Harecroft Horses - Tales from the Body Box - CollectA batch two!

Thank you, Bonnie and Taos and Roger

I like painting the eyes in, I always give them the bit of brown or amber or blue colour no matter how small they are, but I'd really enjoy doing the eyes on a larger scale than these, with more space to add more detail. I have got some 9th scale horses which I might one day get to painting, and those will really give me room to play with eye detailing!

Gustav really does look very different in varied colours, and I love how he works as so many breeds to give that range of options - I could quite happily have four or five more and not run out of ideas for colouring him in

You definitely need at least one WIA, the dark bay Gustav would be my recommendation cos his original paintwork is SO nicely done. Or maybe if you wait a while they'll release a new sculpt...we haven't had an Iberian breed in the range yet, so a Lusitano perhaps!

George wrote:

Thank you, Bonnie and Taos and Roger

I like painting the eyes in, I always give them the bit of brown or amber or blue colour no matter how small they are, but I'd really enjoy doing the eyes on a larger scale than these, with more space to add more detail. I have got some 9th scale horses which I might one day get to painting, and those will really give me room to play with eye detailing!

Gustav really does look very different in varied colours, and I love how he works as so many breeds to give that range of options - I could quite happily have four or five more and not run out of ideas for colouring him in

You definitely need at least one WIA, the dark bay Gustav would be my recommendation cos his original paintwork is SO nicely done. Or maybe if you wait a while they'll release a new sculpt...we haven't had an Iberian breed in the range yet, so a Lusitano perhaps!

I don't know if WIA will release more horses. I like your suggestion for dark bay Gustav . :)

This week's custom model is my first Peter Stone Pebbles repaint. Pebbles are 1/16th scale, which puts them a little bit larger than CollectA horses, but not nearly as big as Breyer Classics - around 4- 5 inches to the ears, depending on the breed and pose.

Pebbles haven't been sold in my country for a really long time, but that's ok because some of the bodies in my box have been there a really long time, and the other day I found the Saddlebred mares I'd bought then set aside for being too big when I was only painting minis, then promptly forgot all about when I wasn't painting at all. I decided it was time to tackle at least one of them this weekend!

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Yes, I do like painting everything bay pinto

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And here's the other side. I think this way round with the mane showing is generally the display side with this sculpt, but I prefer how her patches turned out on the 'wrong' side (I was making them up as I went along, as that's so much easier than copying a reference!), so I don't really know which is the best way round for this one

I've named her Scarlett O'Hara, after the character in Gone With the Wind - I'm not actually a fan of the film and I've never read the book, but it seemed the perfect choice because it combines names from two existing Saddlebred models in my collection : my first ever buy in this mould I named Scarlet Charlotte, and one of my recent Stablemate customs I called Southern Belle, so this name kind of pulls together the red idea and the historical/regional theme. Real-horse people often give successive generations names which draw from one parent's side or another, or ideally mix both, so I like to play with similar ideas when naming my model ones

I didn't stop at the painting, though - you may have already spotted the coloured braids in her mane and forelock (traditional show turnout for these gaited American breeds), and being quite a bit bigger than my usual scale, I was able to make her a bridle, too!

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Saddlebreds are often photographed being held by a handler off-camera, with the reins disappearing away to one side, so I thought I'd do the same - though there's not a little 16th-scale figure holding them, but my own hand carefully trying to avoid casting an unrealistically huge shadow across the horse

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The bridle here is a double one, copied from photos - they always seem to have enormously wide browbands, almost always of patent leather, and usually red, no matter what colour the horse or the mane braids. Red seems to be the fashion, rather than co-ordination or picking something to compliment the coat colour, so red it had to be

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Although I couldn't say I'm a particular fan of gaited horses, having never even seen one in real life, I do like models of them, with their dramatic poses and showy presence. Saddlebreds are famously referred to as 'the peacocks of the show ring', and look particularly striking when they're one of the wide range of flashy colours, so they're always fun to paint, too!

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The bridle took longer to make than the horse took to paint, it's all carefully skinned fake leather with the backing peeled off to achieve the fineness of the leather used in real life - anything thicker would look bulky and out of scale.

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Showing her face markings a little better, a quirky blaze and one eye partly blue - this also captures her proud and showy attitude really well!

Another beautiful repaint, you have taken every detail into consideration and it makes each of your horse models that you have painted so unique! Pebbles is a great name, my first much-loved and extremely missed golden retriever was called Pebble- I'd be interested to know why this is the name for 16th scale horses?

Well, they're made by a company founded by a man whose name is Peter Stone. We referred to the original large horses simply as 'Stones' for short. So later, when he developed different size ranges, he called his medium size models 'Pebbles', and his smallest ones 'Chips', because they're different sizes of stones

George wrote:

Well, they're made by a company founded by a man whose name is Peter Stone. We referred to the original large horses simply as 'Stones' for short. So later, when he developed different size ranges, he called his medium size models 'Pebbles', and his smallest ones 'Chips', because they're different sizes of stones

That's a very clever idea- using the theme of his name to identify the different sizes! Very interesting, thank you!

That's a very rocky topic. Peter Stone is also a rocky name, not only because of Stone but Peter means rock. Even the Apostle Peter was the rock upon Jesus would build his temple. But changing the subject, I am petrified with the beauty of this repaint! The sculpt may look rocambolesque but it is perfectly adjusted to the breed and the aestetic sense makes it to look like a jewel. My favorite side is the left one, both in painting and also for showing, the way the tail crosses the body showing slowly in front of the legs is genial. Your beautiful pictures also contribute to the enormous dignity of this model. Do they have feral breeds?

Holy moly, the level of detail in this pattern! It is simply stunning. Excellent work!

Thank you! The size allows for a lot more detail than a mini scale model, I've always found bigger horses daunting to paint but I have to admit it's nice having that much more room on the plastic for things like fuzzy-edged patches and eye colours!

I learnt a new word today, 'rocambolesque' was one I had to ask google about - that's going to be useful!
I do like this mould, it's very different to most of what I collect, and perfectly captures that very American showy kind of horse which we just don't see over here. I'm also glad you like the pictures, they were a long time coming cos it kept raining, and when we finally did get some sun, it was at gone 4 in the afternoon when the shade was right across my garden - I had to balance a board on a chair in among the plants and crawl on my knees to get these shots

Stone have one feral breed, the mustang. I'm not entirely sure this link will work, but it should bring up all the mustangs they've ever released.
I don't have any to show you from my own collection, cos the mould made it's debut well after the company had stopped making regular runs, so all the mustangs have been limited editions for shows, or pricey small-batch special runs, or one-offs, or design-a-horse unique orders (i.e. several hundred dollars each)

Another fantastic repaint. I especially like the detail on the hooves. Even more impressive is the bridle, it looks so detailed and realistic. Yes, I can imagine that it took you a long time to make.

George wrote:

Thank you! The size allows for a lot more detail than a mini scale model, I've always found bigger horses daunting to paint but I have to admit it's nice having that much more room on the plastic for things like fuzzy-edged patches and eye colours!

I learnt a new word today, 'rocambolesque' was one I had to ask google about - that's going to be useful!
I do like this mould, it's very different to most of what I collect, and perfectly captures that very American showy kind of horse which we just don't see over here. I'm also glad you like the pictures, they were a long time coming cos it kept raining, and when we finally did get some sun, it was at gone 4 in the afternoon when the shade was right across my garden - I had to balance a board on a chair in among the plants and crawl on my knees to get these shots

Stone have one feral breed, the mustang. I'm not entirely sure =]this link will work, but it should bring up all the mustangs they've ever released.
I don't have any to show you from my own collection, cos the mould made it's debut well after the company had stopped making regular runs, so all the mustangs have been limited editions for shows, or pricey small-batch special runs, or one-offs, or design-a-horse unique orders (i.e. several hundred dollars each)

Rocambolesque is a French derived word and maybe a little exaggerated. Maybe ostentatious or flamboyant were more correct but those do not sound like rock. Hahah!
It also means extravagant and that's defintely a word that matches the North American culture.
thanks for linking these Mustangs, everything worked.
I always wonder, while watching all the pictures on forum, how many contortionists do we have? :)

It's worse at times of year with even less daylight. Here's an example of the amount of balancing work I have to do to catch a patch of sunlight in mid winter!

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To get the shots I needed, I stood off to the left somewhere and zoomed in, so the horse and the background lined up, my shadow wasn't across the entire set-up. Here's how it looked!

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Useful to see how you took the photo. Both the base and the background are quite simple, but they look great in the photo.

Stunning repaint and wonderful photo!

Thank you, both! This also shows how my backgrounds are free and ecologically friendly : recycled pictures cut out of the back of Breyer boxes. I'm genuinely sad they did a packaging redesign this year and won't have those useful photos any more - they were perfect for matching scenery to breed!

It is amazing how you can take such beautiful pictures even when not all natural elements are contributing.

Very interesting. The horse looks great too!

Very interesting to see these tips from a talented photographer like you!

Every now and then, I like paint a portrait model of a famous racehorse. Usually, they're current stars from the UK/Ireland racing scene, horses which have caught my attention for their talent and character, and painted either during their career, or shortly after retirement. You can see them all on this tag from my blog.

But recently, I read a book written in the 1930s, about one of the most famous horses in his own day - Brown Jack. His Wikipedia entry is very dry reading, listing his racing achievements without touching on why he was so loved in his own time, or remains famous for racing fans today. This biography page does a much better job of it - this is a horse who famously liked cheese sandwiches and would receive parcels of cheese in the post from young fans. A horse who'd make guest appearances at the racetrack - not only the days when he was racing, but to hang out in a fenced off playpen, so the people could meet him and give him a pat.
He was one of those oddly beloved equine 'celebrities', whose fame and popularity make them as important in racing history as any prolific stallion, Triple Crown champion, or Grand National winner.

So I decided he thoroughly deserved to join my little herd of racehorses, and got to work...

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Here he is, with his book forming the perfect caption!

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Because of his era, all Brown Jack's photos are in black and white, so I based his colouring on this portrait by famous English artist Alfred Munnings. I tried to incorporate the art style a little bit, too, without letting it look too messy on the model, as brushstrokey impressionist colouring would just look like bad painting out of context, and I really wanted him to work as a model in his own right.

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There's another painting of him inside the book, by Lionel Edwards this time.

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And here he is with one of the photographs - I chose the mould which looked most like him anyway, but it did have some extensive modification for a better match : profile tweaked, mane plaited, tail shortened, shoulder muscles filled, topline adjusted along the spine and rump, belly enlarged, gelding operation, knee adjusted, hooves larger and longer. Quite a lot of work before I could even get started painting!

I did the standard fake-scenery photoshoot with him as well, here he is from several different angles...

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What a wonderful idea to make a mini replica of this famous racehorse, you have captured him so well and it gives the model even more character to have a story behind him! He looks so sleek and shiny, a very talented race horse, and you have blended all those rich browns so well!

Yes, I think it's often the story behind a horse which makes me want to buy or paint it. Some of them have been fictional, from horsey stories, others are real but I've read their biography-style books. By the end I'm attached and want a model of the little character I've been following all along!

Browns are tricky - the paint brand I use doesn't make a single dark brown shade, so I have to make them by adding blacks to various medium brown colours they do sell. And that can often make them look a bit dull and greyish, so I have to work hard to keep them warm and vibrant. I'm glad it works!

Another one to add to the customs thread today (apologies for boring you all with Too Many Horses, I promise I do have another very non-equine custom in progress for the other thread soon! ), here we have a Lusitano repaint.

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The mould is Safari's Lusitano Stallion, I got him in a mixed lot of toy-type horses - some nice enough to leave in my collection as they are, but others badly played-with (the kind with red pen scribbles and purple glitter nail varnished feet, not just a little bit of paint rubbing) and thought he deserved a fresh new paintjob!

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As with a lot of Safari in this era, it's a nice mould, with crisp accurate sculpting and lovely curly mane detailing. A little too wide in the chest than Iberian breeds strictly ought to be, but as long as you don't photograph him from the front that doesn't matter

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I thought I might ask [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for help naming this one, as we all know he's a fan of his native Portuguese breeds!

Beautiful once again, the dappled effect looks so natural and I love the mane, the sculpt is really nice and with your painting I can really imagine that texture!

It is never boring when you present a Lusitano! So soft and beautiful colors. Actually, i regret not getting the Safari Lusitano when it was available.
Can I suggest a childish name? That's what a Portuguese kid would call to a horse colored like htat.
Pintinhas, yes, it could work for a Pinto or much better for a leopard but it also works for dapples.

Oh, some really nice ones! (They're always really nice ones, haha!) Another beautiful Gustav. I really like the liver chestnut, even if it wasn't your first goal. Serendipitous! It's just such a nice model, and you've complimented him once again with a great paint job. Love how intricate you make these "simple" colors. No need to get super flashy when you have elegant dapples and soft gray skin around the eyes and mouth and a little pink snip on the nose, and even a little red in nostril.

But, in the realm of flashier markings, wonderful work on the little foal, too! LOVE the delicate white blanket that's so clearly following the coat texture. That's a fun little mold, I love how you've done her eye so it looks like she's looking back at something maybe on the ground, giving her a little spook!

Brown Jack might be my favorite of your newest, though. Again, you've gone a great job bringing a painterly feel "to life" as well as creating a beautiful portrait. The resculpting work is excellent, and again, have to compliment your ability to take a "plain" color and give it so much depth. I have heard rumor that the best customizers are given away by how they handle solid colors.

Love the Lusitano as well! The way you captured the reddish cast to the graying coat for that soft rose gray, REALLY nice! And I agree with Bonnie, your handling of the mane and tail only improve the effect of that glorious texture.

EDIT: Oops, somehow I missed the saddlebred! And the handmade bridle!! Both incredible. Tack making is a magic that is so far beyond me, I can't begin to imagine how to start, haha. It's not my favorite mold, I am usually not wild about the gaited molds, but you'd done an incredible job with the coat. Those pintos you favor, you've really mastered it.