Make: Breyer
Scale: Stablemate
Mold: Saddlebred (G2)
Color: Liver Chestnut
Gallery: Chestnut
Medium: Acrylics
Status: Painted 200? and Sold 200?

The G2 Saddlebred had a lot going for it when it came to customizing. It was easy to turn it into an Arabian, a Morgan (which is what I was trying here), a Hackney, even a light draft cross (Friesians were a popular choice). I ended up doing a lot of these and this little gal had the dubious honor of being my first attempt.

I started out simple, removing the tail and ribbons and sculpting a new forelock and tail. My technique at the time was to put the epoxy on in a rough shape and then work it with and exacto knife to get the details. It worked out okay for the forelock… not so much for the tail.

I didn’t have the best of reference photos when I was replacing the tail and you can see it ended up sticking out much too far. When you are replacing the tail on this mold, you really have to take it down all the way, so you end up with a something a little thicker than a toothpick… and then heat it up to bend it into place. It’s also a lot easier to build up the tail in layers of epoxy and the sculpt only the very top layer.

I wasn’t happy with the tail when I was working on it, but I remember thinking that I could solve the problem with a good paint job… and learned that paint can’t work miracles (sigh).

So learn from my mistakes and don’t start painting if you don’t like the body you are starting from!

The color did come out well, which was nice since it was my first attempt at a liver chestnut. The raw umber and raw sienna can be a real pain to work with since they don’t go on opaquely, so this little gal was quite a learning experience all ’round.