Oh, all right, go on then...

So I got a third nomination for the Liebster Award from Chex & The Heavies! Thank you so much :) It honestly means the world to me that you guys are reading and enjoying my blog.

For the rules I'll refer you back to my earlier post.

Right then, let's answer some (more) questions XD

From Chex & The Heavies:

1. Do you have trouble coming up with names for things?

 Sometimes. I love naming models, but it's not always easy. If I've got a name in mind when I buy the model then it's usually pretty simple to name them, although sometimes I find that the name I had in my head just doesn't fit the model when I see it in real life. Examples of this include my Schleich Shire Stallion, who I was going to name 'Coal' but he told me he'd rather be called 'King', and my Breyer Classic 2013 Horse of the Year 'Mariah', who I thought about naming 'Moonstone' but ultimately decided to call 'Promise' instead :)

  I have a process for naming my models. I've written out a long list of names which fills 3 A4 sheets of paper, and I go through the list one name at a time and see if it'll fit my model. If I like the name for the model I write it down on a shortlist. Once I've reached the end of the long list I go through the shortlist with the model in front of me and say each name out loud whilst holding the model. I usually end up with 2 or 3 names I really like for that model, but it normally boils down to which one 'feels' right for that horse. And I've found that if I go against my gut and choose a name that doesn't 'feel' right, I normally come back to it later and rename it anyway.

2. Is there a model which is your total, absolute favourite?

 My Breyer Traditional 'Let's Go Riding' English mare on the Marabella mould. This lovely girl got me into collecting Breyer in the first place; without her I'd probably only have my Schleichs. She's my first and my favourite, and if I absolutely had to get rid of all my Breyers and I could only keep one, she's the one I'd choose.

3. Have you any rules when it comes to buying a new model?

 Yes. I have severely limited space for my models, and I don't want to spend a fortune on them, so my rule is I can only buy models that I genuinely, truly fall in love with and want. I also find that when I break this rule and buy a model impulsively, I normally don't fall in love with it and feel very attached to it. And because I don't want to spend a lot of money on them, I don't even consider buying models that aren't regular runs (usually. I do have one special run model, but he came to me second hand for about the price of a regular run, so I don't feel guilty about getting him XD )

4. Do you have any pets? If so, tell us about them.

I have a 9 year old male cat called Frankie, who is my best friend. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's the friendliest cat I've ever met and my mother calls him my 'little shadow' because he follows me around the house. I also have a 2 year old female lurcher dog called Maisie, who we got from a rescue for greyhound crosses. She was very emotionally closed off and shell shocked when we got her in February of this year, but in the 7-8 months we've had her she's really opened up and is now playful and naughty like a normal dog :)

5. Tea or coffee?

Hmmm...Probably coffee, but I also love peppermint tea. Does that count as tea?

6. What is your favourite horsey film?

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron by Dreamworks. It combines traditionally animated characters with computer generated backgrounds, and the artwork is truly beautiful. Especially considering how difficult it is to animate galloping horses. If you haven't seen it already go check it out: it's an honestly gorgeous film and one most horsey kids will love.

7. Have you every bought a horsey magazine?

When I was a child my mother bought me a subscription to My Beautiful Horses Magazine. Each issue came with a free plastic horse toy, and I built up a modest herd through the magazine. I loved it and eagerly looked forward to each new issue, but towards the end of my yearly subscription My Beautiful Horses was cancelled/stopped, so they ran out the subscription with another horse magazine. Unfortunately the new one was nothing like the one I'd subscribed to: there was no free toy, and it was completely geared towards people with real horses and ponies. As I didn't have a real horse or pony of my own I quickly got bored with it and didn't renew my subscription when it ran out.

8. How open are you to people about your model horse collection?

On the Internet with other model horse collectors, I'm very open. With anyone else, I barely talk about my collection, if at all. My family know about my models because they're on display in my room, but most of my family just think of them as toys and probably think I'm childish to have them. The only one who sort of understands is my father, who is a model railway enthusiast, so he sort of gets the collecting, even if he's not particularly bothered about the plastic ponies :)

9. What song is stuck in your head right now?

I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables.

10. Can you tell us a joke?

Um...my mind's gone blank. Do captioned images count? Please note: I didn't make these.

 And a videogaming joke:

 Right, that's all the questions. I hope I didn't bore you all to tears. Since I've already done this once before, I can't think of anyone to tag who hasn't done it already and I don't want this award to become an annoying perpetual cycle, I'm going to forego asking any questions of my own or tag any other blogs. On the other hand, if you're reading this and you would like to have a go at the Liebster Award, I refer you to the questions I asked last time. Feel free to answer them, even if I didn't tag you :)

Breyer Classic Etchie

 I've had this little mare for some time now. I got her in a lot of 3 Classics Breyers on ebay, all of which were second hand with some rubs and marks. Of the 3, this mare was in the worst condition.

 She's on the Merrylegs mould, and the model itself is a portrait of Little Prince from the accompanying book, which I don't have. Interestingly, the character in the book is meant to be a gelding, but the mould lacks any male anatomy, so I consider it a mare.

 Sorry the photos aren't great, but you can just about make out the rubs that she came to me with on her nostril, shoulders, belly and hind quarters.

 The model itself is very prone to falling over, so I think that's where she got most of the rubs from.

 However, there are three bad scratches on her near (left) hind quarters that almost seem too regular to be accidental. Maybe a past owner carved them to simulate mountain lion scratches?

Alongside the marks on her body she also has very scratched up hooves. It all adds up to suggest she's been well played with in the past.

 

  Like I said at the start, I've had this mare for some time now, and never did very much with her. I was more interested in the other horses in the lot she came in, and just never bothered to try to re-sell this pony. That is until the other day, when I decided that, since she's got so many rubs, I'd try etching her.

 

   Etching is the process where you gently scrape away the surface paint to reveal the white plastic below. Many tools can be used for this process, but sharp blades like crafting knives are the best, so for this reason you have to be very careful and children should be supervised by an adult. Also, you're only scraping off the paint, not gouging into the plastic. 

  I did a little bit of research before I started, and I decided I wanted my mare to be a British Spotted Pony. I wanted to keep as much of her lovely palomino coat as possible, so I went for a small blanket pattern with additional spotting on the belly and shoulders to cover the rubs there.

I mapped out the pattern on her to start with using an ordinary pencil, then went over the lines with my knife.  It was much harder to get nice, round spots than I thought it would be (possibly because the blade I was using was a bit blunt).

 I got a bit frustrated, so I switched to a cotton bud/Q tip dipped in nail polish remover, but the cotton was way too big. So then I tried using cocktail sticks/toothpicks soaked in nail polish remover and I was able to get much better results (although I had to keep dipping them back in the remover liquid to reload). I used these for the round white spots.

 Unfortunately the cocktail sticks/toothpicks wouldn't work for the blanket and palomino spots, so I had to etch them with my knife. The spots were originally planned to be much bigger, but got smaller and smaller the more I tried to make them round.

 I deliberately left a gap between the blanket along her back, partly for interest but also because she was almost completely unmarked there and I wanted to preserve the lovely golden coat.

 

 Her nostril on the off (right) side was very rubbed, so I decided to give her a snip there. With all the awkward contours of the nostrils I figured it would be easiest to go back to a cotton bud/Q tip soaked in nail polish remover, but I forgot that nail polish remover can actually melt and warp the plastic on Breyers!

 Yep, the mare's nostril immediately started to melt and lose definition when I applied the remover liquid with the cotton. I stopped instantly, but it was too late. Thankfully the damage was fairly minimal, and with one nostril black and the other white it's harder to see the difference. I finished off the snip by etching out the paint that was left behind.

 The hole in her nostril was there when I started: it's the little pin-hole all plastic Traditional and Classic sized Breyers have to allow air to escape from the hollow model so it doesn't swell up and bloat too much if it gets warm.

 There's still a bit of definition left in the nostril, but it's definitely shallower than it was before. Oops! Sorry girl.

Her pattern probably isn't 100% realistic. Rather than work off a reference image I was trying more to cover up the areas where she was rubbed. I don't think she'd ever be show quality anyway, since her paint has so many blobs, bubbles and flaws in it to begin with. Regardless, I like her.

 Maybe some day, when the awkwardly non-circular blanket spots annoy me too much, I'll etch her out into a tobiano pattern. I probably should have gone with that from the start, actually, since it would have been easier, but I had my heart set on a British Spotted Pony.

 She not finished yet. I fully intend to repaint all her hooves and maybe even add some colour to her black eyes, but that will have to wait until the next time I get out my paints.

 In addition to the etching, I also slightly repositioned her near hind leg so she's a bit more stable on her feet now. She's still wobbly, but she can stand. Most of the time...

   The one thing etching her has done is made me love her properly now. Before, she was just a model that came with some other models I liked. Now she's my little appaloosa etchy, and I love her. I know her pattern isn't perfect, her nostril is warped and some of her spots are a bit too blocky and square, but I really don't mind. I love her, and that's all that matters.
   Oh, and because of how unstable she is on her feet, she's earned the stable name 'Tippy' :)

The Liebster Award

Wow. Ok, I'm a bit speechless, really. I am incredibly honoured to have been nominated twice for the Liebster Award, once by CedarWoodStables of CWS Stables & Studio and once by Minki of StableStoreys. Thank you both so so much, I'm incredibly touched to have been nominated, and it really means a lot to me that you both like my blog. Thank you.

About The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award is an award made for bloggers by bloggers, aiming to put the spotlight on new bloggers and give them a chance to shine and get known here in the blogging world.

The Rules

– Put the Liebster Award logo on your blog.
– Thank and tag the blog who nominated you.
– Answer their questions and come up with 10 new ones for your nominees
– Nominate 8 blogs (with less than 200 followers), let them know you’ve nominated them, and link them in your post
– No tag-backs

Right, well, since the rules say I have to answer my nominators questions, and they say nothing about how many questions I should answer, I'm going to answer all 20 questions I've been asked by both blogs :)

CedarWoodStables questions:

1: Do you ride horses? If so, how often and what disciplines?

 I used to, many years ago, but then I left school and moved house to an area that has barely any riding schools at all. I would love to take up riding again, but until I find somewhere to ride I'm a bit stuck. As for disciplines, I normally just stuck to ordinary riding school stuff. I never learnt any dressage moves and I barely did any jumping. My favourite thing to do was normally just go out for a hack (ride around country lanes or along the beach).

2: How many pets do you have?

At the moment I have 2 pets (not counting my mother's tropical Neon Tetra fish): a 9 year old male black and white shorthair cat called Frankie, and a 2 year old white with black flecks Saluki x Greyhound female lurcher dog called Maisie.

3: Do you customise model horses? What do you use?

A bit. I'd love to do more, but I haven't been able to do much lately. I've got a lot of projects piling up on my workspace, though :) I don't have the courage or patience to use chalk pastels exclusively, so I mostly stick to acrylic paints and just use the pastels for shading.Here are some of better repaints/customs.

Schleich from left to right: Arabian Mare repainted to a dark bay, Percheron Mare repainted to a chestnut Suffolk Punch, Shetland gelding repainted to a dark grullo portrait, and old Pinto gelding repainted to a bay overo.

Stablemates from left to right: Warmblood stallion repainted to a black leopard appaloosa, Warmblood mare repainted to silver bay, Paso Fino mare repainted to shaded fleabitten grey/leopard appaloosa.

4: Favourite book/series?

I've always loved Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.  I also adore The Animals of Farthing Wood series by Colin Dann.

5: Best model horse memory?

 Hmm, that's a hard one. I've never really been to any events like Breyerfest or the Utterly Horses Hullabaloo, or even any live shows. So I'm going to have to pick the time my mother bought me the Classic Buckskin Morgan mare as a surprise gift: I never imagined that anyone in my family would ever buy me a Breyer without me asking them to, and I'd always thought my mother kinda thought my model horses were a bit childish, so it was great to know she supported my collecting :)

6: Model horse/horsey inspiration?

 My model horse inspiration has got to be Christine Sutcliffe of Last Alliance Studios. Her Schleich customs are what got me into repainting and customising in the first place, her tutorials have been invaluable and her websites for her models inspired me to do more with my own collection. I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful her customs are, and I hope to one day be half as good as her. You can find many of her customs on her Flickr account.

My horse inspiration is Monty Roberts, the real Horse Whisperer. He advocates fear and pain free horse training, and his knowledge of the equine language is inspired. His training methods use positive reinforcement and gentle immersion therapy to help 'problem' horses overcome bad habits and bad training.

7: Worst model horse buy?

That has got to be this guy. Don't get me wrong, I love the model. But I bought him second hand and when he arrived he was badly stained with cigarette smoke. I was crushed: I despise the smell of cigarette smoke. I should have sent him back but I didn't have the guts. Over the four or five years I've had him I've tried almost everything I can to get the cigarette smell out: baking soda, absorbent cat litter, soap baths, leaving him outside to air... He's a lot better than he once was, and you now have to put him right up to your nose to smell anything, but I don't think the smoke damage will ever completely leave him. Sadly, it's ruined him for me, and I'm too scared to put him on the shelf with my other models in case the cigarette smoke damages them too. I don't even think I can sell him: who would want to buy a smoke damaged model anyway? And I'm too scared to customise him in case the cigarette residue damages the new paintwork. I'd love to get a good quality version of him, and if anyone did want him I'd be happy to re-home him, but for now this is the worst model I've ever bought.
   He's pictured below with a white Stablemate so you can see just how much the cigarette smoke has yellowed his plastic.

8: Favourite horse/dog/cat colour?

For horses it has got to be chestnut, especially red chestnut. It's the reason for this blog's name, after all :) For dogs and cats I'm not quite as picky. With dogs I tend to prefer breeds to colours, although there again I guess I like red fur too, as I love Irish Setters, chocolate Labradors and red Border Collies. With cats I really don't mind: as long as the animal is happy and healthy, any colour is good :) I feel sorry for black dogs and cats, since they're often the animals that take the longest to re-home in rescue centres because everyone goes for the prettier colours first.

9: What’s your dream horse?

Real, or model form? My dream real horse would look just like my favourite model horse, Ember: a gorgeous red chestnut Morgan mare with a kind face, dark legs and pretty white markings.

My dream model horse would be a chestnut Suffolk Punch mare like this mock up I made on GIMP. I don't mind if it's made by Breyer, Copperfox or someone else, just as long as it's a good representation of a Suffolk.

10: Any other skills/hobbies?

I've been drawing model horses (and other animals) ever since I could hold a pencil.  Here are some of my pictures.

StableStoreys questions:

1.       What is your favorite place to be?

I loved walking along the beach with my dog before we moved house. 

2. How long have you been blogging?

I started in August this year, although I actually started planning my blog a few months before that. It was only in August that I mustered up enough courage to give it a go :)

3. What would your dream home be like?

Probably one of those old English type cottages sat on a hillside with a view across the countryside from the room where I do my writing, drawing and customising :)

4. How many blog posts have you made?

This will be my 18th post.

5. What’s your favorite colour?

It's a close tie between blue and green, but I'd probably have to say pale/sky blue.

6. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character?

Never read the books, don't intend to.

7. Have you got any pets and what are their names?

I've got a black and white male cat called Frankie and a white female lurcher with a black ear called Maisie.

8. Have you ever fallen off a chair? (don’t ask)

I won't :) To answer your question, yes, yes I have :)

9. What  brand of model horses do you have the most of if any?

Not sure. Probably Breyers if I counted all my Stablemates with my Traditionals and Classics. My Schleich would be a close second, though. To be honest I'm a bit scared to count them all :)

10. What is your favorite horse colour?

Chestnut, by far :) It's the reason for my blog's name. I specifically love standard, red and liver chestnuts.


Phew, that was a LOT of questions :) Now for some of my own (I'll probably borrow a few from above as well).

1. What inspired you to start writing a blog?

2. Who is your inspiration in the model horse or real horse world?

3. Of all your models, which is your favourite?

4. Which of your models do you most regret buying, and why?

5. If you could visit anywhere in time or space (including fictional places) where would you go?

6. What is your favourite season of the year?

7. If you could have any skill you want, what would you like to have?

8. What would your dream model horse be?

9. What is your favourite mythical/fantasy creature?

10. Tell us something about yourself we don't know (Ok, ok, not really a question, I know :) )

And now for my nominees :) If any of you don't want to do these questions, that's fine, you don't have to. It's just something fun if you would like to

Wow, it's quite difficult to find someone who has under 200 followers or hasn't already been tagged, so I'll only do 4. Hope that's ok. 

Ok, I nominate:

Last Alliance Studios

Many Mini Hooves

Chestnut Ridge Blog

Trail Blazer Farms

Ok, I think that's everything. Wow, this has been a massive post, even by my standards :) Virtual cookies to everyone who made it through the whole thing :)

2013 Schleich Shire Stallion

I don't have any more 2015 Schleich to share, I'm afraid, although I'd love to get a few more of them (the Mini Shetland stallion, the buckskin Tennessee Walker Stallion and the new cantering Pinto Stallion are all tugging at my heartstrings. I also quite like the idea of getting the Ardennes Stallion and naming him 'Andre the Giant' XD ) . However, I do have a couple of Schleich horses that are at least new to me, so I'll probably review them. The first of these is the 2013 Schleich Shire Stallion.

 From the official photos on the Schleich website, I think he's actually meant to be a dark bay/brown colour, but my boy is more of a sun-bleached black. He's got a wonderful galloping gait, and looks just like a medieval destrier (war horse) charging into battle :)

 With such large hooves he's quite stable on his feet and stands well. He's got a wonderfully tousled, whipped mane, but there's room at his withers to fit a saddle if you want to tack him up.

 He's a beautiful boy, but his sculpting isn't perfect. The most obvious flaw is his head: it's just too big, even for a Shire of his size. As my mother put it the first time she saw him: "His head is as big as his hind quarters!" His near (left) hind leg is also rather awkward, but at least he balances well.

 Whilst he's nicely stocky for a draught horse, the Shire stallion is a bit on the thin side. With this in mind I'd probably call him a younger animal, perhaps 3 - 5 years old. He can still be a stud at that age, though, although he's just as likely to be a big baby. Maybe that's why he's galloping around full of energy :)

 He's got a lovely 'swooshy' tail, and his whole sculpture is well balanced and pleasing to the eye.

 His coat is fairly flat, without much shading, and he has airbrushed socks and muzzle with a stencilled blaze. His beard is adorably fluffy, and his eyes are dark and glossy.

On his belly you can just see hints of brown, but it's no where near as obvious as the one from the official photos. I don't know whether the Germany made ones are closer to the promo pictures or not.

 What really interested me about this stallion, however, is this photograph on the front of one of my horse breed books. As soon as I saw the book my mind went straight to the Schleich Shire stallion, and considering how similar the model is to the photograph it wouldn't surprise me if the sculptor used this photo as a refence for the model. And in case you're wondering, yes, the horse in the photo is indeed a Shire.

 The book, Know Your Horses by Jack Byard, predominantly features British breeds. You can see by comparing the photo to the model just how big the model's head is in relation to his body.

The back cover of the book. It's a nice little reference guide and even includes a rare breed that I'd never heard of before: the Eriskay Pony.

In conclusion, I like the Schleich Shire Stallion a lot, depsite his flaws. I think he's a gorgeous model with fantastic action and a very pleasing overall design. And I think he would look brilliant tacked up in medieval tack with a knight on his back, chaging into the front line :)

Repositioning a Breyer's Leg

After having a look at other collectors' photos of their Mariahs, it became clear that my girl's bent foreleg was not an intended part of the sculpture. So I decided to try repositioning it with heat. I followed Shoestring Stable's tutorial for this, with the exception that I don't have a heat gun, so I used a hairdryer instead.

Here she is before treatment. Her near (left) foreleg is noticeably bent inwards under her body.

 I aimed the hairdryer at the upper part of her leg, as this was the area I intended to reposition. I made sure to heat all sides of her leg, and I was worried about damaging her paint, so I didn't apply the heat for very long. Each side of her leg (left, right, top and bottom) got about 30 seconds of heat.

 After heating I turned off the hairdryer and carefully tried to move the leg. If it was still quite resistant I reapplied the heat and tried again until the plastic was quite flexible. I then gently manoeuvred the leg into a more natural position.

 Once repositioned I quickly dunked the model's leg into a glass of cold water to cool the plastic. My glass wasn't big enough to dunk just one leg in far enough, so my mare got both forelegs dunked :)

 The finished result. Her near foreleg is now much more naturally positioned. I'm not convinced that I've moved the leg quite far enough, but I'm anxious about doing anything more, especially as the upper part of her leg is much more solid than the rest of the leg, so it'd need much more heat to become flexible. As it is now I think it's fine, and I'm quite happy to leave it like this.

 

And here is a clearer comparison between the before and after photos, to clearer see  the difference. 

Oh, and I need to correct something I said in my last post: after looking at her a bit more closely, I think her near (left) ear actually isn't missing it's tip. It's just that the awkward way the ear is turned makes it look a bit square at the tip when viewed from the front.