For the saddleseat sets I have been working on recently I wanted the stirrups to have the proper white pads. I could have got them ready done in the form of Sulser Saddlery stirrup irons, but I feel they are a little small for true trad scale. I prefer the RDLC english irons available from The World of Model Horse Collecting on Ebay. They aren't available with white treads so I've had to come up with a way of making my own.
I used white fimo from which I cut a narrow slab. Into this I pressed the bottom of the stirrup about halfway through the fimo. With a knife I was able to trim all the way around the stirrup and also any excess that poked through the top of the stirrup base. I then prodded the fimo piece gently from the top until it fell out, and then straightened it out a little. Into the oven they went, and with a small amount of trimming with a knife they can then be inserted into the stirrup. I added some glue for extra security.
An alternative would have been to buy the cast metal treads and paint them white, but for me I always get fed up painting metal items and find this method quicker.
That's a good technique! I work with smaller scales and I use white craft foam to make stirrup treads. You can carefully "skive" it as you would leather and then cut the pieces to fit and attach with glue.
ReplyDelete