AT2 - Brasenose's Breastcollar Finished

Better late than never!  More than 2 weeks after the end of International Model Tackmaking Month, I finish my piece.  The breastcollar was begun on my birthday at the end of April...  but the set it belongs to was begun a year ago, near the end of the 2019 IMTM.

Although this next shot is the official 'finish,' I liked the above one enough to position it first.  It is a bit less retouched -- for some reason my camera makes his ears superlong!!

Due to, shall we say, interesting circumstances, Brasenose gets to model his beautiful emerald breastcollar against a backdrop of nearly the same green.  I rarely see Pennsylvania at this stage of Spring, because (since 2011) we were always on the road by the middle of May.  Not so this year.
I am grateful to Anna Helt and others of IMTM.  What a great idea!  Some of us needed a little extra time to finish our pieces.

And of course I am very thankful for Paula O'Keefe's help in obtaining the Rio Rondo dangles.  They really make the breastcollar!

 This photo shows the truest color.  Yes those are real emeralds.  The central stone is a green sapphire.

A few more views:  Quartering angle from the near front:

And close up on the off side.  Once again I failed to retouch his ridiculously exaggerated ears.  During this photo shoot I renewed my appreciation for sticky wax, something I normally detest.

Here's the chest.  I had to torture a 13mm gold ikandi to make the dome.

 Instead of delving into just why pieces are so late this spring, I thought I'd cruise on over to past examples and to how these are made.  As it happens I've only made one other set.  AT1 (Akhal Teke Presentation Set No. 1) used "carnelian" (red) instead of emerald green stones, and it was all silver.  It took over a month (March 20 to April 22) and I learned so much.  AT1 was sold during BreyerFest 2019.
 Here it is on my Charcoal Lonesome Glory, Obi:

And on Emerson / Palatlakaha:

The red looked particularly good on a perlino:

Here is a rarely seen shot.  I took my new Rocket (now named Alzucar) into the AllTech Arena during BreyerFest last year and blazed away when no one was watching.

Naturally I've blogged a lot on these Ahkal Teke sets.  There are a total of 8 posts on them:  Six are from 2019 and two are from this year.  Let's have an index:

Starting an Ahkal Teke set
Ahkal Teke  Jewelry Decisions
Ahkal Teke Buckle Questions
Ahkal Teke 1 - Starting the Bridle
AT1 - Bridle Finished
Ahkal Teke 1 Finished
AT2- Brasenose's BC Begun

And, of course, this one you're reading.

Now for a couple of review photos from the making stage.  This one shows the pine block where I stamped out every one of those hundreds of little bars of metal (aluminum)... and domed everything that was domed.

And this one, which shows the steps in making one of the square plates.  In this case it's a silver one from a 6mm square gloss silver ikandi.  (Ikandis = hot fix iron-on metal bling spots)

Having come this far, it's only fair to confess that I have a small stash of rubies,... of citrines,... of aquamarines,...  of garnets, sapphires, cubic zirconias, opals and others.  (I've been going to the Tucson Gem Show for many years.)  Think of what colors would look good on Wink!  or Altynai!!

 

My supply of ikandis, while large, is not bottomless and especially not now, when I've discovered Alora's Ikandis are no longer available.  :(  They're almost certainly made in China, but surely that is not the sole reason Alora's vanished.  I'm in the process of researching new sources for ikandis.  If anybody has any ideas for a source, I would be exceedingly grateful and glad.

Meanwhile I'm reminded all over again that this beloved hobby is still, even now, full of one-of-a-kind pieces, unique sources and scratch-built beauties.