Monday, December 15, 2014

Project Redemption

So last night I decided to go through the list of breeds from RDR and then go through the list of breyers (courtesy of Identify Your Breyer) and write down the horses (or horse) that would best suit them with the littlest amount of modification.
Here's what I have so far - if you know a mould that would better suit, please let me know!


American Standardbred: Flash
Standardbreds have a pretty wide range of build. Some look like thoroughbreds, some look like tennessee walkers, and some look like morgans. They have generally straight to slightly-roman profiles, and a medium-to-light build, which is why I chose Flash. Breyer does have a standardbred model (the Pacer) but I don't care much for the Pacing gait, nor that model.




Ardennais: Wintersong
Just like the Standardbred, the Ardennais also has a wide range of builds. Some I saw were so beefy I could probably sustain my entire family for a year off of it - if we ate horse. Which I hope we don't, but we've eaten some pretty questionable meats. Anyway, others I saw looked similar to shires and Suffolk Punches, so I went with a medium build, and chose the Othello/Wintersong mould.



Cleveland Bay: Cedric/Ideal
Breyer does have a cleveland bay mould - most commonly the Irish Diamond mould. However, when I looked at the real horses, the mould seemed too hefty for their build. They have cresty necks and a slightly roman profile, but the rest of their body looks like a thoroughbred, or a light warmblood. So I chose Cedric or Ideal. If I choose Cedric, I'm going to try to find Ideal's tail to use, since I'm not a fan of Cedric's. If I find the ideal mould, I'll have to remove the mane to add the crest, but I won't have to find the tail, so there's that (although addmittedly the ref I posted could fit the cleveland bay mould, so that's not out of question, it'll just be a last resort.)



Dark Horse: Cigar
Since RDR doesn't specify a breed for the Dark Horse, I decided to choose the meanest looking mould I could find. While Smarty Jones has an "aggressive" pose and already had his ears back, I figured Cigar's pose looked as though he were charging after something, whereas Smarty Jones just looks like he's running for his life (probably from Cigar ;)) After all, you can only get the Dark Horse if you kill so many people to bring your honour in the negatives. Sounds pretty aggressive to me! I'll probably customize it to look meaner, tough. Mainly just flatten the ears. Might lower the neck and outstretch the head some, depending on how I feel.




Dutch Warmblood: Ruffian
Dutch Warmbloods have a very thoroughbred-type build, with a straight profile and a long, medium-to-thin neck. Since I'm trying to keep forward motion the recurring theme here (since I highly doubt your horse will be standing for long in RDR unless you've hitched it and are attempting to climb the stairs to your room in the Armadillo saloon after getting wasted,) I went with Ruffian. She showcases a nice, med-light build, a straight face, and a long, medium-width neck. Alternatively, I could also use the Idocus mould, but that'll be a last resort as it's standing.




Highland: Haflinger, Gretel, or Fjord
One of my favourite pony breeds, the Highland has a very drafty build, with a wide, cresty neck. Traditional-scale breyers have a very small selection of un-gaited ponies, so I chose the only one drafty enough - the halfinger. I'm not a fan of this mould, either, and it'll need a lot of work to be made into a feasible highland. Alternatively, I could use the Henry Fjord horse, but my money is personally on the Gretel mould. I've been known to use Classics as Traditional ponies if they can pass as one, and this horse will need the littlest amount of work to - well, work. Plus, my local Meijer had them last I checked so if they for some reason seem hard to find in body form, I can check there.






Hungarian Half-Bred: Giselle
The Hungarian Half-Bred horses are pretty interesting to say the least. They're crosses between the Hungarian horse and another breed, which means that their build could change depending on the breed that they were crossed with. However, commonly, they have ridiculously dis-proportionate necks to their body. They're thin, and their bodies are generally stocky in comparison. So what model replicates that? Giselle. Her neck doesn't look that thin because of her mane giving the illusion of thickness, but if you remove that mane, you'll see that it's very thin. Plus, her facial profile matches, which is a definite added bonus, since the face is where people generally focus. In the game, there's a stranger side-mission that requires you to go catch a "White stallion" to free a chinaman from his indentured slavery (you're paying for the chinaman and then you set him free) who later falls victim of opium. At any rate, canonically after that mission, you get this idea that every half-bred that you catch is automatically a stallion. At least I did, though in my mind all of the horses are stallions - except War from Undead Nightmare. So I may make the model a stallion, depending on how much work I want to do. (You wouldn't think testicles are hard to sculpt but man, they are!)



Painted Quarter Horse: Latigo, Cody
The "Painted" Quarter Horse is my least favourite of the appaloosas. It looks pink. Not only that, but the face is generally ugly. So, I gave myself the options of the two best-looking quarter horses that aren't my favourite. I do like Harley D Zip, but I'm not a fan of his mane and tail - which I can replace or redo, which is no big deal. There's also the option of Cody, which I think is a nice model compared to some, and it can pass as a trot, or even a lope, or a transition into either one. So I may end up using Cody for the "Painted" Quarter Horse, and save Harley for the next one. Also, I didn't provide a reference of a real QH because I'm pretty sure everyone knows what a Quarter Horse looks like. If not, google's your best friend!



Quarter Horse: Smart Chic Olena
I'll admit that the Quarter Horse is one of my favourite of the average horses. Each horse in the game has a set speed - the Standardbred was the fastest before War Horse, and the Donkey was the slowest after the diseased horses. Anything that's not diseased, a donkey, or a Saddler/Hungarian/Standardbred falls into the average speed zone. Which makes no sense considering they have three standardbreds but only the black one is fast Anyway, because the Quarter Horse is one of my favourites, I chose the - in my opinion - best-looking Quarter Horse mould that has forward motion - Smart Chic Olena.



Kentucky Saddler: American Saddlebred Stallion
The Kentucky Saddler - Also known as the American Saddlebred (though is surprisingly rare to find in Kentucky - for sale anyway - because of their Tennessean cousins) have a very distinguishing look. They sport long bodies, equally long necks, elegant and regal heads, and carry themselves with pride. Breyer has the saddlebred stallion, which I will use for profilic (which isn't a word, but work with me here) reasons.It will need a lot of work to not break my "no standing models" rule, but I'll manage.




Painted Standarbred: ?
It took me a while to finally decide to use Flash for the Standardbred - and even still I feel like I should use Smarty Jones or something since the Standardbred is the horse I ride in-game. It's my horse of choice, actually. So with that, I haven't completely decided what horse to use for the other Standardbreds, though I think if I do end up using Smarty Jones for the black Standardbred, I'll end up using Flash for this one. (Besides, Flash would look cute as a varnish appy.) There's nothing stopping me from using one mould for various horses, and I very well could use flash for all of the standardbreds, or smarty jones for all of them, but I'll have to decide once I actually get them in-hand. I'll end up frankensteining it if I can find heads from other models that'll fit to make it match the profiles. Even if I don't use Flash for any of these, I plan to use him to make Archibaldo (Jessica's mount in Before the Storm) so getting him either way won't hurt.



Standardbred Pinto: Same as above


Tersk: Lonesome Glory
Tersks are also interesting. Some have definite arabian influence, and others look more like holsteiners. Regardless, I decided the Lonesome Glory mould would suit, although alternatively I probably could use the Weathergirl or Huck moulds.




Tobiano Pinto: Cody
Pintos are horses that have the paint markings, but no Quarter Horse or Paint blood in them. So, that said, I could literally use whatever model I want to display this horse. For simplicity's sake, though, I'm going to say I'm going to use the Cody mould until another model pops up that wants to be the colour instead. If not, then I'll just use Cody. Admittedly, the pinto isn't my favourite horse. In fact, its one of my least favourite in the game - right there with the diseased horses. It looks like my dad's maroon shirt after going through the wash for ten years. Plus, I'm generally not a fan of the horse's pinto markings. So, Cody is fine by me!



Turkmen: Marwari
The Turkomen is very similar - if not phyisically identical to the Akhal-teke. It has a light body, thin, snakey neck, and large ears with a long, narrow head. Since I do want to give each breed its own respective model, and the Lonesome Glory mould was already designated for the tersk, I decided the Marwari would suit the Turkomen. That, and it really does do a good job portraying the breed. I'll just have to redo its ears and I personally want to give it a little forward movement, but we'll see how I feel when I actually get on in-hand.




War Horse: Smarty Jones
Just like the Dark Horse, War Horse was never designated a specific breed. Unlike Dark Horse, however, War Horse isn't acquired aggressively. In fact, up until recently, you had to buy it. (I logged in once after not playing for over 6 months and the horse came up to me and all of my guns were gold and I had all of the Social Club cheats - and apparently I'm not the only one. I'm not sure what the occasion was, but it was a pretty awesome surprise) Still, I wanted to use Smarty Jones for something, and a silver dapple black-brown would be pretty awesome on that horse.



Welsh Mountain: Haflinger or Gretel, Henry Fjord
Just like the Highland, the Welsh Mountain pony is a stockier-type pony. It has similar build to the highland, but less crest. Gretel should work just fine for it, so will be my first choice.



Lusitano: Andalusian Stallion, Esprit
Lusis are one of my favourite breeds of horses. They have just enough stock while still looking elegant. Their faces are that perfect mix of straight and roman, and their gaits are perfect. Unfortunately, Breyer doesn't have a traditional-scale Lusi - they've made them on the Andalusian and Legionario moulds. So, I will, too. Admittedly, the right front leg of the andalusian bothers me, and deters from the sculpt as a whole. Once I get to this horse, I'll think of ways to make it more pleasing to the eye.



El SeƱor/Picor/Hedor: Brown Sunshine, Donkey
It's going to be admittedly hard to find a donkey or mule to do these. I found maybe three "affordable" Hess donkeys on ebay, but two were auctions, and I hate auctions. Except I want to buy a real horse from auction but shhhhhh so the donkeys may be the last I do since it'll be a while before I find a body or resin cheap enough. I might have to make my own, or use a pony




UNDEAD NIGHTMARE

War: Ruffian
The "first" horse of the apocalypse (though not actually - the first horse is conquest,) this horse sports a fiery mane, blood-bay coat, and battle scars. She sets the undead on fire upon impact, and serves as a source of light (and heat I'd imagine) - No idea how I'm going to do the flames, but I'm probably only going to do the colours of the mane without it.




Famine: Lonesome Glory, Marwari
My least favourite of the horses of the apocalypse - mainly because it literally does absolutely nothing but summon a constant droning of insects, Famine is "technically" the second horse of the apocalypse. Though I forgot what was actually the second horse in the bible. Anyway, emaciated, this horse has what looks like runny bird poop on its butt. That's pretty much it. But it's fast, so there's that. I figured the thinner models would be easiest to emaciate come time for customization.



Pestilence: Lonesome Glory, Marwari
One of the coolest-looking horses of the apocalypse, Pestilence is an emaciated horse with visible flesh wounds and a green-ish tint to its grey body. Just like Famine, it does absolutely nothing to the zombies, but come on - it looks awesome. Added bonus? Its eyes bleed when it stands still. Literally, blood drips onto the ground. Creation-wise, this will be very similar to my zombies, which means it won't be hard to do. plus, the blooood and those eyes<3




Death: Smarty Jones
Hands down my favourite horse in Undead Nightmare for its benefits (not counting the gay unicorn. The Gay unicorn will always be my favourite), Death leaves a mist in his wake, and explodes the heads of the undead upon impact. Seriously, if you have this game and horse and haven't done so already, take him through Jorge's Gap. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. (Though you might get some lag.) He has icy blue eyes (as though fogged over) and is a silver red roan of sorts.




THE GAY UNICORN:
Okay so it's not actually called "The Gay Unicorn" but come on, anything that shoots rainbows and butterflies out of its butt can't be straight. Unfortunately, I can't think of a model to represent such a magnificent, sentient creature. So suggestions are welcome! (I thought about the silver mould, but they're hard to find in body quality)

Saturday, December 13, 2014

IT MUST BE DONE



Okay so you know how much I love painting portrait horses, right? I did one of Dakota:






I have one WIP of Irish:



and I plan to redo them in Traditional scale once I get my hands on another Cleveland Bay model and find one that fits Dakota - and my next horse will get one, too.
I miss Irish

WELL I've decided that I HAVE to make portraits of every horse in RDR - regular and Undead alike - ESPECIALLY THE GAY UNICORN
 

AAAAAAANNNNDD NOT ONLY THAT But EVERY horse the main characters in Hostage ride, as well as any horse my OCs own (Thunder, Shadowmere <no relation to another horse of the same name> etc)

Why?

Well, it'll be good practice for one. And two - I'm obsessed with creation. I love to see my concepts made into a reality. Finally, it's a challenge. Obviously I didn't create the horses in RDR. In that sense, it'll just be colour practice, and just as challenging.

If you've played the game, you may have noticed that each horse colour is a specific breed. The palomino is the Kentucky Saddler - otherwise known as the American Saddlebred. The black horse is the Standardbred, and the white horse is the Hungarian Half-Bred.

Apart from these, they have other breeds (sorry they're so small; they're stills from the RDR Wiki, but you can go to that page and click on the images to embiggen!)

American Standardbred




Ardennais




Cleveland Bay


"Dark Horse" (It doesn't specify a breed)






Dutch Warmblood





Highland "Chestnut" [It's definitely not chestnut]






Hungarian Half-Bred





Lusitano





"Painted" Quarter Horse





Quarter Horse



Kentucky Saddler





"Painted" Standardbred





Pinto ("Standardbred Pinto") (My favourite of the paints.)





Tersk





Tobiano Pinto





Turkomen (Turkmen)





"War Horse"



Welsh Mountain (Pony)





Part of the challenge is finding a model that matches the breed, or closely resembles the breed depicted. For instance, I might choose the Lonesome Glory mold for the Tersk, or the Adios mold for the Quarter horse. Peter Stones aren't out of the question, it's just about finding bodies cheap enough.

For my own characters - Thunder, Heaven, Crow, etc, I might even make resins specific to them if I can't find any models fitting enough (Or customize resins depending on if I can find an unpainted/body cheap enough haha)

AND WE CAN'T FORGET THE DONKEYS

El SeƱor



El Hedor


El Picor


And then there are the four horses of the apocalypse:



and then all of the undead horses (MORE ZOMBIES)

And if I can get my hands on some of the breyer wildlife, I'll make the undead animals (bear, bull, etc) but for now I'm just gonna focus on equines.

Now this isn't to say it hasn't been done before.

Here are some LOVELY customs I've seen of

Death (I'm seriously drooling)



Death by xXKincadesVanityXx on deviantART




and the Dark Horse by Vulpes-Corsac on deviantART




and I know there have been others, but they're not showing up in my searches! (If you've done one or know of any others, let me know so I can add them!)

Anyway, I plan to do all of my customs in traditional scale, though I might test on stablemates first! I plan to do ALL of the horses EVER which will help me try out different horse colours and sort of test myself and put myself out there as far as my comfort zone goes, since if I had my own way I'd probably paint bays for the rest of my career :P (Technically I can, but what's the fun in that?!)

This is just going to be one of those "Work at my own pace" projects. Basically, I'll work on it when I feel like it, but if commissions arise or another custom nags me to be made, then I'll work on them. Since there are so many different horses in the games (And a second Red Dead Redemption rumoured to release in 2015!) I'll quickly get burnt out if I freight train it like I do with most of my projects to ensure they get done.

The models might be for sale eventually, but I'm not entirely sure if it's legal considering it's fan art. Are you allowed to sell fan art? I think so, but I'm not sure. Either way, I kinda wanna keep them all and then do a mass-shoot with all of them together once they're completed. We'll see, though. It'll depend on how many new horses I get to counter my boredom, since I tend to get bored of staring at my art very quickly.

Heck, the reason I don't take many model horse pictures anymore is because I haven't had a new horse in a year and I'm getting bored of taking pictures of the same horses over and over again but I'm too poor to afford new models.
So yup! I don't plan to do any of the horses until after this zombie and resin are finished, but I'm definitely going to start looking for bodies.

Friday, December 5, 2014

I'm Not Dead! + What's Up in the Studio

I realize I haven't posted much. NaNoWriMo was my main focus during November and toward the end I had fallen behind in my wordcount. I literally stayed up for two days straight just writing to get my wordcount up - but I made it!

Before Wrimo passed, I celebrated my birthday, got my first tattoo, and enjoyed the day with my sister!
 I also got a new camera, and have taken multiple photos over the span of my absence! 


[Clickety-Click images to Embiggety-Biggen]

This is my English Mastweiler, Maverick!

(She's covered in horsehair. Shhhhh)


And just because, here's more Maverick!


ALRIGHT! On to new business!

A little while ago, I started an original sculpture. He's a Przewalski horse, and a feisty one at that! Once finished, I plan to send him off to be casted and will sell resin copies, so keep a lookout for those! 
Here's the pose:

And here's what I've got so far!

He's headless right now, because I've sculpted a skull to use as the armature for the head (it will be mounted on the wire protruding from the neck) and plan to get it cast, not only to use on future customs, but also to sell! They will be available on my etsy once I get it all set up! (There will be an announcement once it's opened!) 


Some alterations will need to be made for it to fit correctly into the sculpt, but it works!
The jaw also dislocates, so it is a two-piece item. The jaw fits snugly, though. Literally nothing was holding any of this together. I just set the skull onto the wire and took the pictures! I also plan to make breed-specific skulls in Traditional and Classic scales!

This is the big thing right now, but I'm also working on an entry for a contest on deviantART and will post those when I'm done as well (and I'll continue that painting of Colin!)