MEPSA Foal Special Feb. 2020

Here are the results for the MEPSA Foal Special back in the end of February. There were some uncertainties I had with which class to enter these babies...stemming from what I had read in the rules of live showing: no babies in the regular breed class - only in the foal designated classes. Apparently, from what I discovered through this show, with MEPSA, foals can show in the breed classes...??? I still need to confirm that, so I'll write about it when I have more information. In other words, the judge placed some of my foals in the breed classes when I had not originally entered them there. Either way, it was a test. I also miscounted the number of photos I had entered, because if I remember correctly, I was quite tired when I was filling out the form for the show. ALWAYS BE ALERT WHEN FILLING OUT THOSE FORMS!!!!

Head Study Class:

Amazing Grace got 1st place! Awesome!

 This was the second time entering this photo in the Head Study class - which placed another 4th placing. It's probably because it needs to be in Portrait format and not Landscape. I wonder how this photo would place in the Scene class???Lou always looks unsure from this point of view.

Performance Division: Scene Class

 Onto the Performance Division! Encore's couple of pictures did really well for being taken the same day. The one above shows a nice reflection and also just a sliver of her profile. This one placed 3rd.

 What a little Cutie! This one got the "Cute Factor" and placed 2nd.

 Lou (left) and Mato Ska (right) are like best buds. What I find interesting is that even though Lou's mold was sculpted in 1974 and Mato Ska's mold in 1995 by two completely different artists for two completely different family sets; is that they seem to be made for each other. Mato Ska's neck comes down at the right height that Lou could rest his head over Mato Ska's neck. They're both older foals - Mato Ska is a yearling and Lou is a 5 month old who's in that weird growing phase where nothing is in proportionate with the other. It's amazing how realistic they look in this photo. Nothing is forced. It doesn't look like you just plopped two plastic horses down on the ground, in the water, and took a picture. No! These two different molds from two different time periods complimented each other so perfect that they placed 1st!!!

Original Finish Halter Division:

 Swirl, Spirit's* son, placed 10th in the Gender division: Draft/Pony/Carriage/Other Foal - Heat 2 class.

 Twiglight placed 8th in the Breed division: Other Mix/Grade (American Spotted Draft x Paint). He was one of the foals who, well, I guess all of them were, placed in a breed class by the judge. Each judge is different. Some would move photos to the proper class, and some don't. But one key habit to get into when competing in anything - is to ask questions on how to improve. I am still working on improving my pictures, but it is because I have asked for feedback on every. single. show. It helps me see from the judge's point of view on where I need to improve. And I could tell ya, there's a lot of improving I need to do before entering the end of April/beginning of May shows!

 Arrow placed 7th in the Breed: Other Mixed/Grade. I originally had him as a Quarter Horse x Paint. Though, with one of the last shows I showed his mom, Cupid, in, I am going to change it. The real Cupid and Arrow story is of a rescue mare with a heat-shaped star on her forehead, who surprisingly gave birth to a colt on Valentine's Day. The colt's namesake is the arrow-shaped marking above his tail. So, why am I changing his breed mix. Well, the year a bunch of my Breyer horses found their breeds, Breyer was doing a photo contest that was Quarter Horse themed....and Cupid seemed to be childish logical solution, since I owned no official Quarter Horse models. Apparently, her mold reads as more of a sport type than a stock type. In turn, if her "breed" changes, so would Arrow's.

Chip (Grey Appy) and Strawberry (Palomino) are two of my first official Breyer Horses. I received them both for my 10th birthday. That is, all of my oldest Breyers I got around the same time, so of course I don't remember who came first! I'd say they did pretty good for '60's Vintage models in a world of recent models (probably from 1990ish to today). They both made it to the top ten; with Chip placing 6th in the Breed class: Other Mixed/Grade being 1/4 Thoroughbred x 3/4 Appaloosa; and Strawberry placing 3rd in the Color class: Cream (she is Quarter Horse x Arabian).

Little Miss Champion - MEPSA Mini Special Feb. 2020

Daisy is a Champion! Not to mention that her photo is crystal clear (something I didn't notice until the judge said something about it), but she placed four times in the show! She got third place in the Gender Division for her class: Draft Type Mare. She got third place in the Color Division for the Pinto Pattern: Tobiano/Tovero. But best of all, she didn't just get first place for her Breed Division (Other Pure/Mixed Draft - she's an American Spotted Draft) - she got overall Champion for the Draft section!!! What a wonderful surprise!!!

Isabella placed fifth in both Old World Spanish (Andalusian) and the Color Black class. I need to get a more clearer photo of her in order to get higher placings.

Fiachra did pretty good with getting third place in the Other Pure/Mixed Sport class. Something I learned about him, was that just because he's a mix between Mustang and Thoroughbred, was that he cannot show in two breed classes. This was something I was relatively not aware of; but then again, I hadn't been showing in these kind of shows for very long.

Tumbleweed still placed sixth in his Draft/Pony/Carriage/Other Foal class (he's a Mustang), regardless of how worn he is from my years of play. Though, he doesn't look too bad...maybe that's why he placed higher than his cousin, Missie - who had obvious rubbed marks. He is one of my oldest Breyer horses and I got him the year I turned ten....after seeing Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron in theaters. Of course! Yes, I was one of those kids who entered the horse phase with that movie and never left!

Alright, back to placings! This is a really cool picture of Arya - especially with how the background colors compliment her coloring. She received a fourth place in the Fantasy/Decorator Color Division.

Like a Diamond's photo was rare chance of getting an extremely small horse in focus with a regular kit lens. Though, he didn't place too well, only fifth in American Paint and eighth in Other Plastic Collectibility Division. Micro Minis are hard to photograph in a realistic setting, sometimes the snow doesn't look to scale. Also, the mass produced models tend to be not anatomically correct, therefore, gaining low placements or not at all in shows. I am, however, going to experiment with using a macro lens for these tiny guys, hoping to get a better picture....while trying to figure out my mom's camera manually.... 

Despite being a little fuzzy in the picture, Snowfire still placed fourth in Other Pure/Mixed Light (Morgan x Appaloosa) and second in Collectibility Breyer SM G2 - Heat 1.

 Faith made it to the final ten this time, with eighth place in the Breed Division Fantasy/Decorator class. She is another one who I want to re-take her picture.

Something I learned with Fantasy horses, is that if the horse has wings, a horn, a fish tail, or any other addition - it still goes into the Fantasy Color Class regardless if the color of the horse is a real equine color genetics color or any color pulled from the color wheel. As a test, I had shown Sumatra in both a regular horse color class (because she is a Gold Champagne) and the fantasy color class (...and that she has wings). So, just like with Fiachra, I found out that I can't show her in two classes in the same division. For the Color Division Fantasy/Decorator class, she got 6th place. Though, for the Breed Division, she got first place, but no Grand - that's OK. Absolutely LOVE the composition!

I wish this photo came out more clearer. That's OK, though, I'm still learning and improving. Knightly's Glitterbomb actually has a pearlescent medium mixed into the paint that looks more like glitter than pearly, though the camera wasn't able to pick it up. In the Customs Section, she placed sixth in the Breed Division Tennessee Walker Horse/Missouri Fox Trotter class.

I decided to enter this photo of Turpintine in the Performance Scene class and he got seventh place. As the chase piece of Breyer's 2018 Mystery Unicorn Surprise, I thought it would be appropriate to title the photo "A Rare Sight." Since I love creative writing, inventing stories, characters, breeds, and families is one of my favorite things I do in this hobby. So, Turpintine is a rare midnight blue Sky Unicorn, who is the mate of Zarina, another Sky Unicorn...who I need to fix her horn since she dropped at the store before purchase (go figure!) and I decided to fix her instead of completely customizing her entirely due to the fact I liked her paint job too much. 

Stay tuned in for the MEPSA Foal Special results.

MEPSA Stock Type Special and OF China/AR/CM Regular Qualifier

Here are the placings for the MEPSA Stock Type Special and the MEPSA OF China/AR/CM Regular Qualifier from my herd. I usually enter about 2-3 shows at a time - in which the deadlines are roughly near each other. There were, of course, some learning curves. Thankfully, the judge for the Stock Type Special was nice enough to explain them to me. I would post about that later - too much information on very little brain power. (Just know that I should be cropping the pictures before I post them here, but I keep forgetting!)

January Stock Type Special:

Liam: Strawberry Roan QH Stallion: Performance Div. E: Scene: 7th Place.

 Ellenora: Strawberry Roan QH x Arabian Mare: Halter Div. A: Color: Roan: 10th Place.

 Lionheart: Dunalino Leopard Blanket Appaloosa Stallion: Halter Div. A: Color: Appaloosa - Blanket: 3rd Place - Heat A.

Wapiti: Bay Framed Overo Paint Stallion: Halter Div. A: Head Study: 1st Place.

February OF China/AR/CM Regular Qualifier:

 Sonya: Grey Wind Dancer Mare: Halter Div. D: Breed: Fantasy/Decorator: 3rd Place.

Halter Div. D: Color: Fantasy/Decorator: 2nd Place.

 Grian: Palomino Tovero Leopard Blanket Pintaloosa Colt: Workmanship Div. D: Etching Only: 8th Place.

 Blue Moon: Blue Silver Friesian Mare: Halter Div. D: Breed: Light Carriage: 4th Place.

 Merida: Zebra Dun Shetland Pony Mare: Halter Div. D: Head Study: 5th Place.

 Speck's Peanut: Grey Leopard Blanket Appaloosa x TB Stallion: Halter Div. D: Head Study: 4th Place.

Strider: Grullo Kiger Mustang Stallion: Halter Div. D: Head Study: 6th Place.

A Weekend of Getting Stuff Done

I can already tell that there's a high possibility that I won't be able to get my NaMoPaiMo horse done by the end of February this year. I know, don't give up hope...but getting the skeleton to stand correctly is rather daunting. However, I do know that I'll be able to get the organs done before then. And that's a plus, so that I can put full-ish? (ish for the additional projects I am also trying to get done) attention on the skeleton. It'll be a miracle if I can get it done in time.

The nice thing about NaMoPaiMo is that the whole process is a journey. And for me - it really has been one due to the complications of not just the model, but also finding real examples of the equine's inner organs. I was able to find examples of most of the organs, but there were also some that I had to rely on my mom's nursing background and basic anatomy common sense. In this case, I couldn't find a picture anywhere of the equine kidneys or the pancreas. 

 There were a few days when we had nothing but snow in the forecast. Thankfully, this past week I was able to move out of the garage and into the wide-open backyard due to nice, sunny weather.

Got the brain done last week. No, I'm not kidding! It really is that color and that size! 

 Starting with Friday and ending on Sunday, I was able to get the kidneys,

the throat/tongue/esophagus/trachea, 

 the lungs, and the diaphragm finished. (Looks like some Velociraptor Dinosaur gone weird).

 Here's the outside of the heart. Crazily realistic with only acrylic paints, pastels, and colored pencils. The creamish color is the "skin" that goes over the heart (I can't remember the name offhand). But, it's a real thing. The only thing I have left to do on the heart is the inside.

I kind of knew that the intestine/colon/uterus/bladder section would be last. It is the most disgusting part on my opinion - my family says the whole project is disgusting! The intestine/colon alone is quite a mixture of colors. It is not just a pinky color (and this base might be too dark), but also has a touch of orange, purple, yellow, and maybe one more color other than white. I have tried doing pastels on it, though I think I need to try acrylic washes for better detail. I'm going to work on that tomorrow.

NaMoPaiMo Update

Time just seems to fly! It's already halfway through February - which means that NaMoPaiMo is almost over and my model is still not done! The great thing is that it's Leap Year, so we get an extra day to finish our models.

 This is the Spleen. I used acrylic paint for the base color and chalk pastels for the main shading. All the details are done with colored pencils. This is the process I do with all of my models.

 Here's the liver.

 Clockwise left to right: Stomach (yes, it's that color - the base is orange), Pancreas, and the Brain (not kidding! It's really pink!)

Today, I have been working on blocking the color for the lungs, kidneys, and the heart. I also was able to work on a set of pole bending poles. Later, I'm going to spray a couple of coats on the brain and the pancreas, since the detailing is done.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pickles

Yes, I'm in a bit of a pickle.

It has taken a lot of mental energy to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it.

Apparently, the picture on the box is correct.

The model is not.

 This is how the spleen actually fits while under the diaphragm (the spleen is that triangular shaped piece that's supposed to attach to the two magnets on the stomach. The picture above is how the stomach actually sits when attached to the liver and the diaphragm). 

But that's not the main problem.

The skeleton is.

Oddly enough, the legs were very straight - which is not anatomically correct.

After figuring out the problem with the legs, I ended up threading the leg bones together with a double strand of wire and glued the joints together. After the glue was dry, I added Apoxie for better support. That was on Wednesday.

Yesterday, I went over to my grandparents house because I needed help from my grandfather with figuring out how to get the ribcage to stay on. It took most of the afternoon to find a solution, but we did find one.

It involved drilling with tiny hand drills, filing with tiny files......everything on a tiny level. (My grandfather builds model airplanes and trucks, so he has ALL the right tools for this kind of stuff!!)

 Success didn't last long though. I had set this last night...and it doesn't match with the clear case.

 And this piece didn't fix either. This morning that rib broke off!

 I am trying not to get discouraged. It is a frustrating project - and NOT one to do in crunch time! I am still going to go back to my grandparents house this afternoon to primer the rest of the pieces, so that I could at least start painting those for starters. I just hope I get the skeleton fixed and painted by the end of NaMoPaiMo.