From Rescue to Resculpt: Luna! (Thank you, Devon!) (UPDATED - COMPLETE!!)

Hey Magicians!! 

    It's been a long time since my last update (school!) and, alas, it will likely be awhile before I can update this post again.  I have a very busy summer training schedule, so I wasn't able to finish this project before I had to leave home again.

    However, I wanted to give you guys a quick update to show you where I am on this project, because it's been such a great time so far and I'm almost finished!

    Recently, a certain very awesome Devon (who follows this blog and my channel) reached out to donate a damaged Stablemate found in a toy lot.  Devon's a collector as well, preferring MLP and 1980s fashion horses, and so we connected over the sentiment that well-loved toy horses deserve better stables than a dusty thrift shop shelf!

(TW: There is some light model-horse gore in this post!)

    The little horse arrived in some seriously goregous packaging.  Thank you, Devon!

And here she is!  She's on the 1998 G2 Paso Fino mold by Kathleen Moody, a perennial favorite.  Her coloration is a rich blood bay with two stockings on her back legs.  Sadly, it seems she's also had one too many adventures, and both her front legs are snapped off at the knee!

At first, I was just going to try and rebuild her original legs.  I have other horses on the same mold, so that would have been the easiest route.  But then, I realized she could still stand by herself even with the broken legs, just tilted forward.  And that made me think about how some horses are trained to "bow" for shows:

So, I decided to just run with the inspiration and resculpt her front legs into a kneel.

The first step was to reposition her right shoulder.   I used a Dremel Stylo to do the dirty work.

I also smoothed out the broken-off ends of the upper legs and make small indentations for the armature wires.

Next, I used hot glue to re-attach the right upper leg at the correct angle.

I also needed to break off the left hoof and reposition it, since it needs to be fully on the ground instead of bending back.

More hot glue helped me attach two pieces of wire at the knees, to serve as the armatures for sculpting in the forelegs.

Here's the basic idea!

As usual, I then started using Apoxie Sculpt to start filling in the forelegs.  The first pass was very rough, with the legs looking a bit like baseball bats!

I also reinforced the joint where I repositioned the left hind hoof.

On the second pass, I started to smooth things out, add some detail to the shoulder muscles, and define the cannon.

I also realized that I needed to bend the tail downwards, since otherwise the hair wouldn't be hanging naturally (now that she's tilted forward).  I Dremeled out some plastic from under the tail to let me bend it down, then filled in the gap with more Apoxie.

On the third pass, I kept smoothing out the shoulders, and also began to define the shape of the ankles and hooves.

On the fourth pass, I focused on fetlocks, pasterns, and hooves themselves.  I had never actually sculpted a proper horse lower leg before, since I usually just add feathering to cover everything up, so this pass took ages!

I also filled out the forelock and front portion of the mane, sweeping the hair forward so it dangles at a more natural angle for the forward tilt of her neck.

I also finished detailing the upper tail and the repositioned rear foot.

The fifth and final pass was a combination of sanding and adding tiny bits of Apoxie to smooth everything out and add details and definition.

To help tie everything together, fill in micro-gaps, and create a base for the paint job, I coated her with black acrylic.  Here she is so far!

I haven't been able to paint her yet, but am very excited with how she's coming along so far!  Because of my schedule, I won't be back at my workshop for a few weeks, but when I do, I will make sure to update this post with some post-painting photos.

Devon has chosen a lovely name: Luna!  And, her coat color will be a luminous dapple grey, inspired by this lovely carousel horse:

I think the name and color suit her beautifully, and I can't wait to get painting!

Update: Happy Fourth of July to my American friends! I'm finally back home for a few days, and of course painting Luna was the first thing on my list.

First coat....(patchy!)

Second coat....(less patchy!)

Blending out the dark grey base coat!

First coat of dapples.  I use a medium gray and blend each one out with a Q-tip.

She's getting a stripe and three socks.  I started adding them in here, along with some white fading at the bottom of her tail.

Dapples time!  I can't use a toothbrush for dapple greys (like I can for roans), because the dapples are bigger and need to follow the direction of the hairs on the coat.  So I hand painted about a million dapples with the tiniest paintbrush ever.

Finishing eyes and hooves, pinking the muzzle, and sealing everything.  I like to add gloss to the mane, tail, nose, and hooves as well as the eyes.

And she's finally complete!

It's been a long journey for little Luna.  Again, thank you so much to Devon for rescuing her!

I made her a little blanket from some of the pretty tissue paper she came wrapped in.  It'll help keep dust off her paint job.

Thanks for reading and following Luna's story!

I have to go back to school tomorrow morning for my last assignment of the summer, which goes straight into the school year.  I have many projects planned, never fear!  It just might be a little while before I manage to upload anything.

But until next time, 

Bye Magicians!

~Miniature_Magic