Rachel Fail Custom Tack

Making the Australian Light Horse set also required me to get creative and make some items more rarely seen in the model horse world.  Swords, scabbards, rifles, and unique saddle bags. Starting with the sword, I started with the handle. I carved it from some hard craft wood, and shaped some  tin coated steel sheet metal  drilling a hole with a #60 drill bit into the metal and wood in preparation for my tiny screw and washer.  I made the shaft of the sword from a piece of aluminum tubing, crimped and sanded to fit the correct shape.  I also drilled a slot into the wood for secure fastening.  I fit it into some 1/8" brass tubing for a scabbard. I added two brass rings at the top (once piece with two loops on either end), to prevent it from sliding through the scabbard frog on the horse shoe case, by making a slot in the back for the piece to fit into.  Next was the rifle... More aluminum tubing...  I also made a pair o...

I could write a long post about 2016, and reflect, but instead I'm going to get straight to tack, because I'm so excited to share more about this recent project. I love a new challenge, and I decided to take some photos along the way while making this Australian Light Horse  tack set.  I have a few notes for the next time, but I'm very pleased with how this came out for being a first attempt. This set produced a lot of first for me, one of which being a partially exposed tree that had to be real wood and metal. The second was an Australian style saddle, which I have managed to never make in my 8 years of serious tack making. After making a pattern I was happy with, I started making my tree with two carved down pieces of Balsa wood.  It's a lightweight and flexible craft wood, but next time I'll be using a harder wood and carving more shape into it I think.  Using some brass craft metal (K&S Engineering found at Hobby Lobby), I made some nicks in wh...

I often get asked if I will have fitted English saddle pads available in my Etsy store, and since I don't make them very often (it's impossible to make them fit everyone's saddle correctly), here is a tutorial on my method.  I've made them several different ways, but I find this to provide the closest contact with the saddle, while still providing the smooth rounded pad edges of fleece that still looks to scale. First, make a pattern on light card stock.  Cut it out making sure it's symmetrical.   Trace it onto the back of a piece of white fleece.  Then, trace the line with a small amount of Tacky Glue. Lay  a piece of flexible cording (I have used a yarn cording) onto the glue:  After it's dried, cut out the pad, leaving 1/4" of fabric on the outside of the cord. Then clip half way to the cord, every 1/4".  Sew each "tab" down to the underside of the pad, grabbing a small amount of the fabric on the pad underside.  You can ...

I had a folding metal saddle stand I used for storing my Crates saddle in our once a upon a time guest room (or more accurately, the tack room), and have had an ambition to replicate it in 1:9 scale.  The first attempt turned out well, it was made of aluminum tubing by K and S Engineering found at Hobby Lobby. After making Mark I, there where several things I wanted improved in Mark II.  I wanted it to be stronger, have a bridle hook, and I wanted it painted (colors are always fun!). I decided this would be a great project to work on while visiting my folks, my dad's garage is the same square footage as the house.  He welds as a hobby, and has scrap metal galore.  When I was 10, he made me a brass tubing doll bunk bed, and after finding a scrap of materials in the garage this week, inspiration struck!  K and S Engineering has a display at the local hardware store, Johnson's, and I found brass tubing that was a much better scale for the project.  I...