Finish...Maybe?

I have a bad habit. As you may know, I love to start customs and not finish them. But I really am trying to squash that.
Today I brought out a custom to redo. He originally was a classic thoroughbred, but has since been made into a traditional Chincoteague Pony. So, I painted him black and started added white markings. A couple of more layers and he'll be done! This may be one of the fastest custom paint jobs I've ever done. :)

Throwback Future

Every year for Breyerfest, I get excited about the special runs, the celebration horse, but a small sentimental part of me is always excited about the prize models, specifically the Children/Youth ones. While they are just glossy versions of regular run models, the climax to months of research and preparing all takes place within a span of a couple of hours. I wonder who'll win them this year and the back story to them.
My first Breyerfest was also my very first model horse show.

I went with my fellow horse crazy friend Madison. Since I had no idea really what I was doing, I was ecstatic when my newly bought Sundance won a second place ribbon and got placed into the championship ring with more experienced showers. I didn't win a champion, but it was well worth it. I learned a ton about model horses and saw so many drool worthy horses. Real and model.

As the years went by, I got better( including with photography). Seriously, I have no pictures from my first Breyerfest. I most likely was still using one of those disposable ones, and believe me, I sucked at using even that!

My second year of showing (used 5 minute apoxie and nail polish).

Last big unrealistic custom I did, 2 years ago.

My first prize model was won with my Stage Mom model. And my glossy Rachel Alexandra is a permanent member of my herd.

The next year, the ill fated Buckbeak won me a Ravel.

As shocking as this will sound, I was my usual unorganized self the final time I could show in the Children/Youth Show. I hadn't felt like even thinking about Breyerfest because the night before we were leaving, I had to put my rabbit asleep who I'd had at the time for the majority of my life. So I'd force-threw myself into finishing things and told myself to mourn when I got home.

I started showing and did better than ever.One of my favorite models won a champion for me in performance.

Then my endurance setup that I'd made won too and got a champion with that.

 And for overalls, I was called again! I got three glossies that day, and the energy and backstory to all of them will leave two forever with me. I may joke about wishing to be sixteen again so that I could show at Breyerfest again, but I would never really want to trade the laughter, tears, wonderful experiences I had showing. Which brings to today.

Today was my last day of high school. I cleared out my locker for the final time after taking my final exam. Most people tell me that I'll miss high school. I won't miss high school as a whole and I'd never ever would want to repeat it. The moments I've experienced I wouldn't ever be able to repeat, no matter if I went back to high school for the rest of eternity (isn't that a horrifying thought?).I'll miss the moments, the happy smiles, the usual disagreements, but the eventual-ness of  my class being a class. I looked around in the empty classroom at the empty desks that'd never again be filled with my classmates. We were the new ghosts, a new group of graduates that would become a memory and picture. High school will be committed to pictures of people we'll pull out of boxes stuffed with old yearbooks years from now, and  will vaguely remember big moments. Some faces will be forgotten. But I look to the future, filled with my memories and things I've learned that have made me into the person I am today. So I can't wait to start my new school life, and my blooming model horse one.

Buck's Customization

Friday marked my last full week of high school, ever. So before beginning a paper about A Tale Of Two Cities, I cut off Buck's ears.

Then I drilled a hole for horns.

Added wire using super glue and baking soda.

Covered it in apoxie. Then I did some face resculpting. Added an ear and sculpted another.

Then I added a tuff of fur at the top of his head.

Yay! My roping steer is pretty much done!

Wowzers, There's More Cows!

For about a year my cow herd was made up of a single cow. She has been a versatile cow, and has been stuck everywhere from costume classes to livestock classes. But in the past month, my herd is now four.

 These two are my newest additions. The cows were sculpted by Cassie Thomas of Clover Leaf Props, and were part of my first saddle trade. They are the Buck resin and play nice with my other cows. I can't wait to paint them, and one will be getting horns and new ears to start life as a ropin' cow.

Pinhole

I thought there wouldn't be much prep work for my other cow.

Once I put on a layer of primer, I realized that there were some issues.

I know that cows are not judged at shows, but I still didn't want pinholes to show through a new paint job.
I grabbed my modeling paste and put it on the holes before smoothing it out.

Done! Now to just sand it smooth.