Part two! :D
The little occasional table in the last picture of Part 1 looked deceptively simple from a distance, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth!
I've always loved Moroccan styled furniture, especially the intricately patterned fretwork in tables and screens, and as there was a laser-cutter handy I really couldn't pass up the opportunity to make my own...
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Professor Lynkhart's Cabinet of Curiosities! (part 1)
Months and months and months ago I posted about an exciting new project I was starting at college in my final block...and then promptly never mentioned it again. This was due to many reasons, mostly me stressing over getting the damn thing finished, and my apparent inability to post things as and when they occur and not half a year down the line! I also hadn't taken any photos of the finished piece and as the model was still at college over the summer, I couldn't get at it until the next term. It's been yet more months since term restarted but I finally have it in my house after getting my dad's assistance to help me get it into the car so I was able to get photos of it at last.
So, just what is this thing, I hear you ask?
Well...
So, just what is this thing, I hear you ask?
Well...
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Customs, tack and celestial bodies!
It's been a rather busy couple of weeks.
First off I'd like to say a massive thank you to all the people who liked my Last Alliance Studios page on Facebook. I wasn't expecting such an overwhelmingly positive response and it totally made my week so yeah, thanks guys! :D
We got a great view of the solar eclipse yesterday morning, though heavily obscured for most of the event by cloud.
This actually worked in our favour as it muffled the sun's rays, allowing us to look at it 'directly' without actually blinding ourselves. :P We weren't quite north enough to get the full obscuration but we saw it at about 95% so that was pretty cool. I didn't get anything with my camera as I had the macro lens on as usual and setting up the tripod with the standard lens on would still have meant that I'd have had to point it vaguely in the direction of the sun and shoot until I got it in view. (it doesn't have a digital preview screen and I didn't fancy blinding myself by looking through the viewfinder!)
Luckily my phone pictures turned out reasonable so it wasn't entirely a missed opportunity.
My painting muse has returned after a very long absence, and I've managed to finish a few customs I'd had in the works for a good few years.
First up is this lovely little Magpie Shetland stallion who has had rather a lot of customising. His mane and tail slots were filled in and replaced with sculpted hair, his neck and crest were built up more, he gained a beard, some manly bits and a closed mouth. Magpie Shetlands are rather hard to find as they were only produced for a year I believe and not in regular runs, only through the newsletter. I have another two couple of bodies in hiding, but they're a long way off being finished! I heard through the grapevine that the company has been bought so fingers crossed they might make a comeback soon! I hope so, as they are excellent little models and very easy to customise.
(I just googled 'magpie models shetland' in the hopes of finding a good 'before' picture and one of my other customs is the very first image result! Score! XD Here's some better info.)
This little lad has been named 'EA Tattie Bogle' as it sounded like a nice ponyish sort of name as well as being a Scottish term for a scarecrow which, lets face it, most Shetlands look like in their natural state. :P My showstring is rather lacking in the native breeds department which is very disappointing as they're my favourite type next to cobs, so he's not going anywhere.
Next up is a Schleich Icelandic I painted and pastelled to a nice mealy bay Dartmoor. I called her Chutney already but I may well sell her on as I'm not hugely attached to her yet. I need to get some more matte sealer too as she's turned out super shiny for some reason. XD
Then, because I'm clearly a glutton for punishment, I painted up a handful of minis I'd bought last year at a model railway show. They were both started and finished in an evening which has to be some kind of record for me I think.
The first is a Clydesdale in traditional bay sabino. The red accents on his bridle are my favourite part.
His friend, a little Dutch Draught, turned out really nicely as well.
I don't know why people are so intimidated by micros, I mean, they're not *that* small! :P
The other one is a tiny little plastic horse, not hugely detailed really, but had potential. I'd painted one already to a nice dark dapple grey but this one told me that he wanted to be a mule, so I added some ears which turned out a little too big in the end annoyingly.
Here's the other one, with a penny for scale.
Finally, I started on a custom I've been wanting to do for years, a resculpt of the G2 TB.
I've always loved one particular stride of canter above all others, where two feet are on the ground and their diagonals off it and I knew that with just a little bit of work I could achieve that.
I'm not really all that fond of epoxy so I heat-bent the hind foot downwards and resculpted it with superglue and bicarbonate of soda, then used the same trick on the mane and tail, (with embroidery thread for the main hair of the tail and teased out headphone cable wire for plaits) as well as lowering /tucking her headset and flicking back an ear. The superblue/bicarb sands really well and is exceptionally easy to work with so I doubt this'll be the last custom I do using those methods. The clear peg in her forefoot was actually a scrap of acrylic I had in my stash and is simply glued on, though it's very sturdy and shows no sign of fragility.
She told me she wanted to be a nice dark bay, and as I took these photos yesterday, may I present EA Eclipse, the Selle Francais event horse.
Some of the resculpting is a bit obvious on the head which is a pity, but as you'll see in the next lot of pictures, it'll be cunningly hidden by a bridle as she's going to be my main mini performance horse from now on.
I've made a couple of SM scale saddles before, using Anna Kirby's excellent patterns and guide, but this is the first one I've been REALLY pleased with. My cousin had given me a massive box of fabric and leather scraps she'd had knocking around from her costume design course at college and there was a brilliant section of skiver which is perfect for tackmaking as it skives incredibly easily and is a dream to work with.
The stirrup leathers are adjustable which will come in very useful if I want to switch out to some better stirrups in the future. (which I will do as these ones are awful and very much a temporary measure) I hope to make a matching breastplate/martingale too.
The reins are plaited thread and I thought about dying them to a more leathery colour but I rather like them like this.
I keep forgetting just how tiny they are. XD
The whole set took me the best part of an evening and nearly half the night - I'm a night owl and generally find any time after midnight to be at my most creative (hence writing this blog post out at five to one in the morning!) so when combined with bingewatching/listening to procedural crime/cop/legal dramas on Netflix, I can get into the 'zone' really easily. Of course it means I'm absolutely knackered in the morning but it's most definitely worth it!
Every good event horse needs a rider, and Eclipse is no exception. Her new passenger is a Britains Ltd rider I bought off ebay ages ago. I need to repaint him as my original custom job was pretty poor and I'll probably carve his hands out a bit too as he's got clenched fists at the moment which make holding the reins impossible without the addition of sticky wax - something which is fiddly enough at the best of times! He's got a pretty flat bum as well. XD
The reins really are far too long but I can always shorten them later and hide the join with a 'buckle'.
So yeah, a pretty busy week indeed! :D
First off I'd like to say a massive thank you to all the people who liked my Last Alliance Studios page on Facebook. I wasn't expecting such an overwhelmingly positive response and it totally made my week so yeah, thanks guys! :D
We got a great view of the solar eclipse yesterday morning, though heavily obscured for most of the event by cloud.
 |
| What do you mean you can't see anything? Isn't it obvious? :P |
This actually worked in our favour as it muffled the sun's rays, allowing us to look at it 'directly' without actually blinding ourselves. :P We weren't quite north enough to get the full obscuration but we saw it at about 95% so that was pretty cool. I didn't get anything with my camera as I had the macro lens on as usual and setting up the tripod with the standard lens on would still have meant that I'd have had to point it vaguely in the direction of the sun and shoot until I got it in view. (it doesn't have a digital preview screen and I didn't fancy blinding myself by looking through the viewfinder!)
Luckily my phone pictures turned out reasonable so it wasn't entirely a missed opportunity.
My painting muse has returned after a very long absence, and I've managed to finish a few customs I'd had in the works for a good few years.
First up is this lovely little Magpie Shetland stallion who has had rather a lot of customising. His mane and tail slots were filled in and replaced with sculpted hair, his neck and crest were built up more, he gained a beard, some manly bits and a closed mouth. Magpie Shetlands are rather hard to find as they were only produced for a year I believe and not in regular runs, only through the newsletter. I have another two couple of bodies in hiding, but they're a long way off being finished! I heard through the grapevine that the company has been bought so fingers crossed they might make a comeback soon! I hope so, as they are excellent little models and very easy to customise.
(I just googled 'magpie models shetland' in the hopes of finding a good 'before' picture and one of my other customs is the very first image result! Score! XD Here's some better info.)
This little lad has been named 'EA Tattie Bogle' as it sounded like a nice ponyish sort of name as well as being a Scottish term for a scarecrow which, lets face it, most Shetlands look like in their natural state. :P My showstring is rather lacking in the native breeds department which is very disappointing as they're my favourite type next to cobs, so he's not going anywhere.
Next up is a Schleich Icelandic I painted and pastelled to a nice mealy bay Dartmoor. I called her Chutney already but I may well sell her on as I'm not hugely attached to her yet. I need to get some more matte sealer too as she's turned out super shiny for some reason. XD
Then, because I'm clearly a glutton for punishment, I painted up a handful of minis I'd bought last year at a model railway show. They were both started and finished in an evening which has to be some kind of record for me I think.
The first is a Clydesdale in traditional bay sabino. The red accents on his bridle are my favourite part.
His friend, a little Dutch Draught, turned out really nicely as well.
I don't know why people are so intimidated by micros, I mean, they're not *that* small! :P
The other one is a tiny little plastic horse, not hugely detailed really, but had potential. I'd painted one already to a nice dark dapple grey but this one told me that he wanted to be a mule, so I added some ears which turned out a little too big in the end annoyingly.
Here's the other one, with a penny for scale.
Finally, I started on a custom I've been wanting to do for years, a resculpt of the G2 TB.
I've always loved one particular stride of canter above all others, where two feet are on the ground and their diagonals off it and I knew that with just a little bit of work I could achieve that.
I'm not really all that fond of epoxy so I heat-bent the hind foot downwards and resculpted it with superglue and bicarbonate of soda, then used the same trick on the mane and tail, (with embroidery thread for the main hair of the tail and teased out headphone cable wire for plaits) as well as lowering /tucking her headset and flicking back an ear. The superblue/bicarb sands really well and is exceptionally easy to work with so I doubt this'll be the last custom I do using those methods. The clear peg in her forefoot was actually a scrap of acrylic I had in my stash and is simply glued on, though it's very sturdy and shows no sign of fragility.
She told me she wanted to be a nice dark bay, and as I took these photos yesterday, may I present EA Eclipse, the Selle Francais event horse.
Some of the resculpting is a bit obvious on the head which is a pity, but as you'll see in the next lot of pictures, it'll be cunningly hidden by a bridle as she's going to be my main mini performance horse from now on.
I've made a couple of SM scale saddles before, using Anna Kirby's excellent patterns and guide, but this is the first one I've been REALLY pleased with. My cousin had given me a massive box of fabric and leather scraps she'd had knocking around from her costume design course at college and there was a brilliant section of skiver which is perfect for tackmaking as it skives incredibly easily and is a dream to work with.
The stirrup leathers are adjustable which will come in very useful if I want to switch out to some better stirrups in the future. (which I will do as these ones are awful and very much a temporary measure) I hope to make a matching breastplate/martingale too.
The reins are plaited thread and I thought about dying them to a more leathery colour but I rather like them like this.
I keep forgetting just how tiny they are. XD
The whole set took me the best part of an evening and nearly half the night - I'm a night owl and generally find any time after midnight to be at my most creative (hence writing this blog post out at five to one in the morning!) so when combined with bingewatching/listening to procedural crime/cop/legal dramas on Netflix, I can get into the 'zone' really easily. Of course it means I'm absolutely knackered in the morning but it's most definitely worth it!
Every good event horse needs a rider, and Eclipse is no exception. Her new passenger is a Britains Ltd rider I bought off ebay ages ago. I need to repaint him as my original custom job was pretty poor and I'll probably carve his hands out a bit too as he's got clenched fists at the moment which make holding the reins impossible without the addition of sticky wax - something which is fiddly enough at the best of times! He's got a pretty flat bum as well. XD
The reins really are far too long but I can always shorten them later and hide the join with a 'buckle'.
So yeah, a pretty busy week indeed! :D
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Last Alliance Studios is now on Facebook!
Apologies for the blatant self promotion but I've just launched my studio FB page so please go along and see what you think! 
Any suggestions are welcome as I'm still a bit of a facebook noob at times, haha.
www.facebook.com/lastalliancestudios
I take commissions so if you're interested in anything don't hesitate to contact me, either via PM on any of the multiple forums I'm on, by email or on FB.
Any suggestions are welcome as I'm still a bit of a facebook noob at times, haha.
www.facebook.com/lastalliancestudios
I take commissions so if you're interested in anything don't hesitate to contact me, either via PM on any of the multiple forums I'm on, by email or on FB.
Monday, 9 February 2015
An attempt at digital sculpting
I got the free 3D modelling/sculpting program Sculptris aaaages ago, but only dabbled, making a couple of really basic models out of boredom.
Anyway, since then I've been admiring the outstanding digital work of several equine sculptors in the model horse hobby and thought I'd give it another go. XD
I've no idea what breed it's going to end up as but as long as it looks like a fairly decent equid I think I'll be happy, haha!
It started off looking like this... XD (yay, giraffe pone!)
Anyway, since then I've been admiring the outstanding digital work of several equine sculptors in the model horse hobby and thought I'd give it another go. XD
I've no idea what breed it's going to end up as but as long as it looks like a fairly decent equid I think I'll be happy, haha!
It started off looking like this... XD (yay, giraffe pone!)
...after maybe an hour or two. (I can't remember exactly when I started it today so that may be way off, lol.)
Aaaaand, right now.
I'm putting off dealing with the lower legs and feet as they're really not my strong suit, haha.
So yeah, still very early days but I'm pretty chuffed so far!
Aaaaand, right now.
I'm putting off dealing with the lower legs and feet as they're really not my strong suit, haha.
So yeah, still very early days but I'm pretty chuffed so far!
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Back to Skyrim...
As you might remember, I've been working on and off on bringing some of my Skyrim characters to life in 1/6th scale form. So far I've created Skara the thief/archer and her squishy cob mare Inky, but not much other than that...
Until now, that is!
I support Copperfox Model Horses!
As many of you will have already seen from Becky's post on Utterly Horses, due to the creation of her own model horse company, Copperfox, Breyer have refused to stock her with any of their models as they see Copperfox - a company so small and new that they haven't even launched yet - as a direct competitor.
http://www.utterlyhorses.com/utterlyhorsesupdate
While I can understand their point of view on the one hand, pulling all their products from the UK's most well known and respected retailer of model horses, and without any discussion of a compromise, is exceedingly childish and has really made me lose respect for them as a company.
I will still buy the odd Breyer if it catches my eye, but secondhand if possible, as I don't want to support a company that resorts to blackmail like that.
As one of the Founding Foxes, I look forward to receiving my two Copperfox models next month and will continue to support the brand, as it's about time we got some accurate British breeds and hopefully, without the 'big company' attitude!
Becky gave me the go-ahead to post this little badge I made, in case anyone wants one to put on their website or forum sig/avatar :)
http://www.utterlyhorses.com/utterlyhorsesupdate
While I can understand their point of view on the one hand, pulling all their products from the UK's most well known and respected retailer of model horses, and without any discussion of a compromise, is exceedingly childish and has really made me lose respect for them as a company.
I will still buy the odd Breyer if it catches my eye, but secondhand if possible, as I don't want to support a company that resorts to blackmail like that.
As one of the Founding Foxes, I look forward to receiving my two Copperfox models next month and will continue to support the brand, as it's about time we got some accurate British breeds and hopefully, without the 'big company' attitude!
Becky gave me the go-ahead to post this little badge I made, in case anyone wants one to put on their website or forum sig/avatar :)
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