Spilled Ink

In this April, I finished my first ever traditional scale custom. He got started ages ago, and I've started some else too, but he's my first finished one. As a base I had a Blue Box toy horse, quarter.

Once I just got the feeling of painting, and typically to that feeling, I didn't care how unfinished some sculpting is when I start to paint it. So the QH got finished, as he wasn't too bad for my taste; I don't want to continue too many times to one and same work, it gets my interest slowly away from it.

He got named as Spilled Ink, thanks to my Finnish hobbyist friend and blogger. Quickly the horse got nicknamed as Spilli... And why the name? He's a black splashed white with bald face and spots around eyes and mouth!

Painted with acrylics. For hooves I used Derwent Inktense pencils who got washed with the varnish... Heyda matta as a varnish and some glossy for eyes (and hooves). 

Here are the photos:

Here you see all the tools and materials (mostly?) what I used for painting him.

The blue halter he is wearing was made at 2013, as one of my first traditional scale halters. And it's Spilli's official, just waited for the moment he gets finished!

From sides Spilli looks almost good to me, but what comes to front or almost-front angles, I find him very disturbing to photograph. Just thinking that he looks like a duck, maybe thanks to my lack of sculpting skills (NOSTRILS). Color does not matter as I noticed that problem already before he was painted at all. Also I often want to resculpt ears a bit, but I can't because I have no idea how it should be done without removing whole ears once... Oftenb I think I should not even try or think that kind of modifyings with that less skill I have, aargh. 

Those were tricky to take because I had no good background papers, they were really too small for Spilli and other trads. And as a studio I use a retouched cardboard box, every time when my actual for-trad-scale-things studio is filled with... Schleichs, until I get somewhere more space for them to live. (I want their shelf for traditionals.) Soooo have later-taken pics where I can show his body structure better - and play with realism. Sorry that it looks more like a theatre stage instead of a normal environment to show a horse, but well, better a theatre instead of poor try to imitate stables.

That black rat guy you see in the photos... It's his staff.

In real world it's not uncommon to know how - for example - difficult it is to get tack that fits a horse well, and I mean just individual horse. With one there's no enough space for bit in the mouth, so they need bitless bridles, another one has face shape what forces owners to build tack pieces by themselves from "finished" sets... And I now have one problem horse in that way, but in miniature. It's Spilli with his stupidly shaped skull. I have no halter what could really look good on him, they never really fit him. Same with bridles. My Breyers and even a cheap, valueless toy horse Remu can wear them without any harm...

I also want to tell one interesting fact from my tackmaking in model horse life. Normally people want to make real things in miniature, but I personally am not really interested to make perfect replicas from 1:1 tack pieces. That's because I have no materials or skill. Other is that I simply am too interested of using my own imagination with this. Replicas show things that already exist. For me it's enough that I know how a halter works and is measured, so I know how to make one - but I don't try to trace any real design with it.

In model horse hobby it's very common to see those western style show halters on quarters, so anyone who is accustomed to that can think that I failed with this one. Well, I didn't even try, because I design my own things only. And I don't like the strangling look those show halters often have... Normal halters I make are meant for daily use, so they are simple, and most important, working and loose enough! If I want the strangle effect to these, it's easy to do with chained ropes. I love chains in miniature things - although in real horse world I look angrily that how common they are.

Viiskytkin, the handler and owner, is not scared of using chains with horses. But he simply does not really need them in normal life with Spilli. Except that his horse has no patience to stand still that much. Although the old rope (made ages ago) has chain, it works todays only with looking good as the chain is practically useless thanks to the huge clasp... And anchor chain isn't that easy with halters. 

I haven't photographed Spilli with my system camera yet, but I wait for it... Seemingly this small cam is better with large things than small ones, too easily noticed when comparing (and taking) photos from different sized things. I just have dangerously accustomed to that 'quality' that small camera adds to my model animal photos. Reminds me from my earlier photography life from times I had no brains and/or skill with photo takings.

I've two other trad customs under resculpting, let's wait their turn then.