Hi there

I've posted a bit but haven't yet introduced myself ... I found this forum from a vBulletin community post reference. Looks like there are some experienced and interesting admins here!

I took on forum ownership of an existing hobby forum in July 2006. Many people may think of model horses in connection with 13 year old girls whose parents won't buy them a real one, but nothing could be further from the truth. The hobby is primarliy an intense group of adults with a lifelong devotion to realistic model-sized sculptures, painted with maximum realism. In addition to manufactured plastic models, artists create original sculptures and cast usually 60-200 resin copies, which are then custom-painted by painting artists to maximum realism. The models are quite incredible, from eyes to tails to hooves. Most of mine are even wearing realistic horseshoes.

couple of examples
sculpure of Thoroughbred mare, hand-painted, tack hand-made
(3 artists involved - (I'm not an artist btw))
View attachment 13

sculpted from a video clip of a horse performing a half-pass
View attachment 14

As an eye-candy treat visit the forum Gallery (link in top blue bar,) especially the folder for Artist Resin. There are hundreds of photos.

I'm in the process of launching a new forum that will be tailored to (real) horse people who compete and board their horses where they have instruction, training and facilities. Horse people spend so much time with their horses they aren't online much. As a central communications center for individual stable groups the forum is intended to further reduce their computer time - kind of contradictory for a forum, huh. That's what they most want, though, time for one more ride today.

Offline I am in both worlds, the models and the real horses (like quite a few of the hobbyists - some are horse professionals.)

I put my forum experience as "Intermediate" but that's actually rather a stretch in terms of the technical side. Technically I know more than a sidewalk civilian, and am learning about coding, helped by a high proficiency in VBA from my offline life. My real experience from almost 3 years with the forum is member management - the forum has been through some profound philosophical changes. All those intense hobbyists are allowed to discuss anything off-topic they would like - here's a tip, nothing can melt down a group of intelligent adults like the subject of pit bulls. Not the election, not intelligent design ... :lol

I look forward to learning more from and about the people on this forum. And about your sites!

 

Forgot to mention - my screen name is from my (real) horse competitive discipline of eventing. There are 3 separate phases, each a different training discipline, by an entry of one rider - one horse. My avatar (currently) is of one of those phases, with my horse Phil ("Golden Sun,") a Thoroughbred who is enthusiastic about his work.

 

I'm glad you finally posted up an introduction thread and I really enjoyed reading about the whole market of model horses.
I've read your posts throughout the forum and quite a few of them were greatly helpful and intelligent, and I'm happy to know a bit more about the person behind the posts.

I would like to thank you for sticking around throughout this extreme dormancy, but I assure you that things should be picking up soon (hopefully) and I hope you continue to remain active and continue to visit the forum.

 

Nick no problem. This site has helped me as well. I hope it continues, with or without more members. The exchange of information can be very helpful. Especially as I'm not fully plugged in to the tech world a forum like this is an invaluable resource. It can expand my forum experience beyond my own, especially as mine are topic-focused and not as general as some here.