A Momentary Idyll

I am now in full Sampler panic mode, so outside of watering and varmint-trapping*, I now have to bid my garden adieu for the next week and a half. Which is a shame, because my Superbissima Petunias are starting to bloom:

On the plus side, the “use customizing as a creative distraction” plan seems to be working out for me. Here’s the current project, on the Mesteno’s Mother mold:

Looking good (and her head is not nearly that gigantic in person. I am a terrible photographer, etc. etc.) I just need to make a couple more minor cuts and bends, then it’ll be onto the “tin foil and super glue” phase. Then do a little more carving out in spots before I break out the epoxy. 

My goal with this piece is to make modest customizations, mostly to correct some of the more distracting conformation issues, but still keep her recognizable when I’m done. I also want to keep as much of her hair as possible, because that’s really what makes a Mesteno mold a Mesteno mold, for me. (That gigantic forelock had to go, though.)

I haven’t had much opportunity lately to be creative just for the joy of it, which is also why I pulled a Mesteno mold out of my body stash first. If any Breyer equine molds can be described as almost purely artistic pieces, it’s them. 

(The Modernistic Buck and Doe are their own thing entirely.)

I have no illusions of making her a competition-worthy piece. I just want to see what I can do with it. And bonus – anything I try after this will seem easy in comparison!

Anyway, the BreyerFest program is not only out, they’re offering us the opportunity to purchase a hard copy, which is great. I’m not saying that as a person who obsessively saved ephemera: documentation is the very foundation of the hobby, informing almost every aspect of it. Whatever you do, you need tons of reference materials, books, documents, photos, and file folders of stuff. 

They’re also slowly releasing photos of the Test Color auction items, but I’m mostly going to ignore them: that’s way too rich a game for me. 

I purchased my first Test Colors all the way back in 1985; the most expensive one was this little fellow, who cost me the princely sum of… twenty dollars:

That was about the price of a decent, moderately-in-demand discontinued item back then, so it was not outrageous. Though it must be noted that I did pay seven dollars apiece for a Dapple Gray with Black points Proud Arabian Stallion and Mare at the same show (Model Horse Congress), and less than that for the Test Colors I pulled from the Bentley Sales Company sales boxes. 

So I guess he was kind of expensive for me, at the time? 

Anyway, he’s not terribly showable, though I think he did a placement at the BreyerFest Live Show last year because he is certainly eyecatching. I kind of wish Marney – or whoever “finished” him – had gone the extra mile and painted his mane and tail black. Then again, Hess’s Stock Horse Family in general don’t get a lot of second looks these days, unless they happen to be heavily customized. 

Incidentally, I have a pretty messed up Standing Stock Horse Foal in my body box that just might be my follow up to the Mesteno. First things first, though…

*Local groundhogs treat our garden shed like a time-share.