War glitter

Earlier this month, I wrote a post about using painter's tape to create temporary Native American war markings on model horses. A week later, I shared a post describing - among other things - the hoof glittering process for an American Saddlebred parade horse.

This process involved tape.

I had a thought.

Of course, once I had the thought, I couldn't wait to try it out. I took a few pieces of painter's tape and attached them to a piece of Breyer box plastic.

I covered the tape with silver acrylic paint. It took several coats, probably because I used really cheap Target paint.

Once that was dry, it was time to start the glittering process!

I painted the tape with varnish, then sprinkled the glitter over it while it was still wet. I did this several times until I got the degree of sparkle I was looking for. It was pretty wet, so I let it dry overnight.

The next day, I cut out four hoof shaped pieces. 

I attached each to a hoof and carefully trimmed to fit. 

Twinkle toes! 

After a quick photo session, I removed the pieces and  reattached them to the plastic with a notation as to which foot was which. All the pieces are still nice and sticky, and I have no doubt a performance shower could use one set of hoof covers for multiple shows.

It's worth noting that I chose to use a Purdy horse as my test subject, partly because nothing says glitter like a Purdy, but mostly because Tiffany makes horses specifically for performance. They have a really good, tough finish, and I am not worried about the tape pulling off any of Schutzengel's paint. I probably would not do this with some of the more fragile models in my collection.

 Still, isn't this neat? I am really excited about being able to show a parade horse with glitter hooves, and you know, sparkley pink hooves are totally a possibility!