Sunday, February 22, 2015

Scuplted a Horse - Toy Town Soldiers Part 3

The previous post showing the Toob horse that I used to replace the standard Eureka horse stimulated some quite interesting comments.  Thanks to everyone who contributed and it caused me to have a something of a rethink.

The more I look at the Toob pony, the less I like it. I think primarily because it's so chunky.  Then too, the comments that it wasn't toy-like enough to match the style of the Toy Town men made a lot of sense.  So what's needed is probably something that splits the difference stylistically.  My next move was to search thoroughly on eBay for something suitable. I found a few things, such as the Hallmark rocking horse Christmas ornament.  Way too small, unfortunately.  Nothing else was the right scale either.

What to do ?  Time to take a stab at sculpting something myself.  My thinking was this: although I've dabbled with Green Stuff modifications, I had no experience at sculpting anything completely from scratch.  Therefore whatever I did was probably going to look rather toy-like from lack of sculpting skill and experience.  And so long as it turned out better than a pathetic green blob, I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot.  The other benefit would be a fresh start, getting away from the casting and assembly headaches with the Toob pony.

Here's what I came up with:


I think I whiffed on the toy horse objective.  I have the same problem with the ships, just can't seem to do simple and abstract no matter what. Perhaps my brain just works too literally.  On the plus side, it's recognizably a horse and not a bad one.  So I'm encouraged by the attempt and it gives me some confidence that I can try scuplting other things in the future when necessary.

And for size:

 

Perhaps a bit large for a light cavalry horse but a bit more svelte than the Toob pony so I think she has the makings of a good replacement for it.   I plan to proceed with adding the shabraque and tack.  She is also thinner which should ease the mold making task a little.  More to follow.

Oh, and a salute to the 100th Follower of this blog, Andrew Palmer ! 

4 comments:

  1. Your talent never ceases to amaze me. That's the perfect solution. It still looks toy-like and also fits the rider really well....well done.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Springinsfeld. I'm not so sure I was effective with toy-like but if others think it works in that regard, job done.

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  2. OK I'm impressed. Looks darned good for a 1st go at a horse. Haven't had the nerve to try one myself.

    It doesn't have a wooden toy look but it does look toyish so in that sense still works. There is still the problem you mention with the legs of the rider being too short but I'm not sure how skinny/weird the horse would have to be to get around that.

    Making the mold could be tricky.

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  3. Thanks very much, Ross.

    Yes, nothing can be done about the rider's legs but I think it's a minor issue. I've finished the shabraque/saddle already and to my eyes he sits his mount convincingly.

    Agreed on the mold. I anticipate finishing the master in time to make the mold on Sunday and then we'll see. The best I can say is that I'm cautiously optimistic about a successful outcome.

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