Sunday 23 June 2013

Royal Highland Show 2013 (Entry 4 - Mountain & Moorland)

Everything's under the cut, see below!

Mountain & Moorland In Hand

Royal Highland Show 2013 (Entry 3 - Arab and Partbred Arabs)

Photos and commentary under the cut!

Arab & Partbred Arab - In Hand

Royal Highland Show 2013 (Entry 2 - Welsh Ponies/Cobs & Connemaras)

Ok, this post concerns the Welsh Sec B, C and Ds (I missed the Sec As unfortunately) and some rather nice Connemaras too.

Photos under the cut!

Welsh Sec D


Royal Highland Show 2013! (Entry 1 - Highland and Eriskay Ponies)

I'm going to split this into several posts as I took so many photos in the hope that no one has their computer die on them thanks to an image overdose! XD (it also means that if any of you are looking for a specific reference you don't have to trawl through several hundred pictures of other things!)

If you'd rather just look at pictures without my commentary then may I direct you to my photoset on Flickr? I hate how they've changed the layout so apologies for it taking forever!




I'm putting the next part of this post under the cut as I took looooooads of photos and it'll absolutely kill the blog if they're all on show so click below to see lots of purdy ponies and whatnot. :D


Right, let the photo onslaught begin! XD

Ridden Highland Ponies



Monday 17 June 2013

A few new tacky things...

Inspired by Nichelle's brilliant tutorial on her blog -link- I decided to make a couple of my Julips some fly protection. We may not get mosquitoes up here but the fearsome midge can be bad enough!

I had to make my own pattern to fit the shape of my chosen model as the original one wouldn't work because of the Cob Stallion's tucked head. Ironically poor Archie the cob no longer owns his fly mask as it was stolen by Lyra the donkey who it fits far better!

Fly masks

I had some absolutely perfect material I'd made a fly mask out of before but in typical EG fashion I couldn't find it. I found several types of fine meshy stuff which worked rather well instead. The one Lyra's modelling was made from some scrap net curtain fabric.

Fly masks

Kerry's is my favourite by far and I really think he likes it...
I used a slightly different material for his and Mitchell's which offers better visibility.

Fly masks

Fly masks

I also made two new saddlecloths. (out of £1 shop dish-towels of all things!) The label showed that they came in four colours - black, red, purple and white but as yet I haven't been able to find the white ones which is very inconvenient as its the colour I want the most! I backed them with felt and used bias binding around the edges to finish them off.

Handmade riding crops

Padded numnahs

The purple one has been adopted by my new spotty-cob who has finally found herself a name - Maris.

Padded numnahs

Oh and you may have noticed it in the background of some of my previous post's pictures but I made a mounting block aaaaaages ago out of styrene. I made the steps a little too narrow but it's ok for the child riders who don't have such big feet. I can't decide whether or not to paint the sides, leave them white or clad them with wood effect panels...Hmmm....

Handmade mounting block

Model horse props - potentially FOR SALE!

I'm horribly choked up with the cold at the moment so I haven't really been up to making very much other than really simple props. I ended up watching Hannibal last night for several hours whilst making up a batch of 1/12th scale riding crops.

Handmade riding crops

 I'd made crops before but they always either broke or looked really rubbish but now I think I've found myself a much better technique which gives them a healthy dose of realism and allows me to make them in a variety of styles and colours.

I made some shorter for the younger kids or as jumping crops as well as a lunge whip with a long tail.

Handmade riding crops

Handmade riding crops

Would anyone be interested if I made some to sell or made them to people's colour specifications? I've only made them in this scale so far as I don't really do anything with my Trads these days but it shouldn't be difficult to scale them up a bit if people wanted them in 1:9th scale instead. I could make smaller ones for Schleich too if there was interest.

I can also make up grooming kits from styrene in just about any colour imaginable - the brushes were all I could find for the photo but I can make a matching set if people wanted them to co-ordinate!


Handmade riding crops


Handmade riding crops


(older photos from when I first made these ones)

 Grooming KitGrooming Kit

Grooming Kit



Grooming Kit

Again, those could be made to virtually any scale - I've got a real box like that knocking around somewhere so I could get the measurements if needed.

I really want to get the Playstation 4 when it comes out so any money I could make through hobby things would be a huge help as I am currently jobless and I don't think that is going to change any time soon sadly... :(

So yeah, if anyone would be interested please let me know!

 If not these things, then is there anything else I could make that would be popular? I could do really simple items of tack like headcollars and possibly rugs and yeah, just have a look through this blog and see if there's anything you fancy. (within reason, mind, I'm not making anyone a full size unicorn head! XD)

I don't want to paint/customise for people as the last time I did that I got myself really stressed out and it didn't really work out because I felt like I was putting myself under too much pressure but making props and things I find really relaxing so if I could sell the stuff I enjoy making so much I'd love it!

Cheers,

EG out!




Friday 14 June 2013

How to get that 'lived in' look...

Eagle eyed viewers may have noticed a subtle change in the outdoor arena recently...

Harper

The fencing now looks distinctly...

Rory and Digby

...aged.

Schooling

Although the plain balsa wood was fine, it looked too new and shiny which, from experience, absolutely no riding school fencing is! XD

I bought some more balsa to make a new set of fencing as the original wasn't long enough for the background and looked a little amateurish. Instead of flat vertical pieces, I got some square dowelling which did a much better job of supporting the whole structure than before. I made three separate pieces but you only ever really see two in photographs.

Outdoor school

Each section is held together by pins and glue and (so far) nothing's broken!

The biggest difference however was in the stain. As I'm perpetually skint and I don't like spending money when I don't need to, I had a google to see if there was anything I could make that would stain the wood and make it look a bit aged. The process I found I'd heard of before but never had the opportunity to try out. All you need is vinegar, steel wool and cold tea! No, not a really hardcore salad dressing but a ridiculously simple woodstain with incredible results!

http://thefriendlyhome.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/how-to-oxidize-wood.html

I thought I'd taken photographs of the process but I seem to have lost them so apologies for that! The following is a shot of what's left of the solution - it's now mostly rust but I'm looking forward to seeing what another batch will produce now that it's been sitting in there for a couple of months.

Handmade Jump stands and poles

 I also have a photo of what the wood looked like before I sanded and stained it atop the final results...

IMG_3424

Pretty dramatic, eh?

I sanded each piece well before adding the stain and roughed up the edges to suggest that they'd been in use a long time. I used a scalpel to nibble away a few chewed up areas where loose horses must had gone for a munch as I remember seeing a few fences like that at my old riding school.

I'd made up a set of basic wooden jump wings a few months before that had the same 'brand new wood' problem so I thought to myself, why not give them the same treatment? After all, they'd probably be left outside most of the time so they were bound to get a bit grotty!

Digby

One or two treatments later...

Handmade Jump stands and poles

I made the jump-cups this afternoon out of silver Fimo and wire as the old ones were terrible.

Handmade Jump stands and poles

Handmade Jump stands and poles

I had to glue a couple of the actual cup parts back on after I baked them as they'd come loose but they're pretty solid now.

The wings have holes in them so they can be adjusted to different heights. I was beginning to loose the light when I photographed them so I don't have any evidence as yet to prove that but I assure you that they can be changed! XD

Handmade Jump stands and poles

I put the heatgun a bit too close to them so they've bubbled up a bit but I don't mind, in fact I think I quite like the effect!

I've been using 'My Beautiful Horses' jump poles for years but they're really a bit too small to fit in with my Julips properly. Luckily there was some spare plastic tubing going spare at college the other week that was due to be chucked out so I managed to snaffle a couple of feet of it before it all went. I cut them to size with a hacksaw, sanded the ends and then used coloured electrical tape to give them a bit of colour. It's not the neatest thing in the world but I like the kind of 'rough and ready' look it has, like they've been made by the yard staff rather than bought.

Handmade Jump stands and poles

Handmade Jump stands and poles

Handmade Jump stands and poles

So yeah, if you want to make your yard look a little more 'lived in' I can really recommend this as a technique!

Wednesday 12 June 2013

End of Year Show!

It was my end of year show last night and the turnout was incredible. The room was absolutely roasting as there were so many people there but it was really good. (I took the first before the room was open  :P)

 2013 End of Year Show

 2013 End of Year Show

2013 End of Year Show


There isn't much to say really other than to point out just how talented the people on this course are. :D

 I didn't take many photos (shocking, I know!) so I can't show you all of the second year's incredible models, all of which were incredibly professional looking, but here, have some from my year. :P


My Unicorn, (now officially named Ferdinand for no obvious reason that I can tell. XD) tree, door from last year and graded unit model hidden at the back because it's terrible.

2013 End of Year Show


Jack's graded unit model, prop and doorway...

2013 End of Year Show

Liam's graded unit model, door and prop...

2013 End of Year Show

Stuart's graded unit, prop, door etc.

2013 End of Year Show

2013 End of Year Show

2013 End of Year Show

Jonathan and John's work.

2013 End of Year Show

Robbie and David's work.

2013 End of Year Show


David's absolutely FANTASTIC 'Grotesque' carved entirely out of blue foam!

2013 End of Year Show

Julia, Paula and Robbie's work.

2013 End of Year Show



I only managed to photograph two of the second year's work and I can't remember who they were by but still, here they are!

2013 End of Year Show (2nd year work)

Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean (known jokingly as 'Farmer Jones' when his hat was still an uncustomised straw hat from the charity shop XD)

2013 End of Year Show (2nd year work)

The ship from District 9.