Saturday 8 September 2007

Zaphod with his saddle-back

Zaphod, complete with his original saddle-back.

Here the horse is, far from finished but at least with all the bits attached that he should have.

I've glued on his right back leg, removed the car filler and put fillets of wood and Rustin's wood filler in the gap. I put the horse on his stand while the glue dried, with bolts through the holes, to make sure he still fits properly on it. (You can guess how I learnt to do this!) The other legs all have movement where they join on to the body, and my next job is to remove them and re-glue them one at a time.

This may be difficult. I'm going to try wiggling them, and if that doesn't work on its own, apply steam to soften the old hide glue.

It's no good leaving them loose, as they may not be strong enough, and any gesso and paint applied would crack.

4 comments:

Timberati said...

He's gorgeous!

Lexi said...

Wait till he's gessoed, dappled, got his mane and tail and harness, plus a spruced-up stand.

You ain't seen nothing yet!

Anonymous said...

Where do you get the mane?

He does look gorgeous. I am so impressed with what you have done with him.

Mary

Lexi said...

I buy cured horse tails on the hide, on eBay when they come up - I have a paper carrier bag full of different colours.

You have to shampoo and condition them, and cut the hide into strips for the mane.

I've got a beautiful chestnut one for Zaphod. That was the colour he had originally, going by the scraps inside him.