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Re-Making of the
Model Horse
 With
all your emails encouraging us to make this page, it's finally here!
We are here to teach you how to Remake the Model Horse. Almost every
model horse you
see has something that could be improved. Before starting out, look
at a some horse anatomy pictures and notice the conformation and
biomechanics (the way the
body functions). This way, you will have a better idea of what
really is wrong and how you can fix it. We're not saying Breyer
doesn't know what they're doing, we're just letting you know how you
can become one of the best artists in Breyer Horse Customizing. Most
Breyer Horses have odd facial features, short backs, inaccurate
muscling, and multiple problems with the legs. Even with those being
off, they're pretty dang close!
MATERIALS
NEEDED:
- Heat Gun
Also known as paint strippers, these produce a strong blast
of hot air, sort of like a super blow dryer. They can be found
in the Hardware Department of your favorite store, and prices
are around $40-ish. Just about any brand name will work.
Epoxy Putty
Martin Carbone Epoxy Putty is the favorite of remakers. Soft,
pliable, sculptable, sandable, permanent. Prices depend on from
where you buy it, so check with the various sources. Also available
is plumbers epoxy found in the plumbing department of your favorite
store. Not as soft and sculptable as Carbone, it is sandable and
works great for initial filling. This will cost you approximately
$20 a pound.
Sandpaper
Stock a variety from coarse to super-fine, essential for that smooth
finish!
Files
Needed for filing down seams and rough filler spots. I like a
variety of rattails plus a couple of flat files
Newspaper or Foil
Newspaper or foil will be used to fill the horse when being
re-modeled.
Sculpting Tools
Use whatever works! I use pencils with dull or sharp points, butter
knives, dental tools, toothpicks, straight pins, paint brushes,
brushes you would normally apply make-up with, and the best tool of
all, the fingers!
Dremel Moto-Tool
Almost a necessity, although the hefty price tag can be daunting.
I'd recommend doing some remaking first to see if you really enjoy
it before investing nearly $100 or more in the tool, its various
bits, flexible shaft, and other accessories. Available at most
hobby/craft stores, and in the power tool department of some
department stores.
Modeling paste
This allows you to create chestnuts and veins. This will run you
around $6 to $10. You can find this at any art store or craft store.
Okay, first
things first! Make sure you know exactly what you want your model
horse to look like before you start customizing. You can look at
other people's
work or even at real horse pictures. Don't worry about the color you
want your
model horse to have just yet. This will come later.
The best advice we can give you is be patient about everything...
from learning
about confirmation and sculpting to customizing and painting. Just
do your best
when you work. The more practice you get, the better your horses
will look. You
will see a big difference in the first horse you customized compared
to the 5th
horse you customized. It will be interesting to everybody including
you, so
don't get frustrated. If you get frustrated with a horse, leave it
alone for a
couple days. If you need a couple weeks, then leave it alone for a
couple weeks.
The time you take leaving it along and coming back to it, you'll
probably
realize what was giving you so many problems. Learn one part of the
horse at a
time, and don't try to take on too much! Make a mental note that
many resin
artists have policies that prohibit modifications to their resins.
If you plan
to remake a resin, ask the artist what is permitted.
Once you figure out the position and what you want to fix, it's time
to get
started. If you're not concerned about the structure underneath,
then the best
way to get the mane off is to either heat the area and cut the mane
off with an
x-acto knife or, when you move the neck, squash the mane in. Poke a
hole in the
plastic first so your sculpture doesn't crack (all Breyer Horses
have one in the
nostril). To get rid of the horse's tail, heat up the tail head, and
just rip it
off (doesn't it feel good to break things once in a while?). If
there is too
much tail attached, you'll probably have to heat it up and cut
around it,
sanding the area afterwards. You can also use a round saw with your
Dremel. (You
should always exercise caution when using a Dremel! Wear a dust
mask, protective
glasses, and tie your hair back.) A lot of Breyer Horses have tails
stuck on the
leg. We wouldn't recommend using a Breyer Horse like that in the
very beginning,
when you're first starting out.
If you decided you wanted to change the position of your model
horse, then start
heating a chosen area with the heat fun. If it's the leg you're
going to be
moving to a different position, then know that the leg moves from
the top; the
shoulders and hips. These areas need to be moved first if you want
the model to
look correct. Moving large areas such as the haunch and shoulders is
a bit
harder. You will need to heat up the whole area with a heat gun, and
CAREFULLY
cut around the parts that need to be moved, leaving a plastic
attachment at the
joint area. For the hind leg, cut through the flank, thigh and up
towards the
horse's tail. For the shoulder, cut behind the elbow, inside the
forearm, and up
in front of the scapula. When all of the cuts are made, heat up the
attached
area, and move the leg to where you want it to stay. You can move
the rest of
the joints on down the leg from there. Not only is this a more
accurate method
than just moving the lower leg, but it makes it easier to see the
movement while
you're working. Be careful while cutting into the plastic as it's
very easy to
cut yourself while forcing the knife to cut.
Details on how to move a
leg:
 Using
the same technique as for head, hold the joint to be bent over the
heat source, moving it back and forth slowly until softened.
Carefully bend the leg a bit at a time, repeating the heating as
often as necessary. Again, once the pose is reached, run under cold
water to set it. If the bend is extreme, you may want to use a
coping saw/craft saw to saw out a little wedge of plastic on the
inside of the potential bend to help it bend easier (Fig. A &
B)...otherwise that excess plastic can buckle and have to be filed
out later.
This technique will work for bending hocks and fetlocks, but when
you get up into knees and elbows, you may have to play it by ear.
The plastic is thicker at the knee & elbow, so it will take more
heating, and there is a greater possibility of plastic collapsing.
To tuck the forearm up to the chest at the elbow you may have to
remove some of the plastic first (using the wedge method described
above).
In order to move an entire shoulder or hip, a bit more is involved.
This is necessary to attain a realistic look to your custom. The
extra work will be worth it! I like to heat the entire shoulder
area, and when it is soft, use an X-Acto knife (or sharp knife) to
cut
behind the shoulder and along the top of the shoulder, careful to
leave some plastic at the withers for an anchor. Then the shoulder
can be moved forward or backwards as needed. Once this cools, it's a
simple matter to stuff the resulting cavity with crumpled newspaper
or aluminum foil, and begin filling the gaps. This is where Bondo
excels! Occasionally a leg/shoulder (or head!) will have to be
re-attached by being wired on. I do this by burning a few small
holes along the edge of the shoulder and corresponding holes on the
body, and "sew" the parts together with fine wire, then apply Bondo
or other filler.
If you want to be even more drastic, you can chop off body parts and
make a new
structure. This can also be used on a Stallion to make him a Mare.
Just heat up
the area, and rip or cut it off like the tail. Fill the horse with
foil so you
have something to attach to, and insert heavy wire. This is a great
use for all
those extra wire dry cleaner hangers! Armature wire is available at
art stores,
but you can purchase aluminum or steel wire from the hardware store
which is
just as good, and much cheaper. Before attaching the wire, wrap it
with DMC
floss, gluing it down with super glue. This will ensure the wire has
some
"tooth" for the epoxy to stick to. To attach, use 5-minute epoxy.
Just use one
end of the "appendage" to mix the two liquid parts, and then glop it
in a
pre-drilled hole in the model. Insert the wire in the hole, and hold
it there
until the epoxy hardens. Try to scoop any dripping epoxy back onto
the wire or
into the hole before it completely sets as it is not easy to sand.
After everything is properly adjusted, stuff any open holes with
foil and start
sculpting. Make sure all areas that you will be putting epoxy on are
cleaned
with rubbing alcohol; this gets rid of the oils that make it hard
for the epoxy
to stick. If you put layers of epoxy on, rough up each layer so the
fresh epoxy
has something to stick to. Experiment with your sculpting tools to
find out what
works best for you. I like to use the ends of paint brushes to make
large muscle
depressions, and then smooth them out a bit with my fingers. For
finer details,
like eyes and tendons, I use my smaller metal sculpting tools.
Toothpicks and
other odd things can work for this as well. If you use metal tools,
make sure to
wipe the epoxy off before it hardens! Otherwise, you'll have to
scrape it off,
and that's more work that isn't necessary.
When you've finished sculpting a detailed area, use a soft brush
dipped in water
or rubbing alcohol to smooth it. This minimizes anything you'll have
to deal
with when prepping. Some people prefer rubbing alcohol because it
keeps the
epoxy from "pilling up" as much. You can just use water, and that
works just fine
for other artists. I found that the smaller makeup brushes work very
well
for smoothing. They are quite soft, so they don't leave any brush
strokes. We
know you know this, but as a reminder, always clean your brushes
immediately
with soap and water!
When doing ears, you can make two matching ear shapes in advance.
Attach these
to the horse, and sculpt the area around the ear. Alternatively, you
can build
the ear right on the model. You can later carve and refine the ear
with carbide
scrapers.
Nostrils are easy; just stick a cone shaped piece of epoxy on the
end of the
nose and smooth it on. Then, carve two comma shapes, with the
outside one
extending back a bit, making the front tip of the nostril visible in
profile.
Look at pictures to really get a feel for how the nose is shaped.
Videos, if you
can't see the real thing, are good to see how the nostrils move when
horses
inhale and exhale.
When you do the mouth, be sure not to make it slope down or up too
much. Mouths
run just about parallel to the "teardrop" bone (under the eye). From
the
profile, the upper lip should extend past the lower lip just a
teensy bit and
when the lips come together they should make an angle greater than
90 degrees.
The lower lip will protrude a bit on each side when viewed from the
front.
Again, view horses or pictures to get a good feel for how to do
this.
The teardrop bone below the eye (facial crest) often looks like it
will run off
the face of many sculptures. People tend to create a more artistic
look to the
face by destroying this bone. It should run horizontally on the
face, and start
a little below the eye. Eyes should be at a 45 degree angle to the
teardrop
bone. When viewed from the front, the widest point on the horse's
head should be
the "orbital arch" (eyebrow area). This extends out just a little
farther than
the eye to provide protection. From the widest point, the eye slopes
inwards,
with the corner closest to the nose being the furthest in.
For chestnuts, you can make a mixture Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig
concocted, called "messo". You can also use it to fill in divots
when you're prepping the model. Mix equal parts modeling paste,
titanium white acrylic, and gesso. This should be a little thicker
than toothpaste. I like to add a tiny bit of colored acrylic paint
so I can see where I put it on the model. For the watery messo mix
used on veins and other small details, just mix a little water in
with the messo mix. This should be an Elmer's glue consistency, or a
little more watery. The best way to make these mixes is to make a
bunch of messo, divide into separate containers, and add water to
one. Save these, and you'll have the messo whenever you need it.
Don't leave the containers open for too long; this stuff dries
quickly!
More
Detail on filling the holes
By this stage your model is a worthless mess! Only YOU can save
it and make it something of beauty! If there are large gaps/chunks
missing, I will fill them with Bondo. Once that sets, a rough
file-down job, and then bring in the Epoxy Putty to further refine
the fill and resculpt any missing muscles/details. When that has
dried to my satisfaction, I will go over it with the latex wood
filler to apply a bit more fine sculpting and to smooth over rough
spots/holes/dents. When that has dried, I will sand it, then apply
more filler to take care of the rough spots that have appeared. This
process is repeated until I think I've got it smooth, then I will
paint the entire model with white gesso (or give it a coat of matte
white spray enamel). This helps all the imperfections to appear, and
more touch-ups are done with the wood filler. When the thing is
finally smooth, I give it one final coat of gesso/primer, and he's
ready to paint!
Don't get too
frustrated... this is supposed to be fun! Good Luck!
See
Mohair Rehairing Tips Here
Read About How to Repaint Your Model Horse
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Model
Horse Sculpting Kit