The Rain is Pouring

It's said that when it rains, it pours, and right now we need some umbrellas around here!

I was driving Craig's car and headed to Indianapolis when I had a tire blow out.

Luckily I was still in town and not on the interstate, but I had to have his car towed. His car will be in the shop for a couple of days; meanwhile we are sharing my car and coordinating our schedules.

Teacher Daughter Lisa had a medical issue necessitating a ride in the ambulance to the ER. I got one of those calls that terrify parents telling me she was ill and to get to the hospital. Luckily she is okay and I took her home after four hours in the ER. She's been resting comfortably and will be able to return to work tomorrow. (That's Molly doing her circus dog imitation which always makes Lisa smile.)

I have been sent to physical therapy to address some long term joint issues and a new one - I have torn my rotator cuff.  Ever had dry needling? I'm having that therapy and am sore, but it's working. I'm going twice a week for the next six weeks.

Craig has come down with the flu and is really sick. He's an easy patient, but I am concerned about him.

Finally, I got some personal medical news I did not want - last Saturday I found a large swelling under the incision from my pancreatic surgery. After watching it a few days, I had it checked and was told I have an incisional hernia. It looks like I will be having surgery again in the near future. I am NOT excited about that.

I'll try to blog regularly, but things are a little hectic right now and I may miss a day or two. Please bear with me. 

And pass me that umbrella!

Winter Drive By

When I went to the barn to visit the horses yesterday, Abby and the herd could not have been any more inaccessible to me. 

 Diablo.

They were in the far northwest corner of the pasture, far from the barns and access lanes.

 Sultanna, my NaMoPaiMo model.

I could have parked by the new barn and hiked out to them, but I didn't feel like walking through the mud that is down by the gate and then across three pastures.

Sultanna and Trouble.

I checked the lane to the old barn that also serves as the driveway to the old farmhouse, but two cars were parked there and blocking it. Normally, when they horses are in this pasture, I go down that lane to visit them.

 Hokey.

What I could do was drive alongside the pasture fence on the county road that borders Tim's property. There's no place to pull over and park, but if I watched the traffic, I could slow down, even stop, and take a look at my girl. I have to be careful because there is a blind rise just east of the lane to the old barn that blocks my view of any traffic that is coming.

Abby and Hokey.

So, that's what I did. I was lucky in that there were no cars or trucks coming either way, so I simply stopped my car and rolled down the window.

 Abby reacted immediately when I called to her - she turned and looked at my car

I could almost see her thinking and wondering why I did not get out of the car and come see her. (Doesn't she look like she's thinking, "Well? What is the delay?")

But with no place to pull over and park, I did not want to risk getting out of the car for a visit.

Of course, I felt terribly guilty at getting her hopes up. That had not been my intention. I'd just called her name spontaneously without thinking it through. Next time that I end up doing a drive by herd check, I won't make that mistake. But hopefully, the drive bys will be few and far between. I much prefer our usual visits.

NaMoPaiMo - Priming and Selfie

NaMoPaiMo doesn't begin until February 1 but already it is constantly on my mind. I ask myself so many questions: Am I far along in my prepping in order to complete the challenge? Do I have enough shades of paint for the palomino I envision? How many coats of primer should I put on my model? Will I obliterate my model's details and features if I use too much primer? And so on.

Luckily, I have an official NaMoPaiMo mentor (Beth Peart Weekes) as well as Allison Pareis and other friends who are willing to answer my questions and offer encouragement. 

Being a newbie, I didn't realize that we should take and post what is called a "selfie with a nudie" in the NaMoPaiMo Facebook page albums. Jennifer Buxton, creator of NaMoPaiMo and author of the blog Braymere Custom Saddlery posted an entry about her own registration for this year's NaMoPaiMo and that clued me in that I needed to do that.

I took care of that today and got it posted along with the others. Oh, my, there are so many people with gorgeous models to be painted! Just looking at all those photos made me really excited - I cannot wait to see how they all turn out.

Over the weekend I finished sanding and decided that my model was ready for priming. Now, normally, I'd do any spraying of primer or paint outside, but it is January in Indiana and it is too cold for that.

 So, I put Sultanna-to-be in a box and placed the box in the bathtub. 

I figured that if primer got onto the tub, it would be far easier to clean up than if I got it on the tile, the carpet, or a table.

I sprayed one side of the horse and let it dry for an hour, then flipped it and sprayed the other side. I waited another hour and then stood the model up and sprayed it from the top.

For the final primer spraying, I propped the model up with plastic bags and sprayed the underside and hoof bottoms. This model has tiny frogs in the bottom of each hoof and in some the primer is a little thick and they are harder to see. I may see if I can somehow carve them back out or I may leave them and just paint frogs instead. 

I had to run to JoAnn's today - Pony Pal Mila asked me to make her a Belle pillowcase for her bed, and then Ian asked for a Mario Brothers and a Spiderman pillowcases for his, so I had to go get some fabric for that project. 

While there, I looked at paint palettes. I'd thought I'd just use a paper plate, but the more I learn, the more I realize that I will be mixing paint colors and that it will be helpful to have something like this for mixing. 

I am also looking for something in which to keep my paint brushes, paints, and other supplies. So far I haven't found the right tub, but I will keep looking.

Okay, my pony is prepped and primed. Thinking about actually starting to paint it is more than a little scary! 

HR SR Bay Lippizaner

My absolute favorite breed is, of course, Appaloosas, but I also love Lippizaners and Tennessee Walkers. 

So, when a friend posted that she was selling her Hagen Renaker Lippizaner in bay, I quickly sent her a message and ended up purchasing it. 

 A 2009 special run for BreyerFest, it came in two colors - black and bay.

 I love his blaze - it looks a bit like a tornado or a lightning strike.

I bought the black about ten years ago and have been looking for the bay ever since. (I have found one or two, but their prices were not in my budget.)

 The blazes on the two pieces are different.

 Their bases differ, too.

A close-up of the bases. In person, the differences make it seem as though two different molds were used for those bases. I need to do some research into that.

Both pieces are marked to identify them as special runs. If I remember right, 50 were made of each color.

I am thrilled to add this piece to my collection!

Variations - A New Circus Pony

I have such a soft spot for the Hagen Renaker Circus Ponies and have acquired quite a conga of them in my minis cabinet. 

But there's always room for one more! 

I saw this HR Head Down Circus Pony on a model horse sales site. It had no breaks or chips and the seller was asking a very fair price for it.

His paint job is pretty average - notice that the hooves are not completely painted gold as they should be. That's common in this piece as well as with the Head Up version. 

You can see the hoof difference in this photo of the new Circus Pony when compared with my first piece in the same color. That first piece also has the scalloped harness and bridle, and if you look closely, a red dot on the bridle where the noseband meets the headstall. Neither of the other two have that detail.

My second piece (in the middle) does not have the scalloped harness, but his hooves have a better paint job than the new one.

My new piece's upper eyelid line extends on both sides of his eye, unlike the other two. I really like his eye.

He is now in the minis cabinet with the rest of my Circus Ponies and a very welcome addition to my conga. 

NaMoPaiMo - Beginning to Prep

For years I have heard about prepping models for painting but I had never tried it myself. Until today. And after just one prepping session, my respect for model artists has grown significantly.

Since I'd never prepped before, I first watched some tutorials online. Then I took a deep breath and began. 

I started with a Paint and Play model that I had bought specifically to practice on. I wanted to get the feel of the sanding materials I'd bought as to how much they might take off. Did I need to use a heavy touch or a light touch? Circular rubbing or straight back and forth? After a little practice, I felt like I was getting the hang of it.

Next, I picked up the NaMoPaiMo entered model and took a good hard look at it.

In addition to the Breyer stamp on the belly that needed to come off, there were two very visible belly seams, one that showed on the near side of the model

 and a second that was less visible and further underneath the belly on the far side.

I also sanded off a seam that ran the length of the piece's back, although most horses do have some sort of dimple, at least over their backsides and near the tail. 

 It didn't take too long before I realized I had another problem - being able to actually see the details on the model.

It didn't matter if I had my glasses on or off; there were times when I could not tell if I was seeing an intentional face or leg mark or if I was seeing a seam. I was working with good light, but my eyes just could not focus well enough to tell. So, I decided to leave those marks as they were.

 Having said that, my eyes were good enough to see the large piece of extra plastic between the tail and the model's hock.

That had to come off!

 I tried folding my sandpaper, but it was still too big and cumbersome to fit through that tiny area.

I snipped a piece off and then cut another strip off of that and slid it into the opening and began carefully sanding - the space was tight and I did not want to sand off any tail or hock details.

Success! And minimal loss of detail, too!

I looked the model over carefully for anywhere else that might need sanding, rinsed her off with water, and set her aside to dry. I will check her in a few hours to see if I missed any spots and take care of those then.

If she is good to go, then I will spray some primer on her. After watching priming tutorials, of course!

NaMoPaiMo - Taking the Plunge

I did it. I entered NaMoPaiMo. Me, who really is not artistic and does not paint models. (Well, I did some nail polish ponies back in the 1990s for friends but those don't count.)

I have entered NaMoPaiMo, I have a mentor (thanks, Beth Peart Weekes!), and I have paints, brushes, and things to prep my pony.

Originally, I had planned to do two practice pieces before doing the real NaMoPaiMo entry.

When Breyer was having its big sale a few weeks ago, I ordered three of their Stablemate Paint and Play kits. My thinking was that the horses were already a blank slate and that that would be easier to begin with.

 I decided to do a palomino, and I have a palomino to model for me just a few miles away. 

And since she is a Quarter Horse, I am going to go with the Standing Stock Horse mold instead.

 Sultanna is in her full winter coat (and, she's in foal, too!) but I have lots of photos of her in both her summer and winter coats for reference.

As I looked at her today, I was reminded of Lesli Kathman's most recent blog entry on Equine Tapestry. She discussed the color red in the coats of some reference pictures, including what looked like a palomino Fjord. As I studied Sultanna today, I could see the red in her coat. In fact, as I contemplate painting, I am beginning to see a lot more colors where I used to see only one or two. 

Sultanna did not look like a palomino when she was born. But Tim called it when he saw her; he told me that her sire was a palomino and he thought that she would be, too. We called her Gingersnap due to that red color before Tim officially named her Sultanna. He was out of the country and with the Sultan of Oman when she was born. Tim thought it was the feminine form of "Sultan," instead, it's a type of grape! (Oops!)

So, I have my model to prep and paint, a decision has been made is to breed and color, and I have officially entered NaMoPaiMo. I think it will be challenging, but I think it will also be fun. 

Wish me luck!

Christmas Candy Zebras!

I am so glad I set a reminder alarm on my phone Christmas morning to check Breyer's web site and see what their Christmas special was.

Christmas Candy Zebras were this year's offering! I got the gold one initially and liked it so much that I tracked the others down on various model horse sales sites.

There are 500 of each color, and there were also twelve "Licorice" solid black Zebras, oddly labeled "Coal" on the belly. (I did not like that one and have no interest in trying to buy one.)

The green one is named "Pam Green" in honor of my dear friend. 

I think they are absolutely delightful even though I am not a fan of the mold.

 But put those luscious colors on them and I was hooked!

I may have an oddity. On the green, red, and blue Zebras, you can feel the stripes. The gold one is absolutely smooth - you cannot feel its stripes. I thought they were all that way until I received the other three.

They will make a nice display on the shelf and I will most likely pull them out at holidays, too.