on the side. It was really awesome to watch.

 The ponies then crossed a stream and entered into their holding corral.

 Once in, many of the ponies started rolling.

Then a tiny head poked through! He was the only foal in this group.

There's two herds in Assateague. One in the north and another in the south. The herd we saw was the smaller one.
The trip was a blast!

Beautiful!

Today the weather made up for all of the rainy days. It wasn't blistering but it also wasn't bitterly cold. The weather stayed in the middle and the sun showed bright. So we all loaded into the car and drove to Assateague. First we stopped at the welcome center.

There were numerous exhibits that were pretty cool.

I took tons of photos of the pony info. Anyone interested in a post about the ponies? Post a comment!

After the little visit we walked to the beach and there was no one really. This is the time to go! Very few people were on the beach.

Shell collecting was endless!

My cousin, aunt, sister and mom looking for shells

The ocean was beautiful. The sweet smell of salt filled the air along with the powerful surge of crashing waves.

We all went up and down the beach, but saw no ponies. Driving up to the beach and back from the beach we looked but the ponies seemed to be hiding. After some more walking we left the beach. Then we stopped for dinner at Maria's since today is my sister's birthday! A great ending to a beautiful day!

More rain

The last two days have been as rainy as the others.

So the stallion has been worked on.
First of all he's had a new paint job with new markings,

And here's his face!

Rainy Day Fun

Today was our first full day of Chincoteague. I woke up to this.

We decided to try to go fishing anyways but rain started to pour out of the sky.
When packing, everyone decided to bring a craft or project that each of us enjoy doing.
I brought model horses, so that's what I spent most of the day doing.

He still needs more refining but here's his progress.
We did get to go fishing after the rain stopped and the water calmed down. In total about 20 fish were caught, but none of the fish were big enough to eat.

Travelin'

About two weeks ago, the Dream Foundation awarded my aunt with a dream trip (The Dream Foundation is like Make A Wish except for adults). She's been living with my family since January/February of last year after being diagnosed with cancer along with her granddaughter who is special needs. Her dream trip was to go to Chincoteague, Va. So today that's where we drove . It took about four hours from Harrisburg, Pa to get here and we'll stay here for a week.

Coming back to Chincoteague reminded me of The Beebe Ranch

And Ponies!

The rooms are nice and cozy,

and the house has a water front view, so we can walk right from the house and fish,

Plus we got to bring our furry friends too!

Progress

Yes, the mustang stallion continues. He's had his first coat of primer and so far there isn't a ton of prepping that needs done. First time ever that's happened!

And since I like his head....

So any color suggestions?

At A Snail's Pace

The mustang stallion has had a couple of modifications done. First of all his feathers have been sculpted.

 Next, he's had wrinkles added.

 And that is pretty much it. I'm hoping to get him done for The Intersport/ Intermediaire live show if I go. 

Satan

Satan. Nope nothing to do with the fallen angel, but instead Satan, The Black Stallion's colt. Whenever I remake a model, I have a habit of trying to make it performance friendly. Well I'm doing a fun model. I bought a foal at a flea market (love love flea markets) and wasn't sure what to do with him. Then I came across my copy of Son of The Black Stallion and it clicked. In the book, Satan, Black's son, is described as being mean and built thick. The foal was the perfect prospect.

I decided to have his mouth open.

Teeth and tongue was added plus the gaping hole was closed.

Lastly, ears and a forelock were added. I really really like his expression so far.