More CollectAs for my collection

Last week, I realised there was a serious gap in my model equine collection - I hadn't got a Grévy's zebra yet! So I decided it was about time I ordered the CollectA one.

Here he is! I love that they've made this less-appreciated species, almost all mainstream toys and models seem to be plains zebra subspecies, but Grévy's have secretly been my favourites since college, with their big saucer ears and long noses.

They've done a pretty good job with his pattern, getting the great first impression of a lot more stripes crammed in compared to the typical Grants plains zebra models, and no worry of getting a 'bad one' due to human error or a hurried paintjob - because they're printed on, each CollectA Grévy is the same, even though each real one is a little different.

I've seen some disappointment that the stripes on the hindquarters are too vertical, but with the natural variation in real zebras, I don't think it's too bad - some will have a lower divide between the vertical stripes and the horizontal ones. Have a look at the rump of this one (my own pic), there's a good section of vertical lines before it forms a triangle and the stripes change angle.

 

EARS! You can see here, I got a similar intensity of big giant ear by making a kissing sound at this real gravy zeb (p.s yeah Grévy is pronounced 'gravy', not rhyming with 'heavy')

How do the CollectA zebra species look with each other?

Really good! I prefer the off-white plastic to the bright pure white of the Grévy's - that's how they're made, rather than yellowing cos one's new and one's not - but over all that doesn't matter, especially when photographed separately you wouldn't think 'Well, that's too white!'

While I was putting in my order, I thought I really ought to catch up on a few more CollectA releases I'd missed so far - 'to buy enough for free postage' was my excuse, hah

First, the fairly recent chestnut spotted foal to go with my adult knabstrupper. 

It's curious how sometimes CollectA release the adult and baby in the same year, but other times we have a single mare or stallion for a while before they make a matching foal of the same breed.

The wild, heavily-spotted leopard appaloosa pattern of the mare is rather nicer than the simpler spotting they've designed for the little one, but they make a good pair together

Next, the Russian Don, who was held back to the latter part of the year when she was released, so I wasn't able to get hold of her when I ordered my batch that spring. 

I'm really pleased to see this breed in model form, I think she's the only one from any mainstream brand? With most companies focusing on the best known breeds with an established fanbase, it's great to see CollectA going for the less common ones, and giving us chance to tick off breeds with a huge importance in their own country, and a lot of history. They deserve the attention!

The colour's really well done, chestnut with a darker mane and tail being unusually common in the breed. And there's a metallic sheen in the paint - I generally hate the overdone pearly/shiny/metallic paint craze on all kinds of model horses which don't need it, but some breeds do have a coat with that sheen, and the Don is one of them. But my favourite thing about the mould is the cocked-back ear, a tiny design choice which gives her a touch of life and realism - with her ear turned round, she's suddenly a model of an actual horse, with reactions and thoughts, not just a posed example of a breed.

And rounding out the parcel nicely, the Sugarbush Draft mare and foal. Well, I couldn't buy one without the other!

Another example of CollectA Chunky-leg Syndrome not being a bother on a draft horse, her legs don't look out of proportion like a light breed would.
I think her spotting is really well designed, some of these toy-type models tend to get given too widely-and-evenly spaced spots, like someone just laid them out in a way which looked tidy, rather than following the patterns seen on real horses. This mare looks more like her spots could be copied from real life.

The matching baby - I'm not sure if he's supposed to have so much grey shading on his head, or whether that's overspray from his muzzle gone way up his face! But his blanket spotted appaloosa pattern is neatly applied, and he has a very sweet and playful look to him.

Tales from the Body Box - my first Mojo repaint

This little pony didn't spend long in my box of bodies - he had his brand new coat by the evening of the very day he arrived!

Here's a 'before' shot :

While I love the mould, and like the idea of his design as a pale palomino with dapples and white socks, the execution of the paintjob left a lot to be desired - the dappling unfortunately came out as randomly applied distinct pale spots. If he hadn't had those, I would've kept him original finish for my herd, but I knew I couldn't just live with them when I could easily redo his paintjob in a much more flattering way.

I kept the pale palomino colour, and the same white markings of four white feet and a stripe, but here's how he looks now :

He turned out exactly as I hoped, the softer shade of palomino rather than the brassy 'new penny' colour we're told they should be. I think it suits the mould nicely, and hopefully matches my original idea of painting the pony the colour it was anyway but better!

Here's a few more angles, such a sweet pony with a nice alert pose for taking pictures...

Although I've done loads of customs before, this is my first ever Mojo one, and the mould was a lot of fun to work with - the hairy texture helps with brush painted acrylics cos any slight roughness is hidden in the textured finish, and his big deeply defined eyes were so much easier to paint than when you have to more or less draw the eye onto the face of a smoother sculpt.

He's got a lot of character, and I'm really glad I can have this mould in my herd now I've got past the problem of not liking the OF paintjob!

A dappled grey day

Last sunday evening, Julip Originals held another of their special Spares nights.
A batch of one-of-a-kind handmade models are photographed and posted online, with their prices, and as soon as the posts are unlocked on the designated date, the first collector to reply with a 'Buy!' comment claims the Julip. Each person is restricted to buying one horse, pony or donkey only - otherwise those with the fasted internet or deepest pockets would have much more chance of buying whatever they wanted.
One per collector means lots more happy customers getting an exciting parcel, so it's a fair and welcome rule, even if it does make for some heart-wrenching decisions about which posts to ignore in the hope of trying for your absolute favourites. This is especially stressful when the horses you like best of all are due toward the end of the evening, then you have to sit on your hands and leave any number of beautiful Julips you'd be delighted and proud to own, holding on for something which won't be unlocked til later on - something you still might not win the race to get!
This was the case for me this time round, with the two Julips I most wanted to try for, being late in the run. My top pick was the latter one of the pair, but knowing his flashy colour and popular mould would make him extraordinarily sought-after, I decided to try for my slightly-second-favourite on the way past, one I couldn't just let go without even trying, even though it would mean leaving the other horse for someone else.
With rising heart rate I waited, waited, refreshed the page, and as soon as I saw the topic was unlocked, sent in my 'Buy' comment, and waited to see how many had beaten me to him...

But my luck was in, my reply top of the list, and the Julip was mine!

He arrived earlier in the week, and now I've had chance to get his photographs taken, out in the glorious spring sunshine.

Look at that beautiful dappling! I love the way it fades in and out, darkest on the shoulders and quarters, blending into a nearly white face and back - a proper rocking-horse dappled grey. 

I think, though, what made me want this horse so badly wasn't just his colour, but his face. The farm cob mould has such a long, noble, handsome face - a serious but gentle kind of horse, who'd be a total gentleman to ride and look after, and appreciate a good pat and treat for his polite behaviour.

Despite having accumulated quite a lot of Farm Cobs (including their close relative the adapted Feathered Cob mould), I've somehow never bought a grey one til now! There's some moulds which just don't seem to crop up in certain colours very often, but I think they're a wonderful combination.

Look at that glorious mane! 

I considered, while he was on his way, the possibility doing him up with a running plait and folded-up short tail braid, decorated with the traditional ribbons and flights, to show him as a percheron. But certain horses just seem to call for long flowing hair, and this was one of them, so he's just had a light trim to feather out the ends of the mane, give him a forelock, and stop his tail trailing on the ground.

He could still be a percheron in my herd, many real draft horses are allowed to grow a full long tail if their owners don't show (or only show in ridden classes), but he wouldn't be correctly turned out for model showing now I've decided to leave him unbraided.

Poor boy looks a bit damp here, like he's been caught in a summer downpour! I use a can of human hair-styling mousse (bought specially for the Julips!) to tame the fluff to a better texture, and I think it needs a second run of the comb through now it's dry, just to break up the hair a little bit.

His mane and tail are carefully made up with a mix of white and dark hairs, a lovely detail to make him more realistic when using plain white would've been so much quicker and easier. It's these little touches which make Julips so individual and lovely to own.

You might've spotted in the last couple of pictures, but here's a better shot - he's already gained a headcollar and leadrope of his own since he arrived here. I picked a couple of colours which looked good against his pale colouring, and used the fancy leather-ended straps a lot of the more expensive headcollars are made with these days. 

I don't really like all the (mainly useless) fashions in the real equestrian world, and try not to go along with them in my model-making either, but this one's not too bad cos there's at least a practical reason for the leather bits being there, rather than decoration for the sake of trends which must be followed to show you're posh/rich/flashy and in with the right kind of horsey set, heh

He's made a friend in my herd already : my previous Spares Night purchase, Holly Blue the dartmoor pony. The chances of getting two Julips the same colour in a row are miniscule, with how difficult it is to even grab a spare in the first place, and each batch being made up from a wide variety of colours. I promise this wasn't done on purpose, but the co-incidence did make me laugh when I realised what I'd done!

One thing he doesn't have yet, as you may have noticed reading all the way through his introduction post, is a name!

Some Julips are easy to think of something for; either a moment of inspiration, or a name which has long been on the notepad and they seem a perfect fit to take. This chap doesn't seem to want any of the names I have here waiting for a horse to suit, nor has anything sprung to mind while I waited for him to arrive, or even once I'd got him in my hands.

We'll have to wait and see what some pondering can produce!

A boxful of Mojo Fun

I ticked some more Mojo Fun models off my wishlist this week, look in this exciting box!

They came from Mojo themselves via their ebay shop; this is the cheapest and best way to buy them for UK collectors, and the customer service is perfection so I'd really recommend buying direct if you're wondering where you can get these from over here!

Let's get them all out...

I've wanted the fjord for ages, yeeeears, but never managed to get round to ordering it for various reasons, so it was about time I added one to my herd, and it was really worth the wait! The colour's really subtle, a lot of model fjords are either very bright yellow or don't have much shading, but I love the paler dun here.

This is, amazingly, my first grazing model. I really like the casual off-duty kinds of poses for model horses, rare though they are - things like head-down dozing, or resting with one hind leg cocked, and this adds one more relaxed attitude to enjoy.

I think my favourite thing about the whole sculpt is the little 'break' in the mane where the spiky upright hair follows the bend in the neck!

The Dutch warmblood, another crisp and accurate sculpt with good slim legs and nice conformation. The colour's a bit plain (especially compared to my recent WIA warmblood, but maybe it's not fair to make him stand next to that one!), but I like how the white socks have crooked tops, when so many models are painted with less attention to realistic marking shapes; or worse, given airbrushed fuzzy ones!

The Suffolk Punch mare, a rare breed we don't really have that many representations of in model form, either. And this one's a really nice example, with her kind expression and good chunky build. They even managed a well toned chestnut, rather than overly orange or too brown, a colour which can be really hard to capture in plastic form.

And she HAD to bring her foal along too, look at this sweet little sculpt!

Here's how they look together; scaled just right to work as a pair, it wouldn't have been fair to split them!

The thoroughbred, like the dutch warmblood, is another model which really showcases how Mojo get long-legged athletic breeds right. So many TB or sport horse moulds in the toy-type brands like Schleich or Bullyland have such squat chunky legs they look like heavy warmbloods or draft crosses, even the previously wonderful CollectA are giving everything thick legs now. So even though the Mojo TB is a bit on the sturdy side (I'd imagine him as a chaser or eventer, rather than a flat-bred horse), it's just nice to see slim legs at all!

The Hanoverian came in two colour options, black with white socks, or this bay, which I decided to go for because colours show mould detail and contours better than black in photos. And because they used dark shading over a soft brown plastic, it looks plenty different enough to the other two bays in the parcel, which use a much redder base plastic.

Another angle - doesn't she have a kind face. I think she's quite a petite-looking horse, maybe because her plaits are quite big giving her the look of a pony rather than a huge dressage warmblood. Her sculptor says a lot of people allocate German Riding Pony as an alternative to the Hanoverian she was sold as, I think I'll go with that.

Another zebra for my collection! It's an adorable mould, which seems the ideal mix of realism and cuteness - the CollectA zebra looks very serious, this one's somehow happier and more relaxed. I picture her as a tame zebra in a safari park, who comes to the gate for snacks and likes a good scratch from a keeper.

And what's this?

I just couldn't resist adding the foal to my order too, they needed to arrive together!

The little one's all legs, and even has some baby fluff along the back.

Stablemates New and Old

I've had two separate Stablemate parcel days recently, the first were some of the 70th Anniversary blind bags which tagged along with my WIA Sharif & Lancelot order. I hadn't fancied paying the high resale price for the UK listings which'd come up since these were released, and as they still haven't made it to this country's stockists, I decided I may as well add two or three little stowaways!

So which did I get?

First out of the packet, Smart Chic Olena! Sadly he's lost his nice swishing long mane in conversion to the mini mould, and his head does look out of proportion small, but it's still nice to have a new addition to the range of SM moulds, and his colour's just the right side of argh that's so shiny metallic, it's a more natural looking sheen.

Looking rather on the 'good doer' side, but then, a lot of real QHs are sadly this shape for the show ring, so it's not unrealistic!

Next, the Connemara - I'm really glad I got this one, black is a tricky colour to photograph but she's so nice in hand, a really detailed mould which doesn't seem to have suffered in the shrinking. A lot of people seem to pose these resting up on their tail tip, but with one hind fetlock flexed to rest the foot flat on the ground, I'm sure this is the right way to stand them.

She's the only one of the trio to get a name so far : Grace O'Malley, after the Connemara pirate!

And finally, one of the models I was hoping I wouldn't get, being glossy and a vintage colour style, but actually I like him way more than I thought I would! The mini version of the mould is much more smooth and sleek than the old-style sculpting of the original Trad scale one, and the gloss isn't too icky in small doses, I can happily keep this little chap for the shelf.

The second parcel was a mixed lot of G2 TBs - some body condition, duplicates or blanks, one nice custom, and three I didn't have already which got saved from body box potential into my OF herd.

From the Jockey and race tack set, with white 'bandages' as part of his paintjob. I think this is the only time they've used this technique, and while the masking isn't particularly straight at the pasterns, it's not so bad from a distance! I've named this one Black Pearl.

This appaloosa was released as a mare and foal set, I've had her foal for a while from a second hand lot, but never had the matching mother til now! I've given her the name Asterella, and she'll be an appaloosa sportshorse in my herd.

And last of the lot, a chestnut pinto. Actually, a fourth chestnut pinto, as they've also released two tobianos and a frame overo on this same mould. She's got the name April Snow, because it did snow the day she arrived with me here!