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Equestrian challenge: Repainting a horse

From OurGeneration horse to buckskin Lusitano

I got a horse a while ago. 

It’s an OurGeneration horse (formerly known as Battat horse). Apparently they bought the company, the model is still the same as the old Battat horses.

I am pleasantly surprised that it has actually more sculpted details than I expected from the pictures.

I was already thinking of modding it, but maybe a repaint and a bit of sanding will do. Dapple gray would be nice, or maybe it’ll stay brownish – but with a lot of lighter parts. 

To give you an idea of the size: Big new guy with a Breyer classic. It’s ridiculous, really. And my cat, who wanted to say hello to the new guy. The horse is missing any gender specific parts, but the neck doesn’t look like a mare’s, so I’ll make it a gelding.

Part one: Removing the paint

Original paint with hair already removed

The horse turns out to be thoroughly painted. Several layers of dark brown to remove. I used the method I use for removing face ups/body blushing. 

First round of scrubbing

Wrapping alcohol-drenched cotton wool around the body and covering it with plastic wrap to keep it from drying is quite a bit of work when the object is this large. But letting it sit like that for a couple of hours did the job, and most of the paint came off at the first scrub. As you can see, there’s still a bit of scrubbing left. And apparently the plastic the body is made of was either brownish right from the start or it turned brown under the paint. Doesn’t matter though, the horse is going to be a buckskin Lusitano and the colour scheme will stay in the brownish range.

Part two: Repainting the horse

The horse in his new buckskin Lusitano coat. He already looks more like a real horse.

I used golden acrylic spray paint for the base and applied the black pastels – dapples with a brush.

Lusitanos are Portuguese horses, they usually stand around 15,2 hands high (155cm/62inches), so they are not really that big. And this horses head actually looks a bit like an Iberian horse with the eyes high up and to the front.

Part three: Adding mane and tail

Meanwhile the horse got a mane and tail, and I made a halter.  It even has eyelashes, although the pictures I was able to take are not the best, it is just too dark.  Mane and tail will get some added strands in a different color.

But before it started to snow I was able to take a few pictures in daylight, and they show at least how the colour looks. I would love to take pictures in sunlight to show the golden sheen, but that will have ot wait.

The mane and tail is made from black and silvergrey bjd hair wefts, which I tried to make a bit wavy with braiding and hot water.

I am quite happy with the way he turned out, even though I decided not to mod him and give the sculpt more detail. What was there is more visible now.

The tack is made from an old shoe lace and wire. I will have to drill holes to make his future bridle stay in place, I guess.

Meanwhile I’ve been sewing a saddle. Something I will not do again any time soon. Unfortunately the doll the horse was originally meant for has really long legs. The stirrups would have to come down to a level where it does not only look odd but any kind of aids given by leg pressure would not work. That’s why I decided to change the plans and the designated horse owner.

Please ignore the quickly and unevenly cut saddle pad- it was just meant to protect both horse and saddle from direct contact.

I am not 100% satisfied with how it came out, but my fingers are so sore that I am not doing another one for a while.

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13 thoughts on “Equestrian challenge: Repainting a horse”

  1. Thank you 🙂 I am happy with the way he turned out. Just a pity Raffine has such long legs, but he'll work as a pony. Raccoon girls would probably have the perfect size.

  2. wow, your Raziel is beautiful, just absolutely lovey. I see you did this in 2017. I am new to this hobby, just got dolls this June & July. I found a white Our Generation doll at the thrift store and am hoping to soon to fix him up for my JID's, Owen and Amy. I wish I had your artistic talent!
    I have no idea even what to paint to use. But, at least it is a $3 thrift store horse to experiment on! OH, and love the saddle and bridle too! I'm planning on making those also.

  3. Thank you :). I used acrylic paint and pastels. If you check youtube for model horse repaint tutorial videos you'll find quite a few that will probably give you some ideas.

  4. This is such a beautiful repaint! I picked up an Our Generation horse at Goodwill this morning with the intention of doing a repaint. Nice to see such a beautiful one online!

      1. Thank you so much. The mane was easy when I knew that it was removable, but I can’t get the tail plug out. 😅 Did you just cut it of and glue a new tail in?

          1. Yes, mine is a different model of the our generation horse so They may be a bit different. Thank you anyway for being so kind and helpful 🙂

            1. Maybe you can find a video about MG-horse customization that shows how to remove the tail. Keeping my fingers crossed you are successful with your horse!

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