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

Bonnie wrote:

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!

Thank you, Bonnie! I really like these toy-type models for the texture they have, it's very forgiving for a brush-painter compared to the smoother surface I'm used to on Breyer horses.

Roger wrote:

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.

I'm glad you like the colours on this one, the original paintjob was a bit lacklustre, and not very neatly applied, if it had been done better I'd be looking for one to keep as he was, too.
That's a sweet name, I like it and will add it when he goes up on the website. Have you seen my Lusitano page? I have a lot of them on there!

Jill wrote:

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.

Ahhh, this is wonderful feedback, I love hearing what other people think about my horses, and it really does help to see what's working well for another horsey person with breed and colour knowledge behind the comments!
The Gustav is still on my mantelpiece, he's one I like too much to put away yet - normally they stay there for two or three weeks then go away to the display shelves, but I'm not in my bedroom very much so I see more of the models when they're still out here!

Brown Jack is one of my own recent favourites, too, I just love the way he turned out, it shows that the effort of resculpting can be worth it, even when the mould's already so good I like painting it as it is. The adjustments and tweaks make him more unique, though, otherwise it'd get repetitive doing more than one dark bay racehorse on the same mould

thanks for that link with all these wonderful Lusitanos! I had no idea you had so many of them and they're so beautiful!
Even if their names are not all Portuguese,a few are Spanish, I think Pintinhas is too childish when compared with these. Maybe I can suggest a name with more dignity. For example, Afonso (not Alfonso) is the name of the first king of Portugal. Those nobility names always work so nice with horses, I guess.

I think the Spanish-named ones are possibly models which were originally sold or painted as Andalusians, but I reshuffled into being Lusitanos when I was allocating breeds more recently. Some of the poor confused horses on my new website got moved two or three times in a few days, while I settled on the best breed to file them under (mostly warmbloods, they're a nuisance to classify ), so my ideas at the time of getting a model aren't always where they ended up!

But I do have a habit of picking names from real horse pedigrees of the right breed, just to make sure they're appropriate and fitting for the naming traditions when it's a language/culture I'm not familiar with, so it's quite possible I accidentally chose names which were given in the wrong language!

I'll save Pintinhas for a future idea - I'd like to do another spotted 17th-century horse, which in artwork from the era seem to resemble the Iberian type, so the Andalusian/Lusitano mould would be a good choice.

A few years ago, I went to an open day at one of the UK's few QH breeding/showing studs, and found it fascinating getting to see these horses in person for the first time - I owned a few as models, but never really connected with them as the poses were so unfamiliar, reining and cattle-working manoeuvres which were so different to anything I'd seen in my own horsey experience of mounted games, eventing, racing, and heavy horse showing.
It was really enlightening to watch a champion rider and highly trained quarter horse in action, demonstrating and narrating the moves and training for these disciplines I'd heard about but never understood. Having learnt so much about them in one day, I could appreciate my Quarter Horse models much.

It was also rather amusing to meet relatives of some horses I'd known as models! Back in 2005, Breyer introduced the Smart Chic Olena model, sculpted and painted as a portrait of the famous Quarter Horse stallion. The horse doing the ridden demo on the open day was one of his sons, Blazin' Chic Olena. When I got home, I got out my model of his sire, and noted there was a strong family resemblance, especially in the face.

Last year, Breyer added a new miniaturised version of the Smart Chic Olena in their Stablemate range, and when I got a duplicate last week, I had an idea which amused me - I could paint a Smart Chic Olena sculpt as his own son, the one I met up close.

Here's Blazin' Chic Olena in my own photos...

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Isn't he handsome!

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And because all my pictures are rather gloomy indoor shots, here's a professional one out in the sunshine just so you can see him better!

And here's my custom version, where I tried to capture that deep dark coat colour, with a hint of metallic sheen

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The mini version looks a bit more plump than the full size sculpt, like he lost a little bit of muscle tone in the shrinking process

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You can kind of see how the gold paint mixed in to the colours gives him a shine at different angles, it's quite effective and something I'll try again when painting breed/colour combinations which can have that metallic sheen.

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Nose spots!

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Smart Chic Olena and Blazin Chic Olena!

That must have been such a fun open day, I almost feel as though I recognise that sand school for some reason! Another beautiful replica, and the size difference is amazing in the last photo!

I've never been wildly fond of the traditional mold, but they really did catch a family resemblance in the face, didn't they? Really cool how you captured the metallic sheen to the coat in the custom! I love that rich color, and those delightful nose speckles. Those are the details that really make a custom feel like a portrait.

George wrote:

You can kind of see how the gold paint mixed in to the colours gives him a shine at different angles, it's quite effective and something I'll try again when painting breed/colour combinations which can have that metallic sheen.


Nose spots!

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Smart Chic Olena and Blazin Chic Olena!

what a fascinating story, and great to see the photos of the beautiful son. I really like the tiny model - is it a 1/32nd size ? and the nose spots are superb George !

I reckon the Akhal Tekes would suit the golden sheen for their coats, as some of the light gold ones really shimmer in their photos.

Days like those you will surely never forget.
I was not expecting the difference in sizes were so dramatic.
It is also immpressive all the effects you can performe with your artistry.

Beautiful job, love how you got the nose freckles and hoof striping!

Funny how it was new to you, QHs and their color offshoots are far and away the most common breed(s) where I've lived. Of course it's been cattle country. Heavy horses really aren't a thing here, nor is eventing.

I like trying out different paint effects, I think it'd get boring doing the same few colours over again on different moulds, so I enjoy trying new ways to vary colours and widen the range I can manage!

And I did wonder if this post would read funny to anyone really familiar with this breed and stock types in general, like here's me treating them as something rare and curious and unusual, and this is exactly the kind of horse you see all the time

I'd collected up several duplicate/damaged CollectA models over the last year or so, I still haven't done them all but I'm getting there - here's a trio of recent repaints

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Harecroft Indiana Firefly, the Morgan stallion in bright chestnut. Probably the brightest chestnut I've ever painted, thanks to those new colours I bought for my fox repaint - suddenly a couple of new ginger and orange shades to mix and blend with my usual tan paint.

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It's a really nice sculpt, one of the older McDermott horses with very crisp detailing and fine limbs, and a really good rendition of the breed

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One of the things I like most about CollectA's horses is how, even if it's a standing pose, they all have expressions and seem to be looking at something, thinking something, rather than just standing there being bland

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And a closeup showing the face marking, I've been wanting to do one of these cut-out stripes with a spot within the white for ages, but it's hard to fit that much detail on a Stablemate scale horse, so I had to wait for a bigger canvas to paint on

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This custom is a bit of teamwork! He started off with a hobby friend of mine, who gave him the base coats of shaded grey on the body, then gave up, and sold him to me to finish I don't usually take over other people's paintjobs, either buying them fully finished or starting my own repaint from scratch, so it was an interesting experience taking him on half way through.

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As well as doing the dappling, dark legs, and detailing, turning him from a plain grey to a mulberry grey (red mane and tail) was my idea, I hoped it'd look interesting and dramatic, and it does!

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Another of the peak generation of CollectA moulds, this one is the Andalusian (Pura Raza Española) stallion, a very graceful and elegant looking cantering pose, given plenty of action with the flowing mane and tail.

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I haven't named him yet, I've just been calling him 'mulberry' for now but he'll get something more noble-sounding later on!

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Handsome face!

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And finally, one more from the body box, this is the Trakehner stallion. I've always wanted to repaint him to bay, and finally got round to it. I did almost mess him up, because I noticed a patch of slightly-too-pink shading on his hip when I saw him in daylight after painting him in the evening, intended to just adjust it slightly, and ended up mis-matching the paint so badly he's shaded dark there where I just had to blend it in and make the best of things!

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I like the pose for this sculpt, but the proportions do feel a little bit off with this one - I've always thought the head's too large and the hindquarters too small - he could do with a bigger bum I did trim his ears substantially before painting, one thing I could fix without major work my sculpting isn't up to, and I think it does make his head look a little bit less oversized than it did before,

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He doesn't have a name yet either, I only have one other Trakehner so far, so I have no theme to work with yet!

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These latest customs are really beautiful, and interesting point about them looking at something rather than being blank, it makes them much nicer models overall! I think my favourite is the first one, such a stunning stallion!

I think I never noticed how beautiful is the Morgan. with fox colors it is even nicer.
Mulberry is mora in Spanish, I don't know if the Spanish name is that noble. In Portuguese it is Amora, similar to Amor that means love.
For a non Breyer collector, those first Deborah's horses for CollectA were completely revolutionary to this hobby. Schleich poses were at the time varying between table pose and chair pose and other brands were not so attractive for the majority. The Andalusian with that mane color looks really savage!

Wow these are really beautiful! Excellent job with these customs. I really love the eyes. "Mulberry" especially and I love how you were able to finish him from someone else so that he got a nice home

Wow. That Firefly really spins my wheels!

Bonnie wrote:

These latest customs are really beautiful, and interesting point about them looking at something rather than being blank, it makes them much nicer models overall! I think my favourite is the first one, such a stunning stallion!

Sometimes it's a subtle detail, like the Russian Don mare has one ear flicked back suggesting she's paying attention to someone or something behind her, when taking photos of a real horse it's best to make a squeak noise or rustle a bit of something to bring both ears flicked forward, otherwise you end up with distracted expression just like that, hahah

Roger wrote:

I think I never noticed how beautiful is the Morgan. with fox colors it is even nicer.
Mulberry is mora in Spanish, I don't know if the Spanish name is that noble. In Portuguese it is Amora, similar to Amor that means love.
For a non Breyer collector, those first Deborah's horses for CollectA were completely revolutionary to this hobby. Schleich poses were at the time varying between table pose and chair pose and other brands were not so attractive for the majority. The Andalusian with that mane color looks really savage!

I considered naming him something to do with foxes as his colour was inspired by having that paint But my original finish CollectA Morgan is called Indiana Mayfly, so this was a good opportunity to carry on the theme in the family
The variety of poses from CollectA really is great, I think out of all these toy-type brands they come the closest to Breyer and even artist resins in terms of accuracy and dynamic posing.

Joliezac wrote:

Wow these are really beautiful! Excellent job with these customs. I really love the eyes. "Mulberry" especially and I love how you were able to finish him from someone else so that he got a nice home

Eyes are so much easier on these larger scale models compared to the Stablemates (1:32 scale) I usually work with, I really enjoy being able to get more of that clear detail in them!
I've also got some of the CollectA mini tube models from the same friend who gave up on them, she said she's really glad I bought them rather than some ebay stranger cos now she'll get to see how they turn out in the end. I'm working my way through the breeds and saving them up to share as a batch later on

pipsxlch wrote:

Wow. That Firefly really spins my wheels!

He's got so much character, hasn't he, really alert and bright and sparky! I have another on the same mould in my body box, he's got scuffs and bent legs to fix before he can have a new coat of paint so I have a good amount of thinking time to plot what colour he'll be...

OK, this Andalusian is my favourite model and the one I chose from hundreds of models on the market and you turned it even more beautiful, so congrats!

Not models I am familiar with in their original colors, but I love what you have done with them. That morgan especially is such a handsome fellow! That "third eye" blaze is really stunning, and you're right, and incredible sculpture to work on. I really love this bright copper penny chestnut, I think the fox colors were a great addition to your palette. That last photo of him looks very alive, especially with all the care you've put into his expression.

Great teamwork on the Andalusian, you can't tell that two different artists worked on it, which is pretty impressive. I think the additions you made are perfect and really finish him off spectacularly.

And once again a really nice dark bay. Such a lovely color, and all the variation within it is handled so well.

Thank you, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I'm flattered that my efforts made an improvement to a model you already rated so highly!

(Edit, cos [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] added a reply while I was typing!)

Thanks so much! The 'fox' colours really are going to come in handy, I've used a couple of them again since then, and it's nice learning how they work together, how they alter other colours, and what they do and don't blend with.
I've only ever worked on someone else's abandoned project once, a big Trad 'showjumping warmblood' to pinto which I bought from someone on a forum who'd just got sick of the sight of a project she wasn't enjoying, and in that case she'd done all the hard work and I just did a little bit of neating/detailing edges, and the face. This one was more a half-and-half share in design and effort

(Ok, back to the post I was about to post )

I've been painting a lot of Stablemates this last week, and haven't kept up with posting them so I thought I'd make them share one big post rather than introduce them one or two at a time like usual; my apologies for the sheer amount of photo to scroll past in this

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This is Harecroft Talisman, a fell pony. The miniaturised Fell mould was released first in those blind bags, as a chestnut - a colour so rare in the breed that the books don't even bother to list it as a colour they come in, and I've only managed to find a picture of one single individual online. I can only assume Breyer are saving the typical black colour for the first regular run release on a blister-pack card, but I wanted a black Fell Pony now rather than waiting however many years it takes for that to happen

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I think mine's a little bit different than the eventual Breyer paintwork will be, though, I've given him sun-fading on the ends of his mane and tail, and a hint of brown round the face, as most of the real Fells do have this, rather than being pure jet black from nose to tail tip.

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It's a lovely little mould, which as a rare breed we probably wouldn't have got if it hadn't existed as a large-scale sculpt first. I think it would look good in pinto colours as partbred cobby ponies too (that's my plan for the other duplicate I have in my body box!)

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And the other side, with that lovely long mane!

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This is Johnny Cash, based on a lovely big gentle gelding who used to live in the field next door to my own horse. She's very picky about who she trusts and who she either hates or is afraid of, and this boy was on her 'perfectly safe to have around' list, they weren't quite friends but she wasn't stressed out by him, which is always nice!

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He was another of the blind bag Mini moulds, this time the vintage Clydesdale Stallion. I never though the build of the large mould made a very true-to-type Clyde, and the tiny one was no better, so he had a makeover to be a chunky cob instead

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I gave him a new full loose mane and tail, plus thicker hairy feathering on his legs

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His small mottled markings are copied from the real one, I even found a picture I took of him having a nap so I could get the pink and black speckles in the right place on his underneath

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Did anyone else here read the Silver Brumby books? I loved them as a teen, cos they were about horses but not riders - the feral horse herds in the south of Australia, living and behaving as wild horses would. Not 100% accurate in terms of what we know now about horse herd heirarchy and colour genetics, but pretty close, and a huge refreshing change from all those 'girl at posh yard with epic-backstory-horse wins things' horsey novels which flood the market. I could relate more to wild horses just being horses than I could to Horse Girls, hahah

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This is a portrait of Thowra, the main character in the first book and whose family we follow through others. From the story itself, we're told he's palomino (not a grey, as some of the book covers show him - publishing company misled by the 'silver' in the title, maybe!), but that it's a very very pale shade of palomino, a bit like the famous mustang Cloud, possibly even lighter.

I see there's more books than I ever read when I was getting them from the town library, but according to reviews the later ones are not well written, and have disappointingly poor or downright depressing plots, so if I do ever buy and re-read any more (I only own the first), I'll stop at the 4th book and count that as the end, just like I did years ago when I didn't know they'd carried on

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This is my first repaint on this mould, the Endurance Arabian. I tweaked the sculpting of the cheek and nose a bit, as it had such a shallow jaw and undefined muzzle before, but the rest is unaltered.

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I'll admit something - this isn't how she originally looked when I thought I'd finished her, and stood her on the mantelpiece. Her mane was pale grey with just a hint of darker shading at the roots, and the more I looked the more I couldn't ignore how much I hated it. It wasn't awful or badly painted, it just wasn't RIGHT on her, so I could up and fetcher her back and gave her the dark mane and tail you see here.

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I think it was the right decision, now she looks fine even though this isn't the colour I had in mine when planning her paintwork!

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Usually for fleabitten greys, I rely on speckles flicked on with a toothbrush, but for this one I added a layer of hand-painted hair over the top of the speckling, it takes a very steady hand to keep the tiny strokes fairly short and fine, but looked effective enough in the end to be worth it!

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One more blind bag horse, this is the mini Smart Chic Olena mould, the same as I painted as a chestnut Quarter Horse last week, but equally good for a Paint Horse, I think! I usually do tobiano patterns, so I decided to go overo first for a change!

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His markings were made up, for the simple reason that inventing them is so, so much easier than trying to copy photos onto a 3D surface, and I only put myself through that difficulty if it's a portrait of a real horse I want to create - when it's a made up one just cos I fancy owning a certain colour pinto, then the pattern can be fictional

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I'm enjoying painting these new moulds, even though I really like a lot of older Stablemates it's a refreshing change and new challenge to have different sculpts in-hand and plot what to do with them, especially as I only have one or two of each, so there's a feeling of not wanting to 'waste' them on a colour which doesn't work well!

And the final one of the batch, this is the 'something spotted' I told [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I had in mind for an Iberian horse!

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His colour inspiration was this horse I happened to see when browsing Spanish horses for sale (definitely not to buy, just for naming and painting ideas!), I thought that was such a stand-out colour with his unusual liver chestnut base coat and appaloosa detailing, he just had to become a model for my mini herd!

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I'll be filing him as a Spanish Jennet on my website, a historical breed with evidence for spotted patterns in art from the era. I don't mind a bit having extinct breeds in my collection, most of them are horses I've copied from centuries-old paintings so he'll have plenty of company.
But there is a current breeding project aiming to recreate the Spanish Jennet, by crossing Peruvian Paso and Paso Fino horses with Appaloosas, to combine the gaits, the body type, and the spotting - so it's a bit of a matter of debate whether I ought to make them a page as an existing breed, or carry on putting them on my 'historical breeds' page

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Either way, I had fun painting him!

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The sun might make his colouring stand out a bit more, he's faintly roaned outside of his blanket markings, with a couple of stray white spots, too.

And that's the lot - well done and thank you if you read this far, and didn't just think 'horses, horses, more horses, how many more horses can there be...'

So many beautiful horses! I was wondering, have you seen the movie "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron?". I've never been too much into horses and I only have a handful in my collection, but I absolutely LOVE this movie. I've always wanted to see someone repaint horses to be Spirit & Rain, I bet you could do an amazing job if you wanted to!

I did see it once, ages ago - so long I can't even remember what I thought of it!

But I think Spirit models have been so thoroughly done by Breyer, I'm overdosed on seeing him and all the other characters everywhere, and wouldn't want to paint them as well, even if I rewatched the film and did like it!

There were all these for the original movie version, and then even MORE for the tv series (which I can only assume is based on a son of the original Spirit, cos he's got a white stripe and different friends now)

George wrote:

I did see it once, ages ago - so long I can't even remember what I thought of it!

But I think Spirit models have been so thoroughly done by Breyer, I'm overdosed on seeing him and all the other characters everywhere, and wouldn't want to paint them as well, even if I rewatched the film and did like it!

There were all these for the original movie version, and then even MORE for the tv series (which I can only assume is based on a son of the original Spirit, cos he's got a white stripe and different friends now)

I took a look at the link and I think my grandma had the "Spirit Kiger Mustang Family" set because I have Spirit but Rain was lost sadly. I definitely recommend watching the movie again, its as old as me and really such an underrated gem I think Also the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is amazing. The only thing the show has in common is that they just used the name again, its really just a silly kids show I wish CollectA made some same colored horses as Spirit and Rain, I think that a more "realistic" version of them would be cool

So many marvellous mini customs!
Interesting touch with the sun fading on the fell pony, and the detailing on the Iberian horse is wonderful, so delicate and pretty!

I didn't know about the historical Spanish breed. Not even its influence on American breeds I always assumed directly influenced by Pura Raza Española. The horse is beautiful as all others. Fel Ponies are so nice with that chubby Friesian look.

So many, and each one of them really special in its own right. I think Johnny Cash is my favorite. This is another one that really feels like an individual, which means you must have gotten the portrait right. I love the work you did to the mold. It is kind of a funny mold, originally (I like it for its vintage charm, but artistically, it's not exactly right), but you made it seem exactly as it should be. My favorite horse in the whole world was a little black morgan gelding named Johnny Cash, so that carries nice feelings with it, too.

I am once again so impressed by your fleabitten markings (fleabites?). Such patience and diligence! Especially on that scale. My eyes would roll right out before I got a quarter of the way through.

I remember the Silver Brumby, wow, what a throw back. I don't think I ever read the books though? I saw the movie, I believe . . . probably not at all like the books, I'd guess, ha. His name was still Thowra, though. Lovely rendition of him, probably as he was meant to be in the books. He was more traditionally palomino in the movie, I think.

I hope Breyer's regular run fell pony has as much attention to detail in the black coat as yours, though I suspect they will not. I love all the brown! That's a wonderful mold, I have only the blind bag mini and not the full size in any color, but it's another new one that impresses me.