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

Wonderful to see you back and with such a popular breed! Painting and pictures are beautiful as always. I enjoy reading your posts, I had no idea a dorsal strip could result such difficult, I thought it was the easiest part. Now, your next step is to learn how to convince plastic horses to breed, Kelly's idea of a Sorraia is surely of my personal likings.

Roger wrote:

Wonderful to see you back and with such a popular breed! Painting and pictures are beautiful as always. I enjoy reading your posts, I had no idea a dorsal strip could result such difficult, I thought it was the easiest part. Now, your next step is to learn how to convince plastic horses to breed, Kelly's idea of a Sorraia is surely of my personal likings.

Glad you enjoyed them! The stripes are perhaps easier for some painters than others, I've been told some people use masking tape or a ruler to make sure they get a straight line, while others just have really steady hands - I rely on sheer force of concentration, and not breathing

Today's introductions are more ponies from The Ultimate Horse Book, this time both British native breeds, and both 'Mountain & Moorland' breeds from the south of England.

I'll let the book pages do the captioning, although I mostly took these to show the model ponies against their reference photos (because it's rather a novelty to have them in print, the vast majority of my refs are on a computer screen), the title text in the top left is readable even at this size!

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Let's meet them up close, firstly, the Exmoor pony...

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I absolutely love him, not just as a successful paintjob I'm pleased with, but as an adorable little pony I'll enjoy having in my collection. I know that sounds a bit silly, about a model I painted myself, but he's just so sweet and full of character. The mould as sculpted as a Dartmoor, but I just couldn't resist doing a repaint to this breed I'm such a fan of.
I had a half-exmoor on loan for a few years (his other half was TB, a cross which used to be known as a 'Devon Cob'), so back then I did a lot of reading up on the exmoor ponies, their history, and collected some early 20th century novels telling stories from their life on the moors.

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I've named him Harecroft Kestrel, a nature-themed name seemed ideal for a pony so rooted in a natural wild life, and when I noticed a hovering kestrel the morning after finishing the painting session, it just clicked as the perfect choice.

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Although real exmoors are a bit wider and more compact in the leg than dartmoors, in miniature scales it doesn't seem too much of a difference in proportion, and I just like this mould better than the more recent sculpt they released as an exmoor stallion, the style has a spirited sparkiness and nicer balance, with the slim legs and sharp contours for the joints and hooves.

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Here you can see his brand marking more clearly, copied from the photo example in the book - a star and herd number on the shoulder, then the individual herd's symbol and registered number within that herd on the hindquarters.

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Looking at the camera, with that pure exmoor glint in his eye. The old books say 'If you can ride an exmoor, you can ride anything', they're just so opinionated and can be very unpredictable no matter how long they've been in from the moor.
My boy was 14 and written off as 'unrideable' when I took him on loan, and even after spending a while to get his trust and let me on board, he was a challenge. You never knew whether you were going to have a steady plodding day, or some rattling ten-in-a-row bucking fits cos he didn't want to go anticlockwise, mid-air jumps over nothing which landed at 90 degrees to the direction we'd been heading in, putting his head between his knees and tanking off til he stumbled or just plain fell over because he was too busy fighting about not wanting to go the way I suggested. You really do have to out-stubborn an exmoor, and need an old fashioned defensive seat (backward balance, strong legs, grim determination!) to stay on! When he eventually went back to his real owner and was sold on, he ended up with someone just as devoted to helping him carry on improving, and after a rough start while he pushed and tested her, they even went on to compete in some local amateur showjumping, so it worked :)

I've done a portrait mini of him on a Stablemate mould before, and as he was half TB this pony mould doesn't even remotely suit being a lookalike of him, so I stuck to making a purebred this time, like my book example.

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One of the nicest things about the exmoor colouring is the 'mealy muzzle', said to look like they've had their face in a bucket of oatmeal, with the soft dusty shading through pale tan to grey.

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Love the lightly windswept mane and tail, not too ratty and tangled but not too perfectly smoothed either - this way it works equally well as a figure of a tame pony or a semi-feral one.

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Slightly different lighting, trying to catch the sun on his coat in the most flattering way.

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Now, on to the next pony, the Dartmoor. Dartmoor ponies aren't quite so primitive in type, they've had other breeds mixed in over the years to try to create a slightly more 'quality' riding pony, moving a bit away from the ancient native type without losing the toughness which lets them do well on scruffy pasture, or grow a thick winter coat and live out in all weathers. They tend to be raised in a normal domestic setting rather than loose on the moors, and that upbringing difference is probably why they have a reputation as less wild-minded and easier to ride than exmoors.

I rode one in at the riding school years ago, and he was very sharp and intelligent, and despite a few short battle-of-wills disputes when he first arrived, he was easy to reason with, learnt new things in a flash, and was very loyal and honest once you got him on side. With a rider he didn't like or didn't trust, he could rebel to the point of spinning on the spot or bolting - out on a group hack once I had to chase him down and ride my own horse into his shoulder at a gallop to turn him away from falling in a river ditch with a rider who'd had a crisis of confidence. I told her to get off and swap ponies - my mare carried her home safe and sound, and I rode Mr Difficult Dartmoor all the way back with loose reins in one hand, my feet out of the stirrups, and his nose nearly on the ground, cos he instantly relaxed once he knew he was back with someone he knew and trusted! He ended up being sold to a private owner, and last I heard, ten years on, he was still with her, relaxed and lazy, which meant he was happy.

Of course, my CollectA custom isn't a portrait of this pony, either (I've already done one on a different brand), but the one in the Ultimate Horse Book, so here he is...

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I tried to get his shading as different to the exmoor as possible, with that high smoothing of gingery belly into dappling, rather than the contrast of chocolately brown and mealy shading on the other breed.

Now, I have to admit, it took two tries to get the colour to a match I was happy with. I'd already thought I'd finished him once, and even took photos on the same day as the exmoor pony Kestrel, but the more I saw him over the next couple of days, the more I realsed I'd not really captured that photo ref properly. Although it didn't strictly matter, cos it wasn't as if this was copying a pony I knew and needed an accurate mini version of a real-life friend, it was still intended as a portrait of the book example, and not looking correct just bothered me.

Here's how he looked to start with :

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And below, after adding the golden lift of lighter colour under the belly and around the front legs :

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Much better! Sticking with the native-species nature theme, I've called this one Harecroft Roebuck :)

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Again the flicking sweep of the tail to one side, just as appreciated a second time round. In a way it's a shame they're both bays, as it would've been fun to paint a grey or blond or ginger tail rather than two black ones, but I'm not averse to getting some more of this mould at some point, it's one of my favourites from the whole range and I'd love to have some more colours.

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No branding on this one, purely cos I couldn't see any on the reference picture, so I didn't even check whether they traditionally have been given any certain marks or not!

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Again, different lighting and angle, trying to show his coat colour as the sun shines on it.

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Looking every bit as cheeky, with less shading to play with his face risked looking a bit plain, especially as I didn't have the option of adding in a white face marking for more interest (my usual trick to lift a simple colour, invent some fiddly markings!), but the eyes on CollectA models are so well sculpted in, you can really get a lifelike expression when there's so much 3D detail to work on to.

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They look like they're whispering secrets, or maybe plotting - I dread to think what would happen if you combined exmoor aptitude for destructive trouble with dartmoor intelligence!

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Exmoor and Dartmoor together - normally I wouldn't paint two bays on the same mould, especially not immediately one after the other like this, but by having the aim of creating two different breeds, there was the challenge of making two ponies the same colour, look as different as possible. And I think it was a success, I'm really pleased with the results. Which one do you like best?

Wonderful post, ponies and stories!
I think you did once more a fantastic job and these ponies look really super in your pictures|!
It was fun reading about these adventures and the different personalities of these pony breeds.
About the mold, it is also fantastic, if a tail can be considered a masterpiece on its own, htat's the one.
I think my favorite is the Exmoor but I am not sure I am sure.

Beautiful repaints again! And interesting to read your pony related stories! I also love this book you used as reference!
Two bays on the same mold but completely different shades, that's a challenge on itself but you did a wonderful job! My bays tend to be too similar to each other. I think Exmoor is my favorite too. Dartmoor is also lovely.
And I agree this pony must be one of the nicest of all Collecta equines If you feel like repainting more of them it would be wonderful to see!

Completely agree, so sweet and full of character! Beautifully painted again as always!

Roger wrote:

Wonderful post, ponies and stories!
I think you did once more a fantastic job and these ponies look really super in your pictures|!
It was fun reading about these adventures and the different personalities of these pony breeds.
About the mold, it is also fantastic, if a tail can be considered a masterpiece on its own, htat's the one.
I think my favorite is the Exmoor but I am not sure I am sure.

I almost deleted the real pony stories for being irrelevant, seeing as these two aren't even those ponies, but I'm glad I left them in if people have enjoyed reading them!
Some of the other CollectA tails are great too - the cob mare and rocky mountain are favourites of mine, cos of how the clay was twisted to give them a sort of spiral flick!

I think the exmoor is my favourite, too, I love the way they're a soft but high-contrast colour.

Ana wrote:

Beautiful repaints again! And interesting to read your pony related stories! I also love this book you used as reference!
Two bays on the same mold but completely different shades, that's a challenge on itself but you did a wonderful job! My bays tend to be too similar to each other. I think Exmoor is my favorite too. Dartmoor is also lovely.
And I agree this pony must be one of the nicest of all Collecta equines If you feel like repainting more of them it would be wonderful to see!

Thank you! I have a lot of pony stories, I rode there for years and inevitably got put on the new arrivals to test them out, the confirmed awkward rebellious ones, and the tricky sharp ones which needed work to become safer. And one who just wouldn't co-operate with other riders, for years I'd been the only one who rode her cos she wouldn't let anyone else get on but was fine with me, so my weekly ride was paying for her hay and upkeep costs. Then when the place shut down she was given to me on permanent loan, cos he knew nobody else would be able to do a thing with her, but no other horse in the world would've suited me better as my first pony

I do try to vary my bays, but I think once you find a formula that works it's easy to stick to that cos you know it'll look as good as it can. I tend to do quite a reddish one with a lot of dark shading and concentrated pale highlights, so both these were veering away from my usual.

I've been doing more CollectA than Stablemate lately, I think this scale's become just as easy as minis now, which a year ago would've seemed very unlikely. Maybe one day I'll be able to paint 12th scale again!

Bonnie wrote:

Completely agree, so sweet and full of character! Beautifully painted again as always!

Thanks! I love painting pony breeds, they have little inbuilt personalities in their sculpting!

Wow, both are absolutely gorgeous!! This is such a nice mold and with your colors they came to life!

Funny thing is, I own this book too and it has so many beautiful breeds and reference it!!

George wrote:

Thank you! I have a lot of pony stories, I rode there for years and inevitably got put on the new arrivals to test them out, the confirmed awkward rebellious ones, and the tricky sharp ones which needed work to become safer. And one who just wouldn't co-operate with other riders, for years I'd been the only one who rode her cos she wouldn't let anyone else get on but was fine with me, so my weekly ride was paying for her hay and upkeep costs. Then when the place shut down she was given to me on permanent loan, cos he knew nobody else would be able to do a thing with her, but no other horse in the world would've suited me better as my first pony

I do try to vary my bays, but I think once you find a formula that works it's easy to stick to that cos you know it'll look as good as it can. I tend to do quite a reddish one with a lot of dark shading and concentrated pale highlights, so both these were veering away from my usual.

I've been doing more CollectA than Stablemate lately, I think this scale's become just as easy as minis now, which a year ago would've seemed very unlikely. Maybe one day I'll be able to paint 12th scale again!

It's great to hear that you were able to win the trust of so many ponies and horses!

It may be time for me to try brighter bay color too, I usually paint them all quite dark.

Yes, if you feel like it, you should try the 1/12 scale again. You can paint a lot more details on a bigger model, I think that's very rewarding

I haven't commented here for a while as I have been so busy and I wanted to sit down and carefully read and appreciate the work presented here. I think Johnny Cash is my favorite but all the intricate and fun colors/patterns and also the common coats (so basically all your work ) are just so beautiful to look at. Great job! And I can't wait to see more.

Shanti wrote:

  Wow, both are absolutely gorgeous!! This is such a nice mold and with your colors they came to life!

Funny thing is, I own this book too and it has so many beautiful breeds and reference it!!

Thanks! Some moulds just deserve the extra attention to detail of a custom paintjob, the factory ones are decent enough in most cases but you can just give them that level of care and individuality when you've got unlimited time and the right kinds of paint to work on them.

I'd love to have at least one model of every breed in the book one day, there's a target to aim at!

Ana wrote:

It's great to hear that you were able to win the trust of so many ponies and horses!

It may be time for me to try brighter bay color too, I usually paint them all quite dark.

Yes, if you feel like it, you should try the 1/12 scale again. You can paint a lot more details on a bigger model, I think that's very rewarding

I went on to work with rescue and problem horses, and did a couple of kind 'restarts' on feral/dangerous ones so they could have safe happy lives, so the experience did come in handy in the end. Now I look after the ponies at work, and have my own two - including one with various mental and behavioural quirks which mean she needs extra-understanding treatment to stay sane and content. I count myself lucky that she chose me, after I spent all that time learning, which has helped me help her.

Dark bays are so nice to paint, I love the ones which are nearly black with just a bit of warmth running through it.

I have a 12th scale project which has been ongoing for years, to start with it stalled cos I didn't feel up to the resculpting, but I've almost finished that part now and the painting feels even more daunting as it gets closer

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I haven't commented here for a while as I have been so busy and I wanted to sit down and carefully read and appreciate the work presented here. I think Johnny Cash is my favorite but all the intricate and fun colors/patterns and also the common coats (so basically all your work ) are just so beautiful to look at. Great job! And I can't wait to see more.

I have been posting rather often, there's a lot to get through

Doing all the various colours is one of the most interesting things about horse customs - most species only come in one colour option, even when you get into domestics like cattle or dogs with all the different breeds, a lot of the time a breed is all the same colour, and even if they DO vary, you only get two or three to choose from. But horses have SO much variety, I don't think I'd ever get to a point where I can h9onestly say I've painted every possible colour that exists

Very nice repainted twins

I love reading your post, it is very educative for an ignorant like me, thank you for the pics, the story and the explanations.

I'm glad you enjoyed it all, it's really nice to be able to talk about painting and breeds, and the little backstories and reasons I like a certain breed or choose a certain colour. Sharing the customs through photos and explainations is as big a part of the creative process as painting them in the first place

Very good model and repaint!

Just one to share this week, a little dappled grey.
Recently I've been comparing the list of breeds on my website with some of my horse books, and trying to figure out where the notable 'missing' gaps are. One breed I'd somehow managed to never get hold of is the Orlov Trotter, so I decided I needed to create one (though amusingly, this was one of the CollectA releases announced just a few days after my custom was finished and photographed! )

The mould I'd had in mind for this breed ever since it was released in mini plastic form was Breyer's 'Prince Charming' (originally released in porcelain) - the Stablemates version of the mould is a mare, though, so I'm not sure what we're supposed to call it - Princess Charming?

So I sneaked a unicorn version of this mould into my order along with the Icelandic model I already showed here - it's mildly annoying that they don't sell all the newest nicest sculpts without the added horns, but it's easy enough to snip those off and turn them back into horses!

I wanted to paint a dark dappled grey this time, so I found a helpful reference picture of the right breed and colour from a stock photos site (this horse here), and got to work...

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She turned out more or less like I had in mind, the dapples could perhaps have gone a little paler but when a paintjob's looking nice enough as it is, it's always rather scary to push my luck too far and risk ruining it with any more layers of paint! But the colour and pose work well together, I think, she's looking like the breed I had in mind and does very nicely for filling that gap in my collection!

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I've named her Babochka, which means butterfly in Russian (I really can't remember how I came to know this, I don't study or speak Russian at all - perhaps I learnt it from a song title, or it stuck in my mind from last time I was looking through potential names for a Russian horse breed?!)

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It's a really nice little mould, with good slim legs and neat proportions, not too dramatically sculpted but not too simplified or stylised either. The two feet which touch are moulded together, which helps with stability and means they wouldn't easily get warped or mishapen in the manufacturing process - each one should be very steady on it's feet rather than a domino waiting to topple over like some of the other trotting moulds.

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I don't know what breed the sculpt was intended to be, in the original larger porcelain form, but I think this mini mare would work well for a lot of light horse breeds - it's one of those which doesn't have strong conformation toward any type in particular, which rules out anything which does have distinctive features or body type, but leaves a multitude of other light breeds or crosses you could happily assign it! I'd like to paint some more Orlov Trotters in varying stages of greying out, but I could see her looking nice in many solid or pinto colours, too.

I always love your repaints, they always seem so perfect!
Such a beautiful dappled grey. and I completely understand that feeling of being happy with your work, but wondering whether another layer would improve it or make it worse, because there is always that risk! It shows real dedication that you can keep painting models to the same high standard each time!

I was ready to suggest Anastasia, honoring the lost Princess Anastasia Romanov but бабочка sounds perfect!
Your choice was surely influenced by the remarkable 'Kate Bush's song.
It is impressive, for all these years i thought Baboschka meaning was witch, maybe because it sounds like the Portuguese word bruxa. It is butterfly, you are right, but anytime I listened this song, it was like it was a witch singing. Bush, Babouchska, bruxa, all sound similar.
Though, even butterflies have their dark side and moths are like flying withces.
About the horse, it looks a lot like an Orlov trotter, what a great choice for a custom. Nice coincidence CollectA has just released one but I am sure you are aware Mojö had released an Orrlove a few years ago.

Great new new customs I love all the little dapples

Thank you, Bonnie, Roger, and A-J

I haven't painted anything else for a while, my hands don't like the cold weather - my fingers feel too bruised and stiff to do delicate work with a paintbrush, so I put it off. And putting it off becomes a habit. I'll try not to let it stop for years this time, though!

I was just adding models to my breeds website and found one I'd forgotten to post here. This little Appaloosa was painted before the Orlov Trotter above, and before the CollectA Dartmoor and Exmoor pair too.

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He was a paintjob I didn't set out to do, what I wanted to paint was the kind of appaloosa with a crisply defined white blanket pattern - sharp edges and no mottled roaning - but working white on top of colour is something I find hideously difficult, and I gave up halfway and rescued the mess by roaning him after all. So he's just another example of the kind of appaloosa I usually paint anyway, on a slightly different base coat colour, and I have to try again if I still want to get that blanket pattern after all

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He's fine for what he is, I'm not disappointed with how he actually looks, only frustrated that I keep painting the same kind of appaloosa almost every time I try a different one

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The Appaloosa is so pretty and the dapple grey as well! You are very talented in painting as in taking photos of your models!

I like the Orlov Trotter a lot but Appaloosa is just incredible! I love it! What beautiful paintwork!

I think (at least for me) this is exactly the kind of Appaloosa pattern that is hardest to paint. This and the varnish pattern. The last type I didn't even dare to try out yet The "clean" blanket type seems like it would be a bit easier option, no?

And I agree with Shanti, the photos look amazing too!

Wow, amazing again. I love the way you paint the hair, it looks so real! Nice detail on the hooves too.

Great repaint!!!

Shanti wrote:

The Appaloosa is so pretty and the dapple grey as well! You are very talented in painting as in taking photos of your models!

Thank you! I like doing these pretty colours, plain ones never feel so satisfying! And I'm glad you enjoy the photo side, too, I've never done the plain-background, controlled-lighting, 'studio' type picture cos I think they just look nicer in a natural setting with a bit of sunshine on them, just like real horses would be.

Ana wrote:

I think (at least for me) this is exactly the kind of Appaloosa pattern that is hardest to paint. This and the varnish pattern. The last type I didn't even dare to try out yet  The "clean" blanket type seems like it would be a bit easier option, no?

I'm the opposite, I find these ones easiest as the paint smudged and scrubbed on thinly with the brush to make the roaning is far, far easier than trying to get a neat smooth finish within a crisp edge. There's just something so difficult about trying to get enough coverage to eliminate all streaks or colour showing through, without ending up with any brush marks or lumps, it's impossible to reach a perfect application of paint I'm happy with. Yes, there's some fine fiddly brushwork involved in these ones, to lay in the final detailing of hair direction and the slight barring on the sides, but that can be done with thin dilute paint on a tiny brush, it doesn't add thickness and unwanted texture like trying to get a blanket pattern on.
I'll post in all my previous appaloosas at the end, so you can see my 'range' and how I almost always default back to the roany messy kind

rogerpgvg wrote:

Wow, amazing again. I love the way you paint the hair, it looks so real! Nice detail on the hooves too.

I think the detail is why spotted patterns are so tempting for painters, it's a colour you can really enjoy cos it's never so simple as just creating a smoothly shaded colour, there's the hair and spots to consider too.

Taos wrote:

Great repaint!!!

Thanks! I don't know how many more there'll be this year, I suspect my creativity might be going dormant for a bit, but I'd be happy to end on this one if he does turn out to be the last for a while.

OK, so here's the recap summary - I don't think anyone will mind me using one post in my customs thread as a sort of retrospective - all my spotted horses, of various breeds, over the years.

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Harecroft Fireworks, Appaloosa Sporthorse - the first time I tackled this colour, the red tone in the paint made him turn out a little bit too pink!

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Harecroft Hunter's Moon, Appaloosa - a second attempt, with a much more muted shade of brown

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Harecroft Wild West Wind, Appaloosa - the body was primed white when I got it, so I was able to do some scalpel-etching for single-hair roaning detail into the paint I'd added over the top

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Harecroft Masquerade, Knabstrupper - a much louder paintjob as most of this breed are a vibrant leopard spotted pattern

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Harecroft Peppermint, partbred Arabian - an effort to add shaded colour into leopard spotting, by mixing the spots different colours for different bits of the body

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Harecroft Stars At Sunrise, Appaloosa - the one and only time I set out to paint a flat simple blanket and actually did it!

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Harecroft Diamond Darlin', Paint x Appaloosa 'pintaloosa' - I wasn't really a fan of this mould to start with, so I decided to do one in a really flashy colour to see if I'd like it more, and it worked

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Harecroft Starbuck, British Spotted Pony - inspired by some gorgeous photos of fluffy spotted ponies running in the snow, I tried making him look hairier with brushwork on the white bits rather than just spots

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Harecroft Pepper's Ghost, Appaloosa - I intended there to be more contrast between her colour and her white, but it didn't really show up much

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Harecroft Silver Moon Sparkling, Appaloosa - the follow-up to the one above, I deliberately chose a darker body colour so there'd be a lot of contrast

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Harecroft Sparks A-flying, Appaloosa - a matching foal for the mare above

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Harecroft Trick Of The Light, Appaloosa - a matching foal for Pepper's Ghost

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Harecroft Mishawaka, Appaloosa - for this extra special resin, I went back to the colour which worked so well on the Stablemate!

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Harecroft Dunraven Hill, Mustang - inspired by a real spotted mustang, but in the end the pattern wasn't copied exactly from any individual

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Harecroft Enzo, historical Spanish Jennet, a bit different to my usual because he's copied from the painting by Nicolaes Berchem

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Harecroft King of Diamonds, Appaloosa - back to the usual pattern!

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Harecroft Thorn Of Camorr, British Spotted Pony - bringing out that dark-bay-and-smudgey-blanket pattern over and over again

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Harecroft Orion's Bow, partbred hunter type - forcing myself to tackle the appaloosa patterns I've never even tried before, this is my single attempt at 'snowflake'

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Harecroft Snow Angel, Appaloosa - and my single attempt at 'snowcap', so I can tick that off the list too

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Harecroft Ravencreek, Mustang - a bigger scale set of spots here!

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Hmm, I didn't name this one yet, he's a liver chestnut historical Spanish Jennet, coat colour copied from modern photos of a partbred andalusian

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Harecroft Galaxy Of Light, Appaloosa - the most recent again, to make this post complete

The Spanish Jennet and Orion's Bow are especially beautiful and it is not easy to choose among so many wonderful repaints!