CUSTOM: Stablemates Sleipnir!

Hey Magicians!

Today I'll be sharing the result of a long-running project that I'd been planning for a few years!  It was inspired by a few things, but mainly my experience playing Dungeons and Dragons and my longtime obsession with Norse mythology. 

However, it was only after seeing the magnificent Schleich-based Sleipnir model created by Shoestring Stable that I decided to give a Stablemates-based version of this mythological horse a go.

According to the Viking mythos, Sleipnir is the eight-legged horse ridden by the god Odin and occasionally lent to various human heroes (like Sigurðr).  Sleipnir was said to be a son of Loki, and was the "best of all horses."

Unfortunately, I could not find most of the photos I took of the process of creating Slepnir (which began over winter break of 2019-2020).  The only one I could find was this one, which shows the four pieces I used to create him: 

As you can see, he was resculpted from a combination of the G3 Rearing Andalusian mold and the G2 Appaloosa mold.  I removed the center section of each body, then sandwiched the front and back of the Appaloosa in between the front and back of the Andalusian.  I attached the pieces with wire and hot-glue, then reinforced the bond with Apoxie Sculpt.

I also repositioned most of the legs so that he could stand a little better and so that the legs appear to be "flowing" from front to back (I hate to say this, but I imagine him moving a bit like a centipede.)

Next, I used more Apoxie to fill out his tail, smooth out the repositioned areas, and add some bulk on his face and feathering on his legs.  The feathering also helped to reinforce the joins at knees, hocks, and fetlocks, which had been weakened after the respositioning.  It took some serious sanding and Dremel-ing to smooth out all the lumps and bumps.

A bit of white paint and some more sanding helped to smooth things out and prime him for the final paint job:

As usual, the paint job goes in stages.  I wanted to make him a cross between a blue roan and a dapple grey, so I started with a dark grey base coat fading into black at the points:

Next, I faded the ends of his mane and tail and the feathering at the bottoms of his legs into white, and gave him shell-colored hooves:

Then, I added black roaning all over his body.  I get to use a toothbrush for this, so it's always my favorite part!

Finally, I added some light-grey spots on top of the roaning.  I also gave him a bald face, blue eyes, and some pinking on his muzzle.

And he's done!  I wish I had more photos of the process, because he looked really crazy for a long time, and I had my doubts about whether he would work out!  But, I'm super happy with how he finally turned out.  

(Yes, I made fan art.)

As always, feel free to comment below or email me at modelhorsemagic@gmail.com. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel, Miniature_Magic, for unboxings, collection tours, DIY tutorials, and more.Bye Magicians!
~Miniature_Magic