Horses for larger dolls

Do you think Flumo would be strong enough? I guess abs plastic would be ideal, but I have no idea what kind of process that would involve.

 

I think plastics or vinyls require a vacuum system. The best I can think of is having it made by a 3d printer but that's also super expensive I don't think anyone makes stuff anymore in the USA and you'd have to go to China to get them duplicated. That means you'd have to have a large amount made to make it worth while, and you'd have to pay the up-front cost, with the possibility that the potential sales aren't there Ugh, not easy!

 

I'll have to google what Flumo is when I have a minute, I'm now very curious. ABS or any other light plastic to make a hollow cast would be ideal but injection molding is very expensive if you're not gonna make/sell a few hundred of whatever you're casting, since the dies for injection molding have to be custom made and are quite costly. I think the shape would be too complicated for a molding process like vacuuforming. Resin casting looks like the only plausible bet, but even if you can hollow-cast it, that's still gonna be one expensive horse!

edit: Flumo looks like it is meant for small applications. A horse big enough for SD+ dolls is gonna be nearly a meter high- around 70-90cm- and at least that long. I don't think Flumo would be cost effective for that. I couldn't say if the medium itself might not handle such a large shape, since I've never tried it.

TLDR, the trouble with such a horse isn't even making it- it's finding a method of reproduction that's not so expensive that you have to sell the results for like $2000 USD each. And then don't get started on Shipping costs.

 

Oh being an old timer, I just realized one more possibility, though it would possibly be more brittle than resin, it's still pretty strong... and easy to create. If you've ever done porcelain dolls back in the 80s, LOL - dating myself again-, you probably have also used composition bodies. This material works just like porcelain slip. You make a mold out of plaster, then, after it's dry, you pour the slip in, wait a min or so to build up the wall thickness, then pour the excess out (saving it for next time) and then you let it cure after de-molding when nice and hard, you paint it. I haven't done this in such a long time, that I can't remember any tips... I'm sure they are online though

 

One more note on that, I have a 3' tall doll with large single piece body that is solid and strong, so it really might work!

 

This is basically the method for hollow casting resin pieces as well, give or take a technique or two. I think between slip casting and resin, slip might be cheaper but more likely to break. If that Resins By Randy guy has cast Nahar, he might be able to answer some questions about it if I ever pursue this. I've given it serious thought, although I am nowhere near as good with horse anatomy as the artist behind Nahar.

 

Well, I do have a 30 year old doll that has had stuff piled on top of her over the years, she's always in the way, her girth is...let me measure...19" at the waist and she feels super strong to be honest, I press on her chest and there is no give. She looks at me like, what now??? LOL

She wears a dress my girls played in as tots. It's a white lace dress for easter for 6 years old, but on my 3/4 year olds it was a long dress that tied in the back. This is a big doll, LOL

I'm just saying, if you wanted to try it out just to build yourself your own horse, I think it would work

 

Hmmmm. I see that this is an older thread, and it seems that My Twinn is no longer in business. My daughters have this big, ugly black horse that I scored for like 5 bucks at Goodwill (for their AGs)...and I am unsure whether it can be modified to look anything half close to realistic, but with my 60cm female on it the size is not toooooooo terrible while she is in the saddle. It measures about 20" ears to floor. Any doll larger than this would look quite ridiculous.

 

Bumping this thread a bit.
Does anyone know any "new" horses that may fit the sd13 size? I'm in Europe so the Mytwinn ones was never a choice and now they seems to be gone?

 

I think a child's rocking horse might be the best bet? Getting one of those then modifying it to make it realistic might be a possibility if it's not too scary for you?

The only other thing I can suggest is going down a size to MSD and using the battat horses. Your JID girls should look great with one. I know, if you had an image for one of your larger girls, it's a bummer, but seeing that you have some JIDs it might give you the look you want if your goal was to take pictures of your dolls riding

 

I still think the DPL Leeds horses work well if you can find them, there are so many sizes I found ones for every scale of doll and you can customize them to make them more realistic.

DPL Leeds Horses for BJD by Raewhitewolf, on Flickr

 

Wow, those are awesome @raewhitewolf ! Are they a European item? I've never seen them before!

 

Unfortunately no, not european. You can try on ebay though. Otherwise, i remember there's another brand that make plush horses for children to sit on. I'll make a search for them 'cause i don't think i have it in my favorites website.

Edit : So there's Happy People that make big horse. https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01ET8FNJG/ref=s9_dcacsd_dcoop_bw_cr_x__a_w

I failed to find their website though.
There's another company that make big horse on wheel, i'm trying to find it.

Edit 2 : There's also Plushtoy Peluche cheval à monter noir et blanc 100 cmhttp://boutique.plushtoy.fr/epages/186372.sf/fr_FR/?ObjectPath=/Shops/186372/Products/H728271
With different height too. Unfortunately website is only in French langage and i have no idea if it's really serious or not. :/ And on the 5 horses i looked up, only 1 was in stock. -_-

 

Thank you for all suggestions!
I guess I better start looking around (haven't seen anything like that here in Sweden, I experience that even rocking horses are hard to find :0)

I guess all horses need a bit of modification too.. haha why do I want horses for my 70 cm men!? xD (and where will I keep them if I ever found some 0.o)

IngieBee None of my JID girls is supposed to have horses sadly.. maybe I can give my Benny a horse sometime in the future though...

 

Otherwise Mew-Lidia9 posted a tuto on how she mades a horse for one of her SD size https://denofangels.com/threads/horse-prop-wip.755786/
And let's not forget Nahar (if i remember correctly).

 

LOL, bummer! @Evoi

Wow, I bookmarked that one, @Blah, that's amazing!

 

While Nahar does look great and I seriously considered him, it is extremely costly to get him to Germany (and I suppose also to Sweden, for this matter). So I gave up on him.

Regarding those Ohrdrufer Schaukelpferde, they are also a bit pricey, even in not so great condition (if you go for one of those, pay attention to the inner layer holding the guy together), as they are antiques.

Regarding the big plushie sit-on-horses: I also considered these. But their backs are insanely long, and their necks are just too weird (too long). And as I am a fan of baroque horses with nicely arched necks, I just did not like them.

As baroque horses are, compared to drafters or warmbloods, a good bit shorter, this still pretty big horse worked nicely. Also you can conceal a bit with the corresponding saddle. You can cheat a bit by placing your rider a bit higher up with a western or Iberian saddle. Difficult with an English saddle though, as these are supposed to be flat-seated.

And yes, I was crazy enough trying to find a horse for my 70 cm guys to ride on. IMO, it was quite successful. Good luck with your search!

By the way, that horse made in layers is IMO a genius idea. I might try that, but not with cardboard. Maybe putting him on a stick, you could even pose his legs for standing or gallopping? Hmmm...interesting.

 

I dreamed getting a nahar but the custo too makes him quite expensive so far (well, more like incompatible with my bank accont and reason). Well maybe someday when i'll have a job ?

For the horse in layer, i was wondering about using also can and bottle. Well that too will have to wait (no room for me to make it among other thing).

 

Can and bottle? You mean out of metal?

Well, I also thought about some kind of not too thin plastic sheets. Maybe not craftfoam. Although put in layers, this stuff gets also quite sturdy. Hmmm...maybe worth a try. But it will also get quite expensive.

Though I have to admit I do not really need such a horse. I have two of that size. But it looks so interesting with its posability.

 

Can from soda can as it's light metal and easier to work with/cut i think, not vegetable/fruit/food can, too heavy and hard to work.
And water bottle, that kind of plastic yes. ^^