BreyerFest Best Customs Contest 2023

 

Tootsers
2023 BF BCC entry for More Extreme Custom

This year I challenged myself to make as extreme a custom as I possibly could.

I love the beautiful form of the horse whilst free jumping and found a reference photo of this pose

with the neck arched over ever so beautifully. I just had to.

She started out as a Foalzilla, which I bought off of Mercari (coincidentally, the QH yearling for Giuseppe was also bought off Mercari! This may become a thing). 

Obligatory parts photo

I ended up not using the sad little forelegs that look like chicken wings.
It was easier to build tucked forelegs from a wire armature. 

Dremeling outside on the deck because no one wants to breathe plastic bits in the house.
Very glad for a mild winter!
Work started on Tootsers in February (and went until the deadline on June 9th!).

Legs chopped up and ready for rods.
I used heat to try to open up the quarters more (left side done),
as the plastic body will be filler underneath the epoxy sculpture. 

Torso also heated up, and expanded bigger
to create bulk for the armature. 

I noticed she smiled at me.
I took that as a good omen. :)

Steel rods fitted within the plastic armature.
These go all the way into the hind quarters so that there won't be any stress on the legs.
Since she will be heavy with all the epoxy and be front-weighted, I wanted to make sure
she had a solid foundation. 

Attaching plastic parts together with soda glue, wire mesh, and painter's tape. 

The plastic and wire armature is all put together here and reinforced with epoxy.
I used styrofoam, aluminum foil, painter's tape and glue to build out her chest and neck.  

Jump to the (mostly) sculpted Tootsers. Her tail cracked at this point at the dock, 
so I added a wire and sculpted a tendril to attach to her hock to stabilize it.
I actually like it better with the additional tail movement. 
As I always say, a big part of the creative process is problem-solving!

What is not shown is the umpteen versions of each part of this horse. I probably reworked each body part at least 3 times. She had her forelegs chopped off at least twice and reset. The eyes got redone several times, which then required moving the ears. You get the idea... It was a lot of sculpt, rework, try again, sand, carve, dremel, sculpt, repeat! 

Tootsers close-up

This photo shows my solution for hiding 
the rods coming out of her hooves, sand puffs!

Contest required ruler picture.
I made the arena all white to showcase the model, though I had a lot of fun dirtying it up!