Create a Unicorn!

Fantastic Stablemates Customizing

By Jennifer O'Donnell Danza

Making a unicorn from a model horse is the ultimate makeover. Here, we create this delightful fantasy piece in an easy and fun way!

For this project, I prepped and primed a Stablemates Lipizzaner model. Priming is an important first step because it creates a clean surface on which to work and makes factory seams more prominent and easier to eliminate.

Prepped and primed model, ready for sanding.

After priming and sanding away your model's seams, drill a hole in the middle of the head, as shown below, using a 1/32” Dremel Rotary Power Tool bit. Be sure to wear your safety glasses any time you use your drill, as flying bits of plastic can be dangerous.

Final drilled hole, which will be the base for your unicorn's horn.

Using Aves Apoxie Sculpt, mix two equal portions of part A and part B and form a small ball. Then, create a horn by slowly roll out the ball on a flat surface in a conical shape making sure to taper the end slightly. Take an sharp craft knife and carefully indent the horn with growth rings. Too much pressure will make a cut, but just the right amount will create nice marks. Let the horn roll as you make the indent - this way the entire horn will receive some marks.

Use a craft knife to create texture and growth rings on your sculpted horn.

As the Apoxie is setting, continue to add marks. About 10-15 minutes after mixing it, you’ll really be able to adjust the horn and form it as you want it to look. You can even twist the horn slightly if you wish to create deeper marks without having the horn break. When satisfied with how the growth rings look, let the horn dry for a full 24 hours.

Once dry, the horn can be glued into the drilled hole. If the length of the horn is too long, you can easily cut it with a knife or the Dremel tool. Any cyanoacrylate glue can be used to attach the horn to the head, but I prefer to use Zap A Gap glue to secure pieces to my models.

(Hot Tip: Need the glue to dry fast? Sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on the glue and it will dry instantly!)

Attach the horn with glue, using your drilled hole as a guide.

If you still see the drill marks or part of the hole after gluing your horn, especially if the bottom of the horn wasn’t thick, take a bit more Apoxie and add to the forelock to cover these areas. Filling in these areas will also make your horn less likely to break in the future.

On this model, I also decided to lengthen the mane and tail and did so by just adding Apoxie onto the very bottom of the model's original mane and tail. The newly-sculpted areas were smoothed out to blend into the existing plastic by using a generous amount of rubbing alcohol as a smoothing agent. For a little more visual interest, I also added some roses and vines in the mane and tail. After all the newly-sculpted areas were added and allowed to dry, I re-primed the entire piece.

The final piece after all sculpting has been finished, primed and ready for paint.

The horse and horn were then painted using pastels and acrylics. I paid special attention to the horn and built up the color, slowly painting from light ochre to dark. Don’t be afraid to let your imagination and the Apoxie run wild - you will easily transform your model into a fun fantasy piece!

The finished product!