What I did on my spring break

I painted a horse spleen. Well, and pancreas and heart and liver and intestines... you get the idea. A while back I had purchased off a garage sale list a complete Visual Horse.


Now, I have seen these around for a while and it is currently out of production, so it seemed like a great thing to get for my horse classes. I don't know why, but in my head, I really thought it came all assembled. You know, you open the box and have a complete visual horse. I go to pick it up, the guy says it is still unopened and was never put together. I smile and say great, all the while I'm thinking put together? I get home and open it and realize that it is a model that needs to be assembled.

I was pretty sure I didn't enjoy putting models together, but having spent the money on it, I felt obligated. So I spent more money getting the correct paint, glue, and an Exacto knife (which I didn't own.) Now having spent far more money than I ever planned to, I had to put the dang thing together. 

I was correct. I do not enjoy putting models. All that painting... and waiting. All the glueing... and waiting. All those fiddly bits. All that waiting. No, it is not a process I enjoy, and I've now been at it for about three weeks. Here are the in process pictures from the first week when I was still somewhat optimistic about the project.



Here is where I currently am.


I'm now down to the parts I have been dreading, attaching the head onto the neck and the hind legs onto the pelvis. I'm going to have to stare at the instructions a good long time because it is not entirely clear exactly how they are to fit. I'm also not entirely sure I can attach them without doing damage to other parts that are already assembled. But once I do manage to connect those things, I can put it into its clear plastic outside "skin" and be done with it. In theory, I followed the instructions which allow you to take off the rib cage to access the internal organs and take those apart as well to see how they all fit. I'm not really sure I will be taking anything apart at this point ever again. Maybe when I am a little more removed from it all. 

The only thing I could keep thinking as I spent hours on this thing is, "How on earth was this marketed to children and did anyone ever actually build it themselves?" I now know why I was able to purchase it with everything inside unopened. One look at the instructions and I'm sure the horse crazy child it was purchased for set it aside and never wanted to open it again.

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