A's Repaints and Refurbishments (updated 01-10-18)

You turned that poor, miserable beast into a beautyful proghorn

I agree with Susanne! Fantastic work, our talented artist! :)

Nice models, and great work - congratulations

Finally, here are more pictures of my repainted New Ray pronghorn. The sculpture is excellent with thin legs and accurate features that made it rewarding to paint. I had a delightful surprise: my inexpensive raw umber paint has a (usually annoying) graininess to it, and I realized that it was a great match for the texture of the animal's actual horns! When I was little, the zoo had a single male pronghorn- he would sometimes approach us at the fence and we would feed him leaves. I was quite impressed to be so close to such an animal with its huge dark eyes, so it remains special to me.

The set of three:
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This picture was a little blurry, so I made more of a "painting" out of it:
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Now, if only we had some females for a proper herd.

Great pronghorn I have this one and always thought that one day...

I missed your topic so I am discovering all the models you rescued in the past, you did a great job

Wow he's gorgeous! Looks like a real pronghorn!

Oh wow! That looks fantastic.
What a nice figure.
Your paint job made it come alive.

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Wow he's gorgeous! Looks like a real pronghorn!

Yep!

Thanks Christophe, LeeAnn, Simone, and Jonas!

Christophe: It's surely easier planning repaints than finding the time. I think this one is worth it, though. I still have catching up to do posting finished projects...


Oh! I meant to include this with those photos. I hate to waste paint if I mix too much, so I made this little sketch with the leftover colors from one of the pronghorns:

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Great work! I've been wondering what model you used in your contest entry. Needless to say, he's a real improvement.

That should be fantastic to be so close from these wonderful creatures! Your pronghorn repaint ended really wonderfful and realistic and even that sketch is very nice!

HI Andy--I sent you a PM, not sure if you have seen it.

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Oh! I meant to include this with those photos. I hate to waste paint if I mix too much, so I made this little sketch with the leftover colors from one of the pronghorns:

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I do that very often too

Very nice!! I like the closeup shots!

Thanks for the comments.

Rogério- Yes, it was quite special for me. Though I hope to see them in the wild some day, being close enough to touch is a different experience.

Jonas- This was a bonus because when you're as slow as me, everything usually dries on the palette.

Great work with the pronghorn Andy ..and all your repaints..they look so nice.
Mini models has so much charm...and with good colors, they can look amazing.

Oh god, I just thoguht it was real!  How big is that awesome animal? Do you may have the Mojo pronghorn for a size comparition?

Nice drawing too

Thank you Kosta, Bryan, and Christophe.  

Bryan, here is the comparison you ordered:

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(The colors are a little funny- I kept waiting for better lighting but when I finally made the pictures the camera was accidentally set for fluorescent light- I thought I could correct it on the computer, but...)

I think they are both great figures, yet they seem so different! The New Ray is quite gracile while the Mojo is stockier. I think you could find pictures of individuals reminiscent of either model. The Mojo buck's horns have a more natural shape/curvature.

Thank you very much for the pictures, Andy!  The Mojo one looks very odd, when I compare it with the New Ray pronghorn, but I thought the same about New Ray's when I've seen it for the first time. Here you can see what a difference the paintjob can make!

Another long-term Safari toob project: the backyard birds:

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I was excited when these were released, as I'm more familiar with these species than most of the animals in my collection. The original paint on these is very simple, but the brightest red, yellow, and blue colors are appealing so I may try to retain some of that as base colors.

Here's the finished pileated woodpecker:

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Like the original, it represents a male with a full red crest and cheek stripes. I completely painted over the matte black of the figure and added a subtle brownish sheen to the wing feathers. It isn't varnished in these pictures, but I plan to put a bit of gloss on the eyes that should add more life to them.

Beautyful bird !!! Such fine details, - just look at the beak !!!

You did a wonderful job

Absolute beauty! So small and so lifelike

Veeeeery cool
Such a nice woodpecker. I love the colors, details...everything

Wow! He's awesome! Every detail, down to the feather... you have it right!

AMAZING! As always! I can't wait to see how the rest of the birds turn out!

I found these pictures from a 2012 custom- a really simple one. I had decided that the little Schleich badger cubs couldn't play properly attached to their base, so I cut them off and repainted their paws. I like them much better like this.

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Great Freedom for the badgers

What about the other toob birds?

Lovely job

SO much better

Great job! Badgers must roam free

Thanks ladies and gentleman.   It is an easy fix I would recommend for anyone. I like to see the animals roaming free, but other little based figures might have more trouble doing so. If anyone owns the CollectA baby capybaras and feels brave I would be curious to know the results.

The toob birds robin is done and finally had its pictures taken so that should be coming soon. The cardinal is mostly done; I just need to finish up where I left off some time ago. I'm impatient for the rest so hopefully I'll do more soon... probably blue jay next.

Very nice

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The toob birds robin is done and finally had its pictures taken so that should be coming soon. The cardinal is mostly done; I just need to finish up where I left off some time ago. I'm impatient for the rest so hopefully I'll do more soon... probably blue jay next.

I can't wait to see them

I also like better these badgers free like that. I think Schleich, with the new wild life sets, found a good way to give a new life to small sized figures that otherwise needed to be attached to something to be sold in their standard range. I can't recall if anyone made the same work with the pygmy hedgehog, I don't even know if it is possible at all. :)

I agree about the sets, Roger. Only I don't know if this packaging will make them more of a "special item" affecting what locations stock them, price point, etc. As a child I always liked small figures and accessories.  I've never seen the pygmy hedgehog in person but I bet it has potential.

Okay, here is the American Robin:

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When we post pictures of small models, it really zooms in on the details, so for a change I tried to make these next two approximately life-size (though this may vary with different screens):

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Again, like the original model, this painting represents a male, with overall bolder plumage and a darker head. Also note- the white tips on the tail should not be so visible unless the tail is fanned out more, so I will be adjusting this. I'm happy to have this model of one of the most seen and heard wild animals for many of us North Americans.

Oh! very nice!

WOW ! Is that the Robin from the Safari Toob ?

It is so beaytyful ! Amazing that you could make exactly the right colour and the fine details in the face

What a beautiful robin! It looks great in new painting!

Thanks Laura, Susanne, and Anna.

Susanne, yes, it's the Toob Robin. The group photo is on the previous page- I'm using that as the "before" picture for all the models.

Great repaint again It is really beautiful

Wow, he looks so real!

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Wow, he looks so real!

I agree! Beautiful bird, amazing job on such a little bird!
*Now I want one...*

You performed a fantastic work with this robin, it looks fantastic!

Glad you guys like it.

GREAT job on the robin!!!

Images are now restored for this topic.

Here are some quick touch-ups on the Safari octopus. The original eyes were black. I used yellow and white, with black for the horizontal pupil shape. I also added darker striping around the eyes, darker mottling on the body (but not the flexible tentacles), and white inside the siphon and a little bit in the mantle cavity.

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Unfortunately the varnish has a slight tack to it that can collect lint. I don't know whether or not this is from applying it to a soft plastic model... I'll try to correct it sometime.

Great work :)

I still have some previous projects I need to share here. This one is from 2012. It was painted as a gift for a family member, representing a certain English Setter.

the original:
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with base coat:
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the finished model:
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The Papo sculpture worked really well to match his face.