Fantasy Friday

I have done a lot of fantasy models, in fact I was one of the first handful of people to really do them on a large scale. I started with unicorns, and when I discovered the resin wings Kathleen Moody had produced I began doing pegasi. After a few years, another aritst, Tammy Abbey, began producing wings and horns in stablemate scale, later she added Classic and Trad scale horns and Classic wings.



I will be posting photos of more of my fantasy pieces next Friday! Have a great weekend!

Another Early Piece

This is one of the first "successful" dapple grays I did and the only horse I have done braids on. This is a Breyer Big Ben done in about 2001. He is a drastic resculpt to a half pass to the left. From what I understand, he showed fairly well in performance, though I don't know what he is doing now, if anything.

Model Horse FAQs - What is a model horse show?

Well, a model horse show is similar to a real horse show in that there are both halter and performance classes. Halter classes are fairly simple, you place your untacked model on the table with the appropriate class and it is judges on condition, breed type, workmanship (for CM/AR models) and rarity (OF models). You might wonder how a judge decides when there are multiples of the same mold or sculpture on the table. They have to make a decision based on condition and workmanship. Say for instance, there are 2 identical models in an OF halter class. The judge would look closely and determine if one has better coloration, shading or is a bit more neatly painted. That would be the tiebreaker. AR/CM models are a bit easier, they are judged on workmanship and breed type more so than OF models are.

This is Firareth, he was Res Champ at a show and multi NAN qualified in halter.

Performance classes are a bit different. I mean, the horses can't actually PERFORM can they? The solution to this is to make your setup look as much like a snapshot of a real horse performing the activity as you can. Say you have a horse you want to show in Western Pleasure, you would need appropriate tack for a start, it needs to be on the horse correctly, the fit must be right, and the horse needs to be in a pose suited for this event. A wildly galloping model is not a good candidate. You don't really NEED anything but the horse and tack. A rider is nice, but is just another variable to either make or break your entry. If you use a rider, you must be sure it is posed correctly and is on the horse exactly right. It is also nice to have props, like an arena fence and footing, but again, not necessary. It can be as simple or complex as you want. The judge is looking for suitability of the model for the task, tack fit/correctness, doll placement (if used) and overall neatness.

A versatile diorama, can be used in many classes, consists of an arena base made of a shallow box with sand and an arena fence. I have used it here for a trail setup.

This is a more specific diorama, used here for a cross country jump setup, but can also be used for a natural trail or costume setup.

Most shows award ribbons for most classes, some give bigger prizes for Grand/Res as well. There is also the chance to qualify for North American Nationals, or NAN. NAN tickets are awarded to first and second place models in each class excluding Grand/Res classes. The ticket allows the horse entry at the Nationals. Horses that have won these tickets are said to have NANed and this is a large selling point in the hobby.

My (sold) Champion Performance Mare Jim's Bourbon Lady, a Kentucky Mtn. Saddle Horse

Tack

I am not a tackmaker, not really. I have dabbled a bit, made a few western sets here and there, but I have been selling off all of my performance stuff, so the saddles went. This is my favorite set that I made for myself. It is from a RioRondo Pattern, I shortened the skirts to fit Arabians and my little TWH mare. It has some minimal basketweave tooling and etched silver plates from RR. I also put a deerskin seat on it, so it would be different.

Dappling

I have had a request for details on how I do the dapples on my models. I have two different methods, one is airbrushed the other is pastelled.

For the airbrush dapples I use a darker shade of paint than the body color and a double action airbrush. I press down the trigger until I have a steady stream of air coming out, then slowly pull back until I have just a teeny bit of paint coming out. Then I begin making figure "8"s on the horse. I overlap them a bit and try to avoid doing them in straight lines to achieve a more natural look. Then, depending on what look I am going for, I spray a light coat of the base color over it or a light coat of the darker color over it to blend it. Several layers with a darker gray blended over it will get you this look...

One layer gets this, this horse is still in progress and has had no blending in this photo...

Using this process you can do large irregular dapples or small regular ones. It is good for subtle dappling as well.

The other method I use is pastel dappling. This is something I usually only use when I am doing a very light or fleabitten gray. To achieve this I use a stubby small paintbrush and the desired shade of gray. I just scrub the pastel dust onto the model in little circular patterns, doing several layers and sealing with Testor's Dullcote in between. I then do a light dusting over it of a light gray or brown (depending on if I am doing a rose or regular gray) to kind of soften them. I used this for this horse...

Model Horse World FAQs - Terminology

So, I have been asked to explain a bit more about the world of Model Horses, I am going to have to address this in parts, so today we will cover some of the lingo used.

First off, we use a lot of acronyms to refer to molds and models. Some of the more common ones refer to original finish (OF) models manufactured by Breyer or Peter Stone, some refer to the type of model and some to the quality. Here are some with their translations

PAS - Proud Arab Stallion
PSA - Peter Stone Arabian
PAM - Proud Arab Mare
PAF - Proud Arab Foal
CAS/M/F - Classic Arab Stallion/Mare/Foal
FAS/M/F - Family Arab Stallion/Mare/Foal
ISH - Ideal Stock Horse
LSQ - Live Show Quality
AR - Artist Resin
CM - Customized
PSQ - Photo Show Quality
OF - Original Finish
BFA - Border Fine Arts
HA - Horsing Around
OS - Original Sculpture
OOOAK - Original One Of A Kind
OFC - Original Finish China

There are also terms used that describe molds and models that let you know what they are exactly.

A resin or AR is a limited run (usually around 100 or less) of pieces cast by the sculpting artist of an original sculpture (OS) and sold unpainted (usually). These pieces can be very expensive and are often far more detailed than OF or CM models. There are casting firms that sell direct to the public for the artist and some artists cast and sell themselves. Resins are usually named after the original sculpture. For instance my ERS The Perfect Storm is a resin cast of a sculpture by Jenn Reid named "Arend".

A CM or customized model is one that has been altered in some way from the original. The base model may be an OF plastic or a resin, depending on if the artist allows modification of the piece. This can be as simple as a repaint or as complicated as a drastic remake.

Here is a link to a helpful page...

The World of Model Horses

If you click on the Glossary link it will take you to a much more complete listing of terminology.

Stay tuned for the next entry - What Is a Model Horse Show?

CM PSA to a dark dapple gray. Finished fall '09 and sold to a collector in Germany.

Espirit

So, I am getting an Espirit to customize. I have not yet decided what I want to do with him. I have seen so many different incarnations out there, and I want something different. I was thinking of making him into a half-pass to the right with a French-braided mane. I also have considered a Spanish walk, but someone did that one already. Unicorn crossed my mind, but was dismissed, nowhere to show fantasy models. Hmmm. Maybe striking out like in this pic? http://fineartamerica.com/watermark.html?id=504470

My Favorite

Everyone has their favorite horse that they have painted. I think mine will always be my Jenn Reid Arend resin. I have had him for years, and he has remained my favorite horse. He was one of those that demanded to be a certain color, even though that color was not accepted in the breed he was sculpted to represent. I painted him in literally less than 30 minutes. He has been shown successfully as a Georgian Grande (ASB x Clyde) named ERS The Perfect Storm. I have attempted to sell him so he could have a show home, but he refuses to leave, so I just gave up and kept him. The pic at the top was taken shortly after being painted, and the lower one was just this past winter, we had to go play in the snow! Shows how well my paintjobs hold up, this horse was painted in '02 I believe.

The Black Stallion Saga

So, I grew up reading the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. I know that a HUGE number of other horse-crazy kids that all had the same fantasy of a huge, black Arabian that was all theirs. Throughout my hobby career, from the earliest I can remember, I have always had a horse that was the Black. When I started customizing, I endeavoured to create the perfect model of him. The Breyer creation was just not satisfactory, at least the Trad. sized one was not, it in no way personifies the magnificent beast described in the book. The Classic one was better, but being smaller, obviously inferior. How could he be the leader of my herd if he was smaller than all the Traditional sized models? The Black was supposed to be big! So it began, my personal quest to make the perfect Black model!

This week I bring you Phase I, a CM PS Arabian, slightly repositioned and resculpted. Created in about 2002.





This little project has evolved into what I refer to as my "Black Stallion Project". I am slowly making all of the characters from the books. I have the Black, Flame, and Bonfire so far. Satan and Black Minx are in the works. I plan to do Napoleon, Sagr, and Johar as well.

Starting Out

Everyone has them, photos of horses from when you first started customizing. I have several, and I will be posting them occasionally.


The first entry in this category is this gal. I think I made her around 2001. She is a very customized Lady Roxana. I was going for a park horse. This was long before I discovered the wonders of a double action airbrush and a compressor. She was painted with a little cheapie single action, canned air, and handpainted details. I didn't pay much attention to getting her all smoothed out, she has a distinctly lumpy quality. Ah, memories...

In Progress

These two are in progress. The Arabian is a commission, I still need to finish his mane, tail, hooves, and body shading. There was originally a resin base, which I will paint, but I decided to make a nice landscaped diorama type base for it too, as a little free bonus for the owner. Most of the paintwork on this piece is airbrshed and will be detailed with pastels.

.



The Andalusian is a Breyer Legionario that I am resculpting and painting to sell. I sculpted a new lower head and muzzle and gave him some new ears. I am planning to painting him white gray with dark tips on his mane and tail. He will be available for sale when finished, and if you are interested in him in another color, please let me know. I am including the tack set from the Flamenco Set that Breyer put out last year.

Ol' Paint

This is a customized Justin Morgan model that I made into a rough and tumble mustang stallion. I painted him in mainly colored pencils and some dry-brushing techniques. He is a red roan tovero and has been extensively resculpted, including an all new lower face and muzzle. His hooves are chipped and worn and he bears the scars of a long life on the range. He has been sold.

Photo of the Peruvian Set for Sale

Here are some more pics of the Peruvian Paso and the tack set I have available.

Some Other Recent Pieces

Since getting divorced, I have been fairly prolific with the models. I have more time to work on them now that I am in an apartment. All of these except the Peruvian Paso are sold.
















The Paso is available with tack and rider for a mere $100. He is painted using pastels and colored pencils for the individually applied fleabites.

Joining In

Well, I decided to delete my other blog and start one solely for my model horse art and some of my other art. Sort of a way to keep folks updated on what I have going on. I do have a website, but it is mainly a gallery and place to find my rates and services for custom horses and other artwork. Most recently I have been painting a few pieces here and there to sell. Everyone needs a bit of extra dough right? However, I did splurge on a piece for myself, an Eberl Papageno resin. I have long coveted this guy, and I finally coughed up the money for one. I got him home and decided to add a bit to his tail, you know, to make him a bit different. I kept him primed for a long time before he finally decided what color to be. Here are some pics of him all finished up...

Isn't he CUTE?! I painted him in pastels and colored pencils, every fleabite was applied by hand. His dapples have a warm cast to him, making him a bay that has grayed out.