Fourth doll, a rat boy

Hmm, my homemade rider doll cat got already new stable friend. This time it is - oh, of course - a rat boy... A rex (curly haired) standard eared rat in black color, with a blaze and white chest (so-called 'irish' pattern).

(Already, I apologize the super bad qualitied photos. I continue again and again to use my 'landscape cam' for photographing miniatures although the SLR camera is really better for that.) 

The armature was made similarly as with Juoru (the cat), but I left the tape off and just added clay to the wire. The head got some wire wrapped around, as I want that I can move his head nicely enough, without danger of breaking the clay.

I always cover the strong armature with some thinner wire to make sure the clay and glue can stick better.

Longer shape to the head. The tail wire makes sure he can stand without help.

As clay I used foam clay, what, as silk clay, is just familiar thing to me from my thumb rats. And foam clay works quite well for dolls, as it's stronger and easier to keep in shape and even 'fade', when addin more clay to a place. For ears and nose I used silk clay, and I got surprised how well the nose got it's details! I thought it could just look like a piece of clay, but I got a clear rat nose, hmm. As a sculpting tool I used a barbecue stick what had been a paint tool too... Because... I run my own work room and I don't plan that much (and I have a huge pack of those sticks).

First clays added, then left to dry a bit.

Nose!

When the clay was dried, I glued some fabric-like leather thingy to his arms. It worked OK to me too, although I don't like the fact that the glue didn't stay so well still. If the arms flay themselves, I need to think something else for material later or then I really must buy fabric glue (I don't have). I tried to glue that arm material to his lower legs too, but it didn't stay - so if I show any photos, he looks very... thin...

Paws and tail got leather on, and I like them all, quite much. Haha. I'm a pessimistic perfectionist, so if I like things I make, it's weird.

Arms and tail leather glued.

Then I added more clay to him; in a shape of poor pelvis and some tummy. I want that my dolls have all body parts... Also his thights got more meat (I mean, he got a butt), that he's not so ridiculously skinny when he sits on a horse's back. And when that was yet not dry, I decided to paint the boy's markings: white blaze and an 'irish' pattern to the chest. Also eyes got glued and painted on. As I used acrylics, there was no much time to the varnishing - what's always the best part in all, because it means that the doll/model is finished!

He wants already to go ride?

I got another weirdness after having his eyes painted. They are really bright blue beads, and I didn't add too much dark blue paint there. The bead's own color is, so, almost visible from there, under the pupil too... And when I first photographed him with flash, the eyes did glow.

The rex rat boy's pupils got also placed realistically: rats look mostly up, so the pupils don't look ahead. Not even exactly similarly, mirrored, so it can look crazy if you see the pupils from the eye. They are small when using flash.

And that's what I like - no stressing from the eye that much when doing doll eyes.

Now I could tell his name: Räväkkä. It's Finnish and means boisterous. I especially wanted to include the letter Ä there, because I like to 'disclose' Finland and being Finnish (and to be honest, I love irritating non-Finns with difficult words). For horse people, to understand his name better, a horse filled with energy and fast movement is 'räväkkä'.

For nickname I decided Rämä, after 'rämäpää/rämäpäinen', meaning daredevil or swashbuckling.

He has no surmane yet, but is comes when it comes.

Well. Here he is.

As you see, I also cut pieces from his ears, so he has notches there. If he comes from a big litter and had a lot play fights there? Rats sometimes bite each other and cause injuries, accidentally or angrily.

Also, because of being in this country and as now is winter, I made a long vest (or just sleeveless jacket) for Rämä to wear. It's made from some really soft and warm fabric, and is kept on with a simple hook. To hide his wire neck I cut him a simple scarf, what's mostly just hidden inside the vest because it's ends can't lop realistically.

I also got already a stack of riding photos... With a horse called Sam. I like how Rämä works, that was what I meant to make him being. While photographing this situation I created here, I got a feeling that I try to make it look similar to some dark movies where people ride horses while being chased and scared (Sleepy Hollow!). Is Rämä some kind of riding robber or what the toe?! (No, he's a domestic rat pup, they are the cuddliest thing ever. I bet he is just kidding if he calls himself as a robber.)

For photos, Sam wore an old hackamore thingy made by me. Not adjusted as well as they should, but no things always go as they are meant to. So the bridles don't always fit neither.

Yet flesh to the legs, and trousers to wear, and then...

In fact, just Sam is räväkkä horse. Sport horses are.

I must retake this photo someday, when things are better.

One thing what surprised me after finishing Rämä, was the fact that he is really small. Yes, he is young, but not all pups are that small still. Asko, who I counted to be about 180 cm if he was 1:1 scale, looks really tall next to the rex brat. And don't let the photo fool you - in that Rämä looks of course shorter as he is because of his position, but I checked that when he stands straightly next to Asko, his head is to his shoulder only! Soooooo... When I next time find my ruler and calculator... I am going to count the exact height.

Rämä was moving something random, so it's his own fault that his right leg's toes don't show in the photo!

He is good soup with another young one at stable; Juoru, as said. Or what else does this show? Just throw away the generic thoughts about rat-eating pet cats. It does not happen. Neither when the rat and cat have humane bodies and are sized as people. (Need to say, I never forget the situation when our first rat Voldemort allowed a cat called Amigo to smell with him behind cage bars. After a second he made a quick move and the cat scared out of his pants. If the rat could have been scared, he couldn't have done that!)

Didn't I mention in Juoru's blogtext that he got a skirt because I can't make trousers? Should do similar cloth for Rämä too.

When I write this end of a text right now, I am waiting some newer dolls to dry their clays... But this time I finally made females. Female rats. Let's see later what I do with them.

The 1:12 scale cat dolls are still waiting to get sculpted, but I guess they come when I have settled from my cloud of dollmaking at all. Because, when I find something what works and what I have planned and struggled with for years, I get crazy with it and can't anything else than just make and make and make more the thing, like dolls right now. And traditional scale feels natural to make dolls to.