Schleich halters from paper

Thanks to internet, I once got an idea to try another of artist's best friend for tackmaking: paper. Shortly, I made halters for Schleichs and used paper as material.

First tries are never so good as they should. I colored white paper with a blue Copic marker, and then put painter's tape on it. Well, to keep it less weak... And that only because I have no clear tape here right now.

While I cut the taped paper piece to lace, I also colored another area of the paper and sealed it with varnish (only one side...)! That is what worked! I cutted that to lace too. The taped laces got sealed after I cutted them, not so easy thing...

Then I, of course, made halters. They were more OK than good, but I was going to make more and try different papers also.

Next I tried thicker, brown paper. I drew the lines to make it easier to cut, and sealed that from both sides with varnish, before I cutted the laces.

Well, it got four individual halters to see that it works. I now know that this is a good material, if you know what you do. Paper is not similar to leather, it is weaker and sharper, easier to cut but worse with fails. When used well and carefully, it seems to look perfect.

Here are the examples.

First blue halter, pony or small horse size. The noseband's upper part is slightly too long and loose, but better that instead of too narrow noseband. (Narrow nosebands are a big problem in model horse tack...) Could fit better without the 8 -shaped ring piece, but well, I often make those just to make a bit longer cheekpieces. Too much visible mistakes what I don't bother to fix as I fought with this halter so much already.

Second blue halter, with painter tape. Very wide straps, hmm... Not so good. But they are in better length, the halter is too inflexible to show how it really fits. Buckle is bad, blergh.

Third halter is brown. Buckle isn't nice (but it works), the 8 -rings aren't the best for Schleich halters, I see too. Unfortunately, this halter has flaws; folds in areas what aren't meand to look folded!

Fourth looks best and is practically a better version from previous one. This has no folds, no 8 -rings, and it has two hooks and a squared buckle! Well, I really needed to start enjoy of making small buckles with corners... Because it makes life so easy. I also made sure that THIS halter fits to my unfinished hannover mare CM, who is going to be a trotting finnhorse stallion. He has yarn mane (tested... found the idea of yarn from other blogs) who allows halters.

So, if anyone wonders what material to use for Schleich halters... Try paper. I personally find it useful, although leather really has things that make it at the end better material; you can punch holes to leather, not on paper, and adding thin straps to buckles is more safe in leather than paper.

I am making more paper halters at the future. In Schleich scale. 

Spilled Ink

In this April, I finished my first ever traditional scale custom. He got started ages ago, and I've started some else too, but he's my first finished one. As a base I had a Blue Box toy horse, quarter.

Once I just got the feeling of painting, and typically to that feeling, I didn't care how unfinished some sculpting is when I start to paint it. So the QH got finished, as he wasn't too bad for my taste; I don't want to continue too many times to one and same work, it gets my interest slowly away from it.

He got named as Spilled Ink, thanks to my Finnish hobbyist friend and blogger. Quickly the horse got nicknamed as Spilli... And why the name? He's a black splashed white with bald face and spots around eyes and mouth!

Painted with acrylics. For hooves I used Derwent Inktense pencils who got washed with the varnish... Heyda matta as a varnish and some glossy for eyes (and hooves). 

Here are the photos:

Here you see all the tools and materials (mostly?) what I used for painting him.

The blue halter he is wearing was made at 2013, as one of my first traditional scale halters. And it's Spilli's official, just waited for the moment he gets finished!

From sides Spilli looks almost good to me, but what comes to front or almost-front angles, I find him very disturbing to photograph. Just thinking that he looks like a duck, maybe thanks to my lack of sculpting skills (NOSTRILS). Color does not matter as I noticed that problem already before he was painted at all. Also I often want to resculpt ears a bit, but I can't because I have no idea how it should be done without removing whole ears once... Oftenb I think I should not even try or think that kind of modifyings with that less skill I have, aargh. 

Those were tricky to take because I had no good background papers, they were really too small for Spilli and other trads. And as a studio I use a retouched cardboard box, every time when my actual for-trad-scale-things studio is filled with... Schleichs, until I get somewhere more space for them to live. (I want their shelf for traditionals.) Soooo have later-taken pics where I can show his body structure better - and play with realism. Sorry that it looks more like a theatre stage instead of a normal environment to show a horse, but well, better a theatre instead of poor try to imitate stables.

That black rat guy you see in the photos... It's his staff.

In real world it's not uncommon to know how - for example - difficult it is to get tack that fits a horse well, and I mean just individual horse. With one there's no enough space for bit in the mouth, so they need bitless bridles, another one has face shape what forces owners to build tack pieces by themselves from "finished" sets... And I now have one problem horse in that way, but in miniature. It's Spilli with his stupidly shaped skull. I have no halter what could really look good on him, they never really fit him. Same with bridles. My Breyers and even a cheap, valueless toy horse Remu can wear them without any harm...

I also want to tell one interesting fact from my tackmaking in model horse life. Normally people want to make real things in miniature, but I personally am not really interested to make perfect replicas from 1:1 tack pieces. That's because I have no materials or skill. Other is that I simply am too interested of using my own imagination with this. Replicas show things that already exist. For me it's enough that I know how a halter works and is measured, so I know how to make one - but I don't try to trace any real design with it.

In model horse hobby it's very common to see those western style show halters on quarters, so anyone who is accustomed to that can think that I failed with this one. Well, I didn't even try, because I design my own things only. And I don't like the strangling look those show halters often have... Normal halters I make are meant for daily use, so they are simple, and most important, working and loose enough! If I want the strangle effect to these, it's easy to do with chained ropes. I love chains in miniature things - although in real horse world I look angrily that how common they are.

Viiskytkin, the handler and owner, is not scared of using chains with horses. But he simply does not really need them in normal life with Spilli. Except that his horse has no patience to stand still that much. Although the old rope (made ages ago) has chain, it works todays only with looking good as the chain is practically useless thanks to the huge clasp... And anchor chain isn't that easy with halters. 

I haven't photographed Spilli with my system camera yet, but I wait for it... Seemingly this small cam is better with large things than small ones, too easily noticed when comparing (and taking) photos from different sized things. I just have dangerously accustomed to that 'quality' that small camera adds to my model animal photos. Reminds me from my earlier photography life from times I had no brains and/or skill with photo takings.

I've two other trad customs under resculpting, let's wait their turn then.