Comanche War Pony

Sweetcakes

Ponyville Troubadour
Joined
Nov 20, 2007
Messages
61
If you're familiar with the Trail of Painted Ponies sculptures then you will probably recognize this piece. It is based on Comanche artist Rance Hood's War Pony, which was originally sculpted in full life-size glory, but was later released in a smaller scale for the Trail series.
I loved this sculpture from the moment that I first saw it (a local museum houses the original life-size pony), and I couldn't help but think how striking it would look as a My Little Pony custom. ^_^

I tried very hard to make my cute, miniaturized version of Hood's pony look as close to the original as possible. Unfortunately the photos that I had as reference weren't large enough for me to mimic every detail exactly. In addition, Hood himself changes the pony from sculpture to sculpture, so I don't feel so bad about the minor variations that appear in my version.

Comanche War Pony's shield, banner, and saddle notches were sculpted with Sculpey (this was my first attempt at sculpting). The feathers on the Pony are real, and were attached to toothpicks to create the arrows that are tucked behind his shield. His saddle was made from faux craft fur, and was trimmed to appear short and co**** (<--this is not a bad word, I promise) like bison fur. A ribbon of real leather cording is bound about his tail.

He was made from a Fluttershy and was given a full-body repaint. He was rehaired with Hematite from Dollyhair.com.

comanche_01.jpg


comanche_02.jpg


comanche_03.jpg


comanche_04.jpg


comanche_05.jpg


comanche_06.jpg


comanche_07.jpg


comanche_08.jpg



Here is Rance Hood's original War Pony:
comanche.jpg
 
Last edited:
Wow,
I just adore you're style Sweetcakes! Thanks so much for posting your creations here!You really have a way of using accessories and details.

That said, I don't know much about the painted war ponies. does the original artist have others? (and, will you be making mlp versions of any others?)
 
Wow! He's beautiful! I agree, that must have taken you soo long! He's gorgeous, love him!
 
Thanks, guys.
He did take me a good long while to complete. I had the painting done about a month and a half ago, but it took me forever to get all of the materials for his details. *phew*

Thank you so much, FantasticFirefly. o^_^o
I don't think that Rance Hood made any more for the Trail series. The series is a collection of ponies that are each designed and painted by different artists. Some of them look like realistic ponies that are made up in Native American warpaint (like the Comanche War Pony), while others are more like collages (there's one that's a ton of cows all painted on the horse's body like a stampeding herd :p). The end result is all of these pony sculptures with a shared style but completely unique concepts running between them. I like to think of them as customs that got widespread recognition. LOL
You can see more from the collection at trailofpaintedponies.com

I have thought about doing MLP versions of other Trail ponies, I'm just waiting for the right one to hit me. ^_^
 
What an unusual idea! You've done such a good job.
 
That's fantastic! I collect the Painted Ponies with my mom... but I never thought of making one into a custom!
 
Those accessories turned out perfectly! I love Native American horses, and Appaloosas are my favorite, so I obviously love this custom!
 
What an amazing custom! Such attention to detail, you did a awesome job. Very nice indeed! :)
 
Wow! The detail is incredible! That was a neat idea to do a custom based on the Trail series. I've seen those in shops and have always been fascinated by them. Can't wait to see your next inspiration!
 
The details are so awesome!! Wow, just wow!! That's such a gorgeous pony!!


(BTW, your link in your sig doesn't work... :frown: )
 
Back
Top