Super progress Paul.
For me this second nag with your alterations is an improvement on the first.
It will be good to see how it looks harnessed to the charriot.
Keith

Fantastic work... mindblowing detail... superb execution...

What else can I say about this beautiful piece.

Also thanks for the in depth SBS

Colin

many thanks guys, i have to admit that when i started this i gave myself 6 months to get it done as i had other projects on the go, i didnt envisage it taking this long, but its been great to be able to put it to one side and do other things and then come back to it.
heres a few pics of how the 2 horses will look together

Hi Paul,
I have to completely agree with Nap, this is a great SBS and a worthy piece of work from an artist. Have you considered what to do with it when finished because it definitely is museum quality?
Best wishes, Gary.

Cheers Gary, ive had plenty of time to think about what to do with it, obviously Dr Joy at the museum has a keen interest in it and, from my own perspective, it would be a great honour to have it displayed in the museum. There is also the other thought that there are, to date, 3 manufacturers that are interested in making it a kit. That isnt to say that the museum cant have one, i just dont think that i could paint another one after this. Theres still a lot of work to do, i say work how can it be when its so enjoyable, so there is still time to decide and see how things go. It may be decided that it is too expensive to make it into a kit and that the final cost to purchase the kit would make it prohibitive, although there are armour kits out there that cost into the hundreds, this i think would have a limited following. We will just have to see how things pan out when i get near to completion.

These next pics show the painting of dobbin MKII, as i said at the start this will be a piebald. After the primer had been allowed to dry for a couple of days i base coated in white, again working in sections and started on the shading





For the black splodges i used a mix of lamp black and bahama blue, at about a 60/40 mix. straight black was tooooo..................black and the addition of the blue gave it a hue







for highlights i added white to the base colour and then to straight black



I always find blending black and white a long process that requires going over and over again, so i waited between each run to let it dry and then adjusted as required.

Looking good, I think you've done a better job on the withers of the second horse. Remember the neck vertabrae don't follow the crest, that's all muscle. On a relaxed horse, the bones of the neck start at the half way point between the withers and the breast, following a gentle "S" to the last vertabrae (the "atlas" and "axis") which allows the head to pivot. I use a bit of wire the right length as a guide to where the neck can move.
I believe the nearest modern horse to the skeletons that have been found are Dartmoor ponies, although they were "improved" by the Victorians!
Martin

I’m thinking of converting horses at some point and that’s important information, Martin. Can you suggest a reference on horse anatomy that would be accessible to a layman like me – and I imagine, many pF members – please?

Jeff

This is brilliant work, Paul. I loved going through the thread and watching it all come together.
In awe of your skills, mate, really impressive!
Cheers

I love this, I've wanted a kit like this since I first saw Angus McBride's osprey illustration. Fantastic work and really informative, thanks for doing this.
Scotty.

thanks for the info Martin, is that you in the shiny gear in yer avatar ??
Jeff google it theres plenty of info there
Cheers Nick and Scotty, you may get your wish one day

Hi Paul can only echo the comments made it is superb in every department and is a classic build on this side which will go the test of time ,and will I feel be a reference to scratch building for a long time to come I for one would print and laminate this for my folder of reference .
Outstanding
Cheers Chris

There's lots of info on the net if you just google "horse (or equine) anatomy" but if you want my opinion you could do no better than find a copy of "Animal Anatomy studies in the forms of animals and birds" by Ernest E. Thompson. it was reprinted by Studio Editions of London in 1990 from an 1896 original and you can tell when he talks about a "Grizzly they starved to death". Anyway there are drawings and measurements of not only horse breads but camels, cows, dogs, elephants etc. My copy is well used!

Yes that's me in the kit.

Martin

Cheers Chris

Martin back in 1978, many pullovers ago, i was on a joiners course at the Royal School of Military Engineering in Chatham, we were all engineers apart from a Lance Sgt from the horse guards. One fine spring morning we had a best kit inspection, so there we were all lined up in Khaki and about half way down the first rank was this guy in the same clobber you have on in yer avatar complete with shiny bits, big boots and sword, mind you he did find it hard to keep up when we marched off

Lance Corporal of Horse, we don't have any sergeants!

love it when the army cocks up, which in engineer terms was quite often, i always thought that if the russians ever invented a weapon that destroyed black masking tape the army would be completely had it

Anyway back to dobbin. i moved onto the head with the same technique as the rest







I did mean to say that the base coat i used is a very light grey and not straight white, it just makes it a bit easier to put the final highlights in then





And a ref photo that i should perhaps have posted at the start, this was a chariot made up from the same plans that i have only this is full size and made for the TV series about Boudicca





The only thing thats different is this one has a front part whereas the original ones didnt, apparently it was H and S that said it had to have a front barrier in case the actors hurt themselves.

What can be said that all you other guys have said. Wow!!!

Great paint job on the piebald and skewbald. I meant to ask why the breast harness, do you have reference or an educated gues? I have no idea what they used but museums are full of "dangly bits" I always thought looked like heavy horse brasses.

Martin