Saarlooswolfhound's custom repaints: 3/23/24 Special update!

That was a great idea, to use that bear for a sunbear. It definitely looks like one! Great job on some complicated patters, especially on the Aussie. I agree with George, it looks very realistic. I love his bi colored eyes!

Thank you Andreas, Ana, Roger, and Jill!

Ok, the next two are projects that didn't quite turn out how I had hoped/were pretty ambitious. I have never sculpted seriously let alone remodelled anything, so it was a challenge especially since it was so small. I decided to share so that other practicing artists can see that it takes time to learn new things. Anyhow, I will just get into it...

This is a model I bought at the dollar store, it had such a cute face. I cleaned up some bad seams and moved to repainting. This model was based on Omo, a real leucistic giraffe. This isn't a 100% faithful, and as I said it isnt't quite how I wanted it but, alas...
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This started out as a nayab badger. I did some resculpting. I cut off his tail and moved it up to align it better with the spine. I rescultped the ears (so hard), added some clay to the face and shoulders, blunted the nose. And repainted it. It is not a perfect model of one but the intent was a bushdog and was more of a project of fancy to test out my scultping skills.
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Very interesting customizations!
I especially like the bush dog!

Birdsage wrote:

Very interesting customizations!
I especially like the bush dog!

Absolutly agree

Beautiful and original ideas for these two models, I love the transformations and I think the results were wonderful! So many clever adjustments to the Bush Dog, and the Giraffe has such a sweet face which fits really well with the lighter colouring!

Thank you Birdsage, Andreas, and Bonnie! I am glad you like them.

That's an ambitious step in customizing! Resculpting always sounds scary, especially the cutting off of things. Honestly though if you hadn't told me, I would have believed you that it came that way. The bushdog looks legitimately like something you'd get in a set. Maybe not the most photo-real coat detail, but the elements that a nice miniature would have, like the play visions sets or something! I like how you did a kind of "dry brush" effect over the texture of his coat, to have the darker color on the edges. The leucistic giraffe also looks great! That's a tricky coat to replicate, I imagine. I recognized him, though.

Oh, I think they are both great! you can be proud of them, wonderful works! I especially love the bushdog

I think it is really cool that you went for a leucistic giraffe! Since we're talking about practicing and learning new skills I was wondering what you thought was most challenging about painting this particular giraffe and the most interesting thing you learned from painting it was

Also, I really like the bushdog! I love those kind of transformations . I think you really nailed the colour on this one!

Love the badger Paige!!

We're witnessing some unusual transformations on forum. Turning a badger into a bushdog is surely something we wouldn't expect. You're challenging your skills and that is really great!

They both turned out quite nicely and making a bush dog is such a great idea.

They both look lovely, how nice that we now have two custom portraits of the exact same giraffe here on STS! And the bush dog looks exactly like he's meant to be, not at all badgery any more.
It's always great when you dare to challenge your own skills, and end up with nice results you'll be happy owning and we all admire too :)

Thank you Jill, Ana, A-J, Nando, Roger, Burger, and George! I am quite happy with them overall and enjoyed the challenge. My original comment was intended to be a concession that I recognize they are not perfect replications of the individual/species I chose. I am happy to add them to my shelves. I The bushdog especially was fun to do and while there are some innacuracies I had fun and learned some new things!

A-J, the giraffe was a challenge for 2 main reasons. One, zebra stripes and giraffe spots are a patience based pattern to complete and I kept wanting to make it symmetrical but the real animals aren't symmetrical. I just happened to be in a mood where I was being fussy and subconciously was making them sort of symmetrical and would have to make an extra effort to try and make the pattern different, thus I got a little frustrated on this project (surprisingly my quagga was easier to do!). The second challenge was my technique I chose was to paint the spots in a solid color and then "white wash them" with a thin layer of white overlaying the spotted pattern. It has been 100°F+ here and so dry that it made my thin coat of paint dry so fast (even in my air conditioned house) so some of my paint strokes are visible and the general effect just didn't quite turn out how I envisioned. It will be a pattern to revisit and attempt again sometime! Hopefully so I can achieve better results then.


Thank you all for your encouraging comments! I have more tricks up my sleeves to try... I hope to present the last two models within a few days...

Wow- those are great! I think you did a great job with the bush dog especially, captured it to me!

Thanks so much Luke and Kelly!

I am supposed to be preparing for a small trip but as usual I am distracted from packing... I realized I hadn't shared some comparison photos of my customs with their friends! So here are a few since I won't be able to paint for 2 days.

My fringe eared oryx and his other buddies. He scales well with the Papo.
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A handful of my sabertooth clan! I didn't realize pink noses were common in my pride.
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My new colorful winged additions...
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I did blend the sun bears face a bit more since his photoshoot. Aaaand we need more tapir babies!
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My one spanish cow alongside her macho boyfriends.
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And lastly some dogs. My portrait of Buck with some dog breeds that may or may not have been used to develop his breed. Then my new Aussie with and OLD WingMau pup I repainted and my Kelpie.
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A short funny story, when Buck was a puppy I was out walking him (he was so young and still getting used to the leash he was walking ME). I live sort of out on the edge of town and a truck went by and suddenly flipped around on the road to come back to me. Scared me for a moment as we can get some sketchy people doing sketchy things out there sometime... anywho, it was a very nice man who needed to know where I got Buck. I was surprised he recognized the breed! He told me he grew up around Kelpies as his mom bred and trained them. They got a stray Decker rattie when he was a kid and he loved the dog. He hoped someday to breed the two types of dog together as he thought it'd make a stellar working companion. At the time Buck was ripping my button up plaid shirts because the movement was inspiring predator "get the rat" behaviors from him. All I could think of at the time is that the man must be crazy! But who knows, maybe when I am 50 I can buy a new Decker Kelpie from him to be a new friend. My home state of Idaho is famous for another hodgepodge breed that is quite high energy so hopefully a kelpie/rattie mix would be a better temperament.

They all fit in so nicely with the rest of your collection.
Your repaint portrait of Buck is also such an eye catcher among your other dogs.

They all fit in with the others perfectly!
The dogs though, I love that photo, beautiful! Your repaints definitely stand out as some of the best of all the dogs in the photo, and I love the variety of brands and breeds and colours- these dog-filled photos always catch my eye! I also really love how you displayed your beautiful Buck repaint (And seeing him again reminds me of how good it is, he looks almost Japanese in style, something about the way you have applied the colours is so aesthetically pleasing ), by showing all the breeds thought to have made the Decker around him! It's really interesting to see and would be fun to do with other dog breeds as well- with this visual image in my head I don't think I'll ever forget the breeds that made Buck now!
What a funny story, Buck's handsome looks definitely attract lots of fame! A Decker Kelpie would be a very interesting crossbreed too!

Wow, you have the Safari brown pelican...

Thank you Burger and Bonnie. since I completed the custom I have noticed one or two things that I missed on Buck's portrait, perhaps will be added later. But I was so satisfied it turned out so well and everyone seemed to like it here! It was one of those projects I was fussy about since it was a replication of my loved boy.

Ben, I got lucky and found the brown pelican in a lot on ebay early this year or late last year. Its quite hard to find but I have seen a few pop up here and there.

I love all your customs, and Buck Jr. with his family tree! And funny story about the man who recognized a Decker Giant. (When I was a kid our blue merle Aussies were usually called Dalmatians by people around town )

Hah, I got that same Wing Mau pup years ago with the intent of customizing it into an Aussie. Never happened and now I'm not sure where it is.

Thank you Kelly! People are so funny when they guess breeds... often they are so far off! When Pippen, my maltipoo, was alive people always thought he was a Westie, despite looking nothing like one besides being white... But I admit, there are some dogs you see at shelters for instance that look like a dead ringer for one breed but then you test them (and we have discussed at some length the accuracy... ) but they come back as a clever mix! Anywho, if I ever find another WM aussie (or any puppies honestly) I will for sure let people know here. :) They are really nice little models.

And some exciting news! I found a special lot on ebay with a model I really needed for a specific repaint... Once I get it in the mail and check it out in hand I hope to customize it and share it here.

new colorful winged additions