Koniminiatures' customs & tack (updated Feb 21st)

koniminiatures wrote:

I'm glad to hear you'd consider it, though I must note my books aren't currently open (previous commissions to go, before that) - I hope I can one day craft you a cattle model of some sort! Cattle, it turns out, are damnably fun to create.

One of my collection goals is to have at least one custom made by you, so I'll contact you one day for sure - even for a Stablemate-sized one

They are really incredible
Can't wait for more

Stunning work !

The latter horse with the open mouth reminds me of a Canadian Warmblood (?) mare you did some years ago. Is it a rework on the same global idea ?

koniminiatures wrote:

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I adore this one!!! You are so talented, all these details!! Amazing!

Shanti wrote:

koniminiatures wrote:

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I adore this one!!! You are so talented, all these details!! Amazing!

I 100% agree ! Your models are fantastic !!! If you will sell unpainted one LET ME KNOW PLEASE !!!

Thank you for your comments Andreas, Jonas, LeeAnn, Magda, Anne-Joke, Phexedrine, Shanti and Dark Pegasus! (And, as is starting to be usual, my apologies for replying to them only now. My apologies to Anna as well for being so late with the requested closeups of the Collecta zebu - I've got them now, though!)

Phexedrine wrote:

The latter horse with the open mouth reminds me of a Canadian Warmblood (?) mare you did some years ago. Is it a rework on the same global idea ?

Oh no, he'll be a very different beast altogether. The upwards-angled head and neck aren't to remain; I only had the model posed so to ease the building of the interiors of its mouth. (Better visibility!) No no, this chap won't be distraught, speedy or roached in the least..  

Dark Pegasus wrote:

I 100% agree ! Your models are fantastic !!! If you will sell unpainted one LET ME KNOW PLEASE !!!

Thank you - I'm happy to hear you like them! I can do commissions ready to paint, sure - I'm not much of a painter myself, so it's only fair on all concerned I not insist on painting each one. It would be great to some day have one of my models painted by you - you've got some serious eye for shades and tones, I think! For now my customs books are closed, but who knows, in the future..



Now, damn if I didn't take significantly longer than "next weekend" to deliver, but here they are anyways, some closer shots of the zebu as requested. This one started out as the Collecta Brahman bull, and was redone as a Brazilian show Brahman clipped short, trimmed pathologically short and fed far too well (all features quite consistent with the real show animals, I'm afraid). In fact, he played my "epoxy dump" during his creation - a kind of a byproduct hobby artefact one builds up over time by sticking onto it all the linty scraps of half-dried putty left over from proper work done on other sculpts. I think I might let this noble provenance show in his "show name" too - how would Restos de Epóxi sound? (Despejo de Epóxi..? Anyone here with some Brazilian Portuguese on them?)

Anyways, here's the original I started from:

And here's the resculpt prepped for paint:

While the underlying original sculpt hasn't much been altered, none of its actual surface remains visible on the resculpt - everything's been given a new coating of lard. On the same theme, I recently happened by these in-progress photos of the past Jafarabadi buffalo custom (completed on page 4 of this thread) that illustrate roughly the same thing: All the white stuff on the model in these pictures is resculpted surface - the black is what remained visible of the original model.


Just thought those would be fun to see - I had forgotten I had these photos; I would have posted them sooner.

Lea, again you blow our minds ..!
I`m realy big fan of your works.

I've just watch the complete topic, it is fantastic

Wow, how in the world can you do this!!
I am happy if I can sculpt a new eye and even this might look a bit off...
Astonishing!!!

Lea, your works are just amazing! Generally I don't like replicas without fur structure, but you showed that they also can be amazing without! Thanks for that, and I hope to see more in the future

I love the way you worked the "gooish" structure of the bull !

Cheers Kosta, Christophe, Shanti, Bryan and Phexedrine! I'm glad you like it.

arafan wrote:

Lea, your works are just amazing! Generally I don't like replicas without fur structure, but you showed that they also can be amazing without! Thanks for that, and I hope to see more in the future

And I've learned to appreciate the occasional presence of fur texture after finding this forum. I don't usually much add it, though, true, since I tend to work so small it wouldn't be in scale - but certainly it is a good way to "trick the eye" into thinking it recognizes in the model as well the grainy, furry real-life appearance most animals have. I'm glad you're liking my "bald" models too - I'm sure the change does take some getting used to, indeed, before it looks right.

Amazing models again Lea!!! I love them!!! The Brahman looks incredible. I love all details and especially the ears. The ears are so masterly sculpted that I'm sure that bull has a perfect hearing now, even if he's made of plastic and epoxy.

Thank you, Anna! I like the shapes of zebuine ears terribly - these were fun to try and get right, if also frustrating for their fragility.


I'll update to the thread, after all the many customs, some tack news from the past few months. Below are halters and other sundry accessories I've made in the meanwhile, from the most recent few completed today to the oldest. Most are for sale [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

More great work

Those bulls are stunning Lea! Oh my goooshh

Beautiful tack!

Lovely tack !

Thank you LeeAnn, Jonas, Shanti and Phexedrine - and sorry about my glacial response speed. I'm still too far behind on everything to much browse the forum and really ought not be posting either, so the lot of this is with apologies to those I still owe messages to and to everyone whose threads here I've again long neglected to check out - but I've just got to get these out of my system! I made stuff!


It's a little 1:9 bitless bridle & breastcollar set out of nylon, felt and leather! Whee, I made something and actually finished it. What's more, I crafted the hardware (all but the lobster clasp and studs) and learned the beginnings of braiding and knotting while making the set. New techniques! In fact, new techniques is what I'm blaming the whole thing on; it came about along the lines of:
1. "What is macramé? Can I do macramé? Why is this so difficult?"
2. "Why am I making a bridle set of macramé? No one needs a bridle set of macramé. I certainly don't."
3. "Why is this suddenly finished when my email backlog is not?"

The bridle was made after one style of real bitless bridles; it has a braided noseband (macramé, in case that didn't become clear), padded poll and a hook-on adjustable jowl strap that acts as a curb and comes with a safety break link because of that. The reins are clip-on, like so:

The breastcollar is nylon and leather with felt padding. The way the straps attach.. each is a single length of leather with a buckle at one end, holes at the other, keepers in between, and the lot just loops and zigzags through rings and hoops this way and that until finally joining in one piece to make each strap. I'm not saying I'm a hero for assembling them. I'm saying I'm (besides mildly dim) very slightly a hero for not crying while assembling them wrong for the seventh time.

If anyone wants to trade something for these or even buy them, do let me know! I have no idea why I made them and don't especially want to keep them. I'm especially looking for a Breyer Traditional body of most any sort, so if you want to get rid of yours, shoot me a message.

Ohh these are all so gorgeous! So many tiny details in every piece - I would go nuts! (At least more nuts than I already am )

Oh, these halters are beautiful! And the bridle also, amazing! Wow, I wonder if any of the halters would fit for Morgan stallion Heritage?

Yes, I agree with LeeAnn, all those tiny details are amazing, gorgeous!

Thank you LeeAnn and Anna! Going nuts with frustration trying to craft all the little infuriating details is oddly relaxing, I've found.

The felt/nylon halters would not fit Heritage, I'm afraid - they are far too large. But, I could easily craft a similar halter to fit Heritage's measurements. I've been meaning to finally write (and indeed have been writing, then eternally saving as draft) you an email, Anna - and I am sorry to be taking so long! I'll talk more about the halter options in that message - the likes of the two above are certainly a possibility for your handsome boy.

Woww, how much talend, mastery, technic, knowledge ... and a lot of nerves .. it is necessary, for these halters to be so awesome...
And you showing all that in a perfect way with your work.
Great !

Magnificent work

Absolutely amazing work Lea!