Making a draft horse-- Yoke?

[Heelys]

I'm currently making a lebkuchen pony as a sort of brother to Gingerbread, based off my childhood briefly living in Bavaria. While I don't think I have the patience to pull off the detailed tack that you can see horses decked out in over there, I do want to make a yoke around his neck, both for detail and to cover up a little discoloration. Do you know of any customs that have used this, and what methods they used for construction? I imagine someone out there must have tried it out for Big Macintosh or something, even though I'm working in g1. I'd love to see examples and reccs.

[Mewtwofan1]

I’ve never tried myself, but I’d suggest removing the pony’s head, and attaching it that way. As for construction, I’d probably turn to tinfoil to bulk out the shape, with a sheet of clay overtop to make the details. Maybe two pins/tacks for the little metal prongs that come out on top of a yoke.

[SunPony]

That's a cool idea.  I know I've seen Big Macintosh customs but I don't know what processes the makers used exactly.  The collars seemed to be made out of some kind of clay.  I would probably use sculpey, but I'm sure apoxie sculpt would work, too.  And yeah, using something less dense on the inside would probably be a good idea or else he could end up super front-heavy (I know from experience with a different custom!).
Good luck, I'm excited to see what you come up with!

[BlackCurtains]

I actually made a G1 of Big Mac but I can't find the pictures. For the yoke I just sculpted it. I made it after I made the pony so I had to use Apoxie Sculpt since I couldn't put him in the oven painted and everything. For the metal parts I used head pins.

[Leave a Whisper]

You can also buy model horse tack from various places

[Heelys]

Ooh, good feedback. It's a bummer you can't find the pics of Big Mac, but that's good to know it's been done. I'll probably make a couple "drafts" of it with different materials-- I'm trying craft foam first, I have apoxie sculpt but I think air dry clay like Model Magic could be worth a try.

[SunPony]

I'll probably make a couple "drafts" of it

I see what you did there