Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Opinions on the Matter

The Spooky Stablemates are here:

Two different, yay! And the closest I’ll ever get to owning a real Cornelius. The box looked like an accordion, but as you can see, no harm, no foul…

I am not sure if I’m going to pursue the third member of the set, since I am not actively looking to buy anything right now, other than bodies and sales stock. 

And back to the topic of BreyerFest shopping, I prefer shopping for my common items and collection fillers at BreyerFest, because – I had assumed up until this year – that I’d have a large selection of models to choose from and have the luxury of handpicking. 

Silly me – lesson learned! 

I only vaguely understand the economic dynamics that creates that strange, strange market; it always fascinates me how different it is every time. Last year I sold a ton of Vintage items, but this year it was all higher-end stuff and Web Specials, with a fair smattering of Classics and Stablemates. And the only bodies that remained unsold at the end were the exact same half-dozen bodies that didn’t sell the year before.

(And are therefore probably mine forever, by default.)

In other news, my hunch about the book sale was correct: on my way to work on Monday I stopped at a Salvation Army Store and scored a nice bundle vintage horse and dog books from the 1960s and 1970s. 

I can’t really think of anything else to say today; I’m physically hurting all over (another story) and my mind is a little obsessed on my current custom project that I can’t believe I almost threw in my free bin. I wanted to wait until he was a little further along before I showed you what he looked like, but now is as good a time as ever, I suppose:

I wanted to do an Extreme Custom that still kept the essence of the original sculpture intact, but discard as little of the original as possible. Other than the grinding and carving down, all I’ve tossed so far are the front of the neck, part of the chest, and a bit of the tail; the tail will be reattached once I’ve finished recarving it. The neck’s been shortened slightly and his head’s been narrowed, too.    

The leg was cut off fairly early in the process and I just haven’t gotten around to reattaching it, partly because it was getting in the way of the tail resculpt but also because he stands up just find without it anyway. It can wait. 

I’m pretty pleased with him so far. Another goal of this project – other than the crash course in anatomy and conformation that only a Mesteno Series model can provide – is to put my money where my mouth is. Just because I am primarily an Original Finish collector and advocate doesn’t mean I don’t know what I am talking about when it comes to customizing.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Congratulations!! The way things are looking with these Halloween SM's is that Breyer seems to have made an over abundance of the Cornelius mule!! Almost everyone I've seen on Facebook or Blab has gotten one (or more!!) with the Nevermore coming in a close 2nd!! Looks like the Apparition will be the "rare" one if the prices on Ebay are any indication! *Rats*!! He's the only one that I need to have the set too!

Anonymous said...

Don't give up on your remake project Andrea!! I'm sorry to hear that you're so tired and sore--but it's going to be interesting to see how your Mesteno turns out!!

Suzanne said...

I have several remake projects in the works. (I'd love to blame unfinished projects on undiagnosed ADHD, but despite how well everything I've read about female ADHD resonates with me, I'm told it's just "anxiety and depression.") But having read your post, I realize one of my hang-ups is trying to get the anatomy exactly right. And I don't show, and I enjoy the less realistic models...So maybe today I'll give a little primer coat to the Stablemates Stock Horse I'd been whittling down! :^)

Lydia Lepic said...

I've been sanding away at the Mestino model I got from my repair workshop at BF. :) His tail has been giving me fits...but you cut your's off, so now that's a tempting idea. I've never tried customizing, so I'm mostly just tidying up seams, smoothening his overall texture, and giving him slightly bigger ears.