Wagner!

Wagner is now completed! I'm putting him out on forums, here on my blog and my facebook page to get opinions on him before I have him cast. He is going to be the best I can make him before I start selling him. I still have to contact casters to get quotes and time frames. Now isn't the best time to officially release him since Breyerfest is next weekend, so I definitely won't be taking any orders or opening his edition yet. I just want to get him out there and let people know he's a comin!

Here are some primed photos of him. I'm also going to give him a quick paint job so I can see and then show off how handsome he is in fancy clothes :P

In Progress Custom Breyers

While I have been doing the finicky details on Wagner, I started customizing some Breyers again. I haven't painted a model in such a long time! My old few are painted in Pan Pastels and while I love the look and medium, I wanted to branch out and try acrylics and straight up oils. I recently completed Silver in a palomino tobiano. I tried the acrylics and the finish was coming out streaky and kinda lumpy, so I went over the paint with pastels and it softened out the streaks nicely. Since these are all for my own learning experience and stay in my collection, I don't mind if they aren't perfect :)

Next I started on Breyer's Cleveland Bay in oils and its going pretty well! I quite like working in oils. He is still in progress. 

 I have also started work on the new Mawari and Totilas. Like so many other artists, I have had problems with paint and primer adhering to them. I striped down the original paint, and still the primer was coming off on my hand and the oils weren't drying properly. Oy so frustrating! So these two will be done in pastels. And so far the pastels are working perfectly. Totilas will be dark golden bay, possibly with some minimal tobiano markings and the Marwari, well I'm not so sure yet, but I think I am leaning towards a perlino. No pictures of the Marwari yet, he is still a sticky, shiny mess. I did however resculpt his tail and repositioned his head and neck. I'll add some pictures of him when he isn't such a hot mess.

Reunited!

Wagner is back together again! I don't have more recent pictures, but he also has button braids, neck wrinkles and his hocks and knees are starting to come together. This is the recent version of him I have been working on. So far he is more refined that the first one and his braids are a better size (ie. smaller!). The first version proved useful though, he generously donated his legs to the V2!

I love these things! The BF bought a bucket of over grip for his rackets and this is how they came; wrapped up like little polo bandages! Unfortunately the are just a tad too big to be model horse props, but maybe I will try wrapping Wagner's legs with them :D So far BF hasn't noticed that I stole these from him!

I fall to Pieces

Working with horses is like a puzzle; fit the pieces of training, equipment, diet, etc together to get the big picture. I took it kinda literally with Wagner. Duof. He will look all the better for it when put back together!

Heads

I cast a few spare heads to play with. Thought I would give Wagner more of an expressive face. It sure looked liked I had given him a Wallace and Grommet face. That luckily didn't last long. Below are three versions and the current state of version number 2. 

Updates

The pony and the warmblood keep plodding along; just more refining and detailing the master resins.
I thought I would share the current condition of the original clay sculptures. So sad, all that work put into the clay to have it destroyed in the mold making. Oh well. I can make as many resin copies from the waste molds as I want so not a bad trade off I guess.

I haven't done any customizing for a very long time, but awhile ago I got a Breyer Silver (a grail for me!) to customize to a tobiano. I just finished him this morning. I used acrylics and pastels. I remembered why I don't use acrylics; the quick working time pisses me off too much :S Oh well he turned out alright in the end, better than previous attempts using acrylics. Next one I do will be in oils. He looks ok in the photos, but he is very streaky :S 

Together Again