Tales from the Body Box - a couple of colourful Collecta cobs

Continuing my little new-found and accidental tradition of painting Collecta horses the same colour they were anyway, let me introduce my two newly finished cobs!

I'm always happy to add more cobs to the 'toyplastics' division of my collection. 

I tend to use this (totally made-up and not official hobby terminology) name to group together all the similar, mid-scale models made of solid-cast and slightly flexible heavy plastic - the mass produced ones designed predominantly as childrens' toys but with an adult collector following, too : Schleich, Safari, Papo, Bullyland, Mojo, and any others you can think of. 

They all have a charm and cuteness, but the realistic sculpting for Mojo and Collecta figures put them a bit above the rest (a few years ago, I'd have ranked Safari up there too, but their later offerings have got a tad over stylised or in some cases...uh...weird!), and in my opinion, Collecta did the finest job of capturing of this popular partbred type.

The stallion, first, and though a little lacking weight and muscle curve in his topline, he more than makes up for it with his handsome face, and all that billowing hair, from the flying ringlet curls of his mane and forelock, to the heavy and beautifully sculpted feathering in his legs. I think of him as a youngster, with some filling out left to do!

Already painted bay tobiano skewbald, I couldn't help but recreate my own version of his colour and pattern, with more detailed patches and fluffed up edges to each bit of bay to give him a hairer, softer look than the OF sharp-stencilled markings. He also gained one blue eye during the repaint!

The other side, showing the fantastic inventive sculpting for his long mane.

Another Collecta from this box of scuffed bodies was the matching mare, and of course I couldn't resist giving her a similar transformation, though she did manage to progress from plain jet black patches to very dark brown, so she isn't quite the same colour as she started out!

Again, the intent of the paintjob was to go along with her OF colour, but with all the added detailing I enjiy putting on my own pintos, with a lot of smaller free-scattered patches and spots which aren't connected to the larger markings, and softened feathery edges.

She also got a couple of little black patches in the pink nose of her wide white blaze, which show up better at this angle than side on.

I haven't managed to name either of these yet, there's a bit of a backlog of nameless models waiting at the moment, but I'm sure to get round to it sooner or later; customs' names always seem to come along more readily than OFs, for some reason.

Here's one last shot of the two together - don't they make a handsome pair of hairy horses!