Finally, the last of Breyer's 2020 mid-year models has reached the UK, almost halfway through the following year! It's not our British retailers' fault in the slightest, they're as keen to get the models as we are to buy them, and it's felt like a very long wait for what everyone else has had for ages.
I decided to go for Peptoboonsmal rather than a new 2021 release precisely because of that delay - he's been on my wishlist longest, and although it was tempting to go for something shiny and new, somehow he deserved to come along first.
Luckily it was a bright clear day for a change, so he got taken straight out into the sunshine after work for a photoshoot!
This is my first time seeing and handling the Dundee mould, and it's a lovely one in person. I especially like how it combines a motion pose with a relaxed, casual attitude; often models sculpted in action can have a taut and strained look, but he looks very at ease and laid back, like a good working horse, or reliable steady-minded leisure horse.
The only slight flaw in his design is something not obvious without closer inspection - Peptoboonsmal is a famous stallion, and this mould is sculpted as a gelding - oops!
His colour is nicely done, with quite a lot going in to that paintjob. Firstly the base coat of chestnut is sprayed heavily in some areas and very thinly in others, leaving him paler flanks and elbows, a mid tone on body and neck, and darkest on the head and legs. There's dapples, on belly and quarters, then fine white roaning to further lighten and speckle his paler parts, and a light smattering of dark flecks over the top. His markings are crisply masked, a good match for the real horse, and I love the striped hooves!
Now, I admit I was initially sceptical about the paintwork for the production runs of this model : in photographs he seems to vary a huge amount. The example here on IdentifyYourBreyer is extremely pale with white roaning, while other real photos coming through on US ebay listings last year showed the body colour as just a very slightly paler chestnut than the head and legs, with hardly any of the misty roaning spray layer.
I was worried : what if, buying blind online, I got one which didn't have much contrast? Reassured by having spotted photos of a 'good one' from a UK seller, when it's likely all our retailers would have received horses of the same batch, I decided to take my chances, and am very pleased with the one I got!
The mould's official name seems to have been settled as Australian Stock Horse, which leaves me a bit undecided what to do - it's a breed I'm already familiar with, in fact I show all my Peter Stones in the Palouse mould as Australian stock horses, but the real Peptoboonsmal is famously an American Quarter Horse, and this being a portrait of him, it kind of follows that it'd be fitting to use that breed for our models, too. Normally it wouldn't matter, I'd decide later, but I'm in the process of compiling a new collection website with all the models split by breed instead of brand/finish/scale, and I don't know which page to file him on!
All in all, a lovely addition to my collection - it's nice to see a great new mould making its debut into the regular run line, and that his colour is done so well.
He shared his box with a little extra. Chestnut Ridge are selling the 70th Anniversary blind bags opened, so you can decide exactly which model you want, rather than taking pot luck and getting too many duplicates. I've collected a few already, but one notable gap was the silver bay, so I snapped him up as a travelling companion for my Trad scale purchase!
I'm not a fan of the pearly sheen on so many Breyer models lately, but I can overlook it in small doses - SM scale is just about ok, especially when the body colour isn't metallic, only the mane and tail. This silver bay looks great on the mould, and the novelty of these mini versions of Traditional moulds hasn't worn off for me yet, I really like them!
I haven't managed to name my Peptoboonsmal quickly, but this one can be Harecroft Eye Of The Storm, one of those names which has been a while on my noted-down list, waiting for a horse to arrive and suit it.
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