How I Sculpt a Tail Part One - Creating the Tail Bone

So, I thought I'd show you how I sculpt a tail. This is the technique that has worked out for me multiple times.

Supplies:

• A body model
• Dremel (or a saw and an electric drill)
• Apoxie (I use Magic Sculpt but I've also used Ave's Apoxie Sculpt with success. If you are just starting out, you can use jewelry apoxie that is available at Michaels)
• Armature wire
• Tin Foil
• Heat Gun/ Hair Dryer
• Baking Soda
• Super Glue
• References! References! References!

So I'm starting out with a horse that's missing a tail. I originally bought it with the tail at a show, but as we were traveling back home, it had an unfortunate mishap where the tail broke off and disappeared...Anyways, if you are starting out with a horse that actually has a tail start off by removing it via Dremel or saw (I recommend having someone in the room near you, especially when using a saw). If your tail is  being especially stubborn use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the plastic. This just makes it easier to maneuver and eventually removed it from the body.

After smoothing down the inevitable rough plastic caused by the tail removal surgery with sand paper, there may be a large hole left by the tail, due to the model be hollow cast. This would be the case for most Breyer horses. The only size, that isn't like this is the Stablemates.

To fill this hole, squirt some hot glue in and stuff aluminum foil in the hole. When it is just about filled, use your apoxie to finish filling it. Let cure (usually 24 hours, but read your specific product's directions). When it is cured, drill a hole where the tailbone would be.

The next thing you want to determine is tail set. This is where your references come in. Since I'm doing an Akhal-Teke, I want it to be very low. How ever if I wanted to do an Arabian I would make the tail set much higher, especially because it is a very recognizable characteristic of the breed. 

A high set tail vs a low set tail
See the difference?

So once you've determined the set of your tail, insert some of the armature wire into the hole you've created in the last step. Bend it until you have matched the set of your reference's tail. Through out the process of sculpting the hair, this wire will act as your "tail bone."

Now is also the time to add the base of movement. Is the tail blowing gently in the wind? Is it flicking irritably at flies? Is it still? I can not stress how important references are especially if there is movement in the tail.   

Notice how I have excess wire still? I save cutting off the excess until the wire is firmly glue in the hole, just in case I change my mind about the length of the tail.

In order to secure the tail drip super glue into the hole and sprinkle a bit of baking soda on it. This immediately dries the glue and creates a strong bond (this does create a bit of heat due to it being a chemical reaction, so be careful!)

the super glue is soaking up the baking soda

 The next step is to trim the length of withe to your preference. Again - references! References! References! My ref horse does not have a very long tail, so I'm going to cut the wire right below the hock.

Congratulations! You've just created a tail bone. This post was originally going to be one whole post all about sculpting a tail, but I'm going to need to split it up in to two different posts. The next installment will be about adding the hair texture.