Tuesday 30 April 2013

'Celebration'



I don't really collect trads much nowadays (and am actually going to be selling most of my small collection off, lol) but I just couldn't resist this one.

Model Horse Love forum turned five years old this year and to celebrate, Clare ordered up a limited run of Stone TBs for the occasion! As far as I know there are but a handful left to buy but I'd definitely recommend them as mine is absolutely gorgeous!

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(someone forgot to leave a space, methinks. XD)

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He's my first Stone (well, excepting from a Chip I have knocking around somewhere, lol) and wow, I wasn't expecting him to be so huge!

As I've been in a real Stargate mood recently, I named him 'Countdown to Destiny' after one of the pieces of music for Stargate: Universe.

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I made his headcollar pretty quickly so it's not my finest work but I'm pleased with it nonetheless.

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Here he is with fellow TBs; Abydos and Robin.

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Monday 22 April 2013

It begins!


Block Three has properly begun now with not one but two projects on the go simultaneously which is giving me slight cause for concern. The Door Project which I'm about to discuss, I'm super confident with as it's definitely within my comfort zone but the dreaded Graded Unit is not. Anyway, more on that later when I actually know what I'm doing - on with the show!

Last year, we had to make this scale model of a door which, for our first major project on the course was a big ask!

Finished Door

While it worked out really well and everyone was really pleased with it, we all kinda wished we could have been able to choose our own door to make. Luckily for us, this year we were granted that choice and so, with the following stipulations...

'For this project we have been asked to research, plan and then produce a scale model of a doorway using  one of the given themes of either ‘A Glasgow Building, ‘A prominent building from around the world’ or ‘a doorway from a TV or movie production’.

The final models are to be approximately A4 in size and finished to a very high standard. They will be painted in a plain monochrome  colour – probably grey.
Once a suitable example from each theme has been chosen, we are to present our findings in a sketchbook, using photographs and text  to describe and explore the history and design behind each one. This aspect of the project must be a minimum of nine pages long - three pages for each door – and include references to all source material referred to.
After consulting with our tutor regarding the final choice of doorway to create, we will form a PowerPoint presentation around it, describing in detail the history, construction and context of the doorway with reference photographs and as much additional information as can be gathered. This is to have a minimum of 1,500 words. This will then be presented to the class.
Next on the agenda is the production plan which will include annotated sketches, a 3D mock-up in card, working drawings and a minimum of two sample finishes.
Finally, the model will be created over a period of weeks and affixed to a specially made panel suitable for display.'

...we began to plan. 

I had a good think and did a lot of research but finally narrowed it down to an iconic and striking 'doorway' from the Tim Burton film 'Sleepy Hollow'

 photo sleepy-hollow-tree-of-the-dead-2_zps20d3ae75.jpg

THE TREE OF THE DEAD

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The Tree of the Dead is an integral part of the plot to the 1999 Tim Burton production in which a ruthless and headless horseman wreaks havoc in the small hamlet of the titular name.
The film was loosely based on Washington Irving’s ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and many liberties were taken with the plot, meaning that the tree in question exists only within the film version. In the film, the Horseman is being manipulated by the villain, who uses the undead spirit's missing head as a means of control. When he isn’t being sent out to behead those who his master wishes dead, he and his horse dwell in either the spirit world or Hell. (the film isn’t specific.) This gateway to the underworld lies through a hellish portal within the Tree of the Dead and it is through this that the Horseman emerges several times throughout the film.

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I absolutely loved the design of the tree and how raw and sculptural it all is - all in all, it is a very striking thing, and, as described in the film’s script:  

‘Its branches reach far and wide, knotted and gross, like agony captured in wood sculpture’

 (which, let's face it, is a pretty awesome quote)

 It was difficult, nigh impossible to find reference images of the tree in it's entirety as it is ultimately blocked by camera angles or by the actors in every scene it is in so I had to draw from several screenshots at once.

Tree of the Dead - sketches

This became my working drawing and after being scanned and enlarged slightly so it would fit the A4 maximum neatly, I printed out a couple of copies to use.

Detailed sketches of the other parts were required too and I became less than enamoured with it's insanely complicated root system within a matter of hours.

Tree of the Dead - sketches
Tree of the Dead - sketches

I also did a couple of sample finish pieces in sculpey, this being one of them.

Tree of the Dead - texture sample (sculpey)

Those had all been done within the last couple of weeks but today was the first time I was able to get round to starting the 3D mockup. I decided to go for plasticine as I absolutely love using it and it's so easy to work with - and quick too. I spent the whole morning on it and ended up with this by lunchtime. I'd forgotten all my usual sculpting tools so this was worked on with an old chopstick and the end of a paintbrush.

Tree of the Dead - plasticine mockup

I'm really rather pleased and apparently so was Simon as he reckons that I should work on it until it is perfect, then cast it so I can have a resin version as my final piece. I like that idea for two reasons.
1. I don't have to start it from scratch again and...
2. I can do multiple copies and paint one to look like the actual tree with loads of weathering and blood and gore etc! Woot!

Tree of the Dead - plasticine mockup

I've got the whole day to work on it tomorrow so here's hoping I make as much progress then! :D

EG out!




Thursday 18 April 2013

Unicorn Finished! (new photos)

I meant to get this up AGES ago but never had a chance to photograph the finished model until now. (and even then these aren't my photos - Simon took them, lol)

He still doesn't have a name yet although I'm leaning towards Ferdinand for no apparent reason.

I finally managed to get the plaque he's mounted on finished after the varnish reacted badly and ended up really patchy in places. I rather like it though, it makes it look a bit more antique which was kind of the intention.

Simon took these for my portfolio and his records and kindly allowed me to use them.

Finished Unicorn

Finished Unicorn

Finished Unicorn

Finished Unicorn


I'm SO pleased with him and even though I can see all the flaws and bits I'd like to change, I really couldn't be happier with him right now. :D


Thursday 4 April 2013

1:6 Scale Posable Horse Project!

'Inky' WIP

Long time, no blog!

I wish I could say I've been overwhelmed with work and things but alas, not exactly. Our work at college is still at the 'research' stage so I have yet to make anything modelly and with regards to my home life, I'm afraid to say that Skyrim has taken over. ;D
(with music like this are you surprised?)

For those not familiar with it, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of playing and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It is set in a vast open world and you have more or less complete freedom to play as you like, from the look of your character to the weapons you wield and who you side with. Plus, there are dragons and hairy cobs, what more do you want? ;)

Here's the trailer if you need further convincing...




Anyway, because of its awesomeness, I have logged over 300 hours playtime (yes, I AM that sad) and have built up quite a backstory and personality for my main character, Skara the Breton thief/archer.




I wanted to immortalise her in 1/6th scale with the intention of doing some photostories and snazzy photoshoots out in the countryside so I bought a suitable figure on ebay and started making her clothes and things. (but that's for another post I think)

ANYWAY, the crux of this post is that in addition to her armour and weapons and whatnot, there is one very crucial element that was missing.

Her horse. (awful screenshots are awful, sorry!)



Say hello Inky!



You can't actually give them names in-game unfortunately but to me, this lovely big fat cob will forever be a mare called Inky and I wanted Skara's 1/6th equivalent to have her too.

Regular readers will know that I sometimes make poseable fantasy creatures from wire, sculpey and fur fabric but as I'd never before attempted to make a real animal, I thought it was about time I gave it a try so here's how I did it!

To start with, I drew out the basic outline of what I wanted to make. Using images from the internet, I was able to scale her to roughly the right size. Normally I'd have printed out things but as our printer died a death a few months back, I have no access to one at home so I just had to improvise.



'Inky' WIP

Once I'd got the basic proportions right (ignore the awfulness that is that drawing - it was just to give the idea!) I started sculpting the head. I used scrunched up tinfoil to create the core, then wrapped it in florist's tape and sewed the eyes on.

'Inky' WIP

The sculpey was layered on afterwards and built up until it started looking horselike. I wanted it to look realistic and yet stylised as Skyrim's horses have a really homely look to them that I like.

'Inky' WIP'Inky' WIP

I made a hole through the corners of the mouth before baking which enables me to give her an actual mouthpiece. This will be very useful when it comes to making tack for her as I won't have to worry about using sticky wax or the like. I'm particularly pleased with the nose as well.

'Inky' WIP

The lack of ears was intentional as I really wanted to try something I'd been pondering over for a while - ball jointed ears!
Once baked, I hollowed out two small earholes just small enough that the bottom of a plastic drink stirrer (the ones with the ball at the ends) could pop into.

'Inky' WIP

To my delight, they not only fitted perfectly but had a good degree of movement to them as well.

'Inky' WIP'Inky' WIP

The plastic rods were cut down and sanded til nearly flat, then glued to leather ears which would then be glued to shape once the rest of the horse was assembled. These were later covered with black felt to hide the posts.

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

^ Grumpy Inky is grumpy. :P

Now that the head was completed, the feet were next. I needed to make these quite big and flat to support the weight of the doll as well as to balance out the head visually. Luckily for me, most big fat cobs have enormous feet anyway so it wasn't too hard to get away with. In hindsight I should really have weighed them down a bit more but hey-ho.

I started out by drawing the footprint, copying it and, using the superglue/bicarb method, attached my wire to them before building up the hooves in Sculpey.

'Inky' WIP'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

I didn't give her shoes because they don't appear to have them in the game and besides, they don't really have many paved roads in Skyrim and any fast work is done by riverbanks or on dirt tracks so I think she'll be fine without them. :P

'Inky' WIP

So far, so good!

A quick coat of paint and some temporary hair made me so happy - she looked much better than I'd ever imagined she would!

'Inky' WIP

Next, I painted her feet (which turned out a little too dark so I may revisit them at a later stage) and hot-glued them to the twisted wire legs I constructed in accordance with the paper template. I always attach heads and feet in this way, wire to wire as I feel it is a stronger way to attach them than having the clay parts sculpted directly onto the wire. It also means that if something were to go horribly wrong, I could remove them without destroying the entire piece.

'Inky' WIP

The armature was made up of multiple strands of wire (liberated from my grandpa's garage so no, I don't know the gauge or type) twisted together.

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

I went through rather a lot of glue sticks in my glue-gun for the parts I wanted to stay rigid but I think it paid off.

Next to go on was the wadding. I layered it and then wound thread around it to keep everything together and to build up muscle mass. This next picture does make her look like a mule but I assure you, it's just dodgy perspective! XD

'Inky' WIP

I sewed some wooden craft sticks to her back as I wanted to strengthen it, given that she'd be expected to carry a rider, tack and an assortment of kit in the future. I'm not sure if it made much of a difference but it certainly feels more substantial than it would have been if I hadn't done it. I also hot-glued in a weight inside the hindquarters to counteract the weight of the head so that she wouldn't fall flat on her face. XD

'Inky' WIP

With each layer of wadding, she began to look more like a horse...

'Inky' WIP

...until finally it was time to add the furrrrrrrr!
Now I don't claim to be an expert in pattern-making because I most certainly am not and Inky ended up with plenty of patches where I had to add extra bits in but hopefully it's not too noticeable.

Anyway, I made up some basic patterns using some old felt I had knocking about (I think my mum used it to make me a Robin Hood costume when I was about five so it's been here for donkey's years) and gave it a go.

'Inky' WIP

Unlike my other dolls, I went for el cheapo fur fabric instead of the more expensive and higher quality stuff. This was partly because I was skint and would rather pay the £6 a metre for this rather than the £25 a metre I'd need for something else...and also the fact that it was the only long pile fur fabric the right colour in the shop. XD I know I could have ordered some online but I'm lazy that way and besides, I was going to trim half of it off anyway so it didn't really matter.

With the first layer on, Inky closely resembled a Musk Oxen rather than a cob...

'Inky' WIP

...but with some trimming...

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

...she turned back into a horse!


'Inky' WIP

Her mane and tail are mohair - the mane was sewn to the neck after one side of fabric was on and the other half hid the seams nicely. The tail on the other hand....god, what a nightmare!
I'm used to hairing Julips which are 1/12th scale and more often than not, have to trim the shanks down to scale - with this however, I needed as much length on the hair as possible! Unfortunately for me, the hair just wasn't co-operating and after faffing about with glue for days I ended up resorting to the glue-gun again. As a result the tail isn't nearly as full or long as I would have liked but at least it's not all falling apart again. It is based on a dock (which I unfortunately made too low, argh!) so I can adjust it if needed. It was at this stage that I realised how massive a neck I'd given her but by then it was too late to change so I'm afraid she's just stuck with a super cresty neck now...

I painted her eyes and gave her a beard - a strip of the fur fabric glued to the underside of her head.

'Inky' WIP

I then coated her head in PVA glue (being careful to cover up the eyes, fur and mohair) and doused her in black flock so that the head wouldn't look out of place with the fur. It's a little lumpy in places but as it's just held on with PVA I can easily take it off and redo if it starts to annoy me. I flocked the outside of her ears too but because the insides were felt glued to the leather they didn't need doing.
I also gave her a little star because although they don't appear to have them in the game, the forelock obscures that part of her head so to my mind, she may well have one, we just can't see it. :P

'Inky' WIP

With a really basic halter made from shoelaces, Skara (with temporary Barbie head) has a sit...

'Inky' WIP

...then it was outside for some shinier photos.

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

Her balance still isn't perfect - she's definitely more stable on unstable ground for some reason - but she can do a fairly decent trot...

'Inky' WIP

...and a rear, with a little help from some shrubbery. XD

'Inky' WIP

She may not be a flashy warmblood type but her jumping's not half bad either...

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP

'Inky' WIP


Here's a photo to show scale with a 1:9 Breyer Traditional and a 1:12 Julip Cob Stallion just in case you were wondering just how big she actually is.

'Inky' WIP

So yeeeeah, I'm pretty pleased with her all things considered and although there are a number of things I wish I'd done differently, I think I'll leave them til my next attempt...whenever that may be. :P
My next task will be to make her some tack and get Skara sorted out so watch this space! ;)

'Inky' WIP