Breyer releasing a tiny version of the much admired Traditional scale Alborozo may be a little bit of a cheat after all the hype about the mould being broken after just one exclusive release, but it really was a treat for the mini-scale fans to be able to collect the little version of this fantastic sculpt. Although I'm the kind of collector who's happy either way - I love Trads and SMs, and was already lucky enough to own the original big Alborozo because a friend in the States went to Breyerfest that year, and sent one over for me.
The only disappointment with the mini version is how frustratingly difficult he's been to actually buy. You can either chance your luck with blind bags - the Series 2 of Mystery Horse Surprise, or the unicorn ones if you don't mind having to snip and file the horns off! Or, you can pay about three times as much for the specific Paint Your Own Unicorn set he's in (again, with a horn to remove, and the fact everywhere sells out of the Alborozo one first!)
He's also in the new set of colourful glittery clearware SMs, but I have a feeling the painted-on glitter finish for the mane & tail would be too gritty and lumpy to paint over, and too hard to remove, so I'm not going to risk that as a cheaper way to get some bodies for the new moulds!
I managed to get two duplicates from the blind bags, one by chance mail order and a second by a little careful squeezing of the bags on a trade stand, and this week felt like my painting was going well enough to give them their new colours...
A paintjob I'd decided on ages ago, more or less as soon as I got my first duplicate to set aside for the body box - a dark dappled rose grey. I'd painted one on the Spanish walk Andalusian SM earlier this year, and thought how nice it'd look on this mould too, so my first Alborozo was always going to turn this colour.
I find paler greys really difficult to shade for some reason (I say my white paint doesn't like me), but darker ones are fun, and I like adding in the redder tones to suggest a dark bay body colour going grey.
How different he looks in the shade! The mould is another very good one to paint, sculpting style and finish is something which makes a great deal of difference to the success of a brush-painted custom - the detailing is crisp which picks up the highlights well, but the style is smooth which means the shading doesn't blotch and catch the way it would on a rougher less polished sculpt.
I've named him Harecroft Peregrino - the name 'peregrine' has been on my list for ages, and shuffling through a few real Andalusian pedigrees online, the Spanish version jumped out as something to suit him very nicely!
Of course once I'd finished him, I had to choose a colour for my second custom, and after a little musing on typical colours for the Andalusian breed, google photos of real horses for inspiration, along with considering which colours I actually enjoy painting and get decent results with, I decided the best option to make the most of such a hard-to-find mould, would be a nice dark shaded bay.
So that's exactly what I painted - one of those rare times when the finished custom is more or less identical to the idea I had in mind! I couldn't be happier with how he turned out, the dapples were a bit of a risk when he was already looking ok without them, but I managed to keep them looking relatively blended-in by adding a bit more bay colour shading over the top of each layer, so they look like part of his coat pattern rather than spots dotted on last!
His name is Harecroft Altanero, another name which popped out of a real pedigree, though he wasn't based on any particular real horse - I find it way more difficult and stressful to try to copy a photo than to just aim for a colour I know horses can be!
Altanero and Peregrino together, the beginning of what I hope will be a whole herd of Mini Alborozos - if only I could easily buy a few more!
I might try ordering another batch of blind bags later on, as every model in the second series is a mould I wouldn't mind painting, so I'd not be too disappointed if I ordered say four or five, and entirely missed the Alborozo bags.
But I'm really hoping that they'll put him into the next set of standard single SMs on a card, so we'll be able to buy duplicates to customise, as well as getting another OF release. Very dark almost-black bay would be nice, or a fleabitten grey...
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