Here are a few new photos of Roundie as I work on the resin that I cast from the waste mold.

I’ve just started sanding off all the resin extrusions and artifacts from molding. The darker grey areas are where I’ve started filling and resculpting with epoxy putty. I don’t bother to sculpt the hooves and feet all the way in clay since big resin sprues come out from them in the mold—otherwise the legs wouldn’t fill with resin when pouring. The end of the nose had one too, so that has to be re-shaped. I didn’t totally sculpt the ears (since I usually don’t get those to cast; I was lucky this time), plus more detail and finishing needs added to the tail.

The entire underside of the horse has to be sanded and filled/patched; it’s full of air bubbles. But I am super pleased with the top and sides (the important parts!) they just cast great. All I have to do there is smoothing-out and sanding of surfaces. He’s got dings and divots all over him. Even with all that work, he should be all finished sometime next week.

This will ultimately be the master finished sculpture that I will send out for production. A good quality production mold will be made from it. First I’ll have several solid resin casts made which will be used for making china molds. Those include my personal copies because I don’t like hollow resins! When I decide how many resin copies of Roundie I want to sell, they will be cast from that good mold too.

It is very hard for me to decide how many resins I want to release and how to price it. The factors I have to weigh include… the economy is still poor (can I even sell resins in this market?); I haven’t had a sculpture in the market since 2007 (is my work even “desirable”?); it is a horse type not commonly known in the US; it is just a bit larger than “classic” scale (which might not be a popular size); I want it to be a fairly small run to help hold value for buyers. I don’t want to do a resin “pre-sale” where people would have to wait for their resin. Resins will be ready to ship when they go on sale. Because I will pay for the edition upfront I have to be careful of how many to order. Lots to think about!

I have been running a couple “teaser” banner ads on the MH$P and Model Horse Blab websites, and due to that I have gotten new blog subscribers and Facebook page joins this month. Welcome and thanks for your interest in Roundie! I sure do love him myself—and I can’t wait to hold the first china one in my hands—so I guess that means it is a success no matter what happens.

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