How to Paint Model Horses

Painting model horses can be as simple or as detailed as you want.

Boys, girls and adults all enjoy painting model horses. It is an entertaining hobby; some model horse painters even enter contests and win prizes. Painting model horses can also be as simple or as detailed as you want; you don't even have to be realistic.

Things You'll Need

• Acrylic, water-based paint
• Multiple paint brushes
• Newspaper

Instructions

Preparation

1. Choose the color. Remember that you can be as realistic, simple, detailed or fanciful as you want, so choose whatever colors you want your horse to be.

2. Purchase the paint. Water-based acrylic paints are the most commonly used on model horses because they dry quickly.

3. Purchase the brushes. Most model horse painters use sizes zero, two and five brushes to paint horses. Some hobby shops sell brush kits which will have all the brushes you need.

4. Cover your worktable with newspaper. This will help keep your work area clean.

Painting

1. Take the paint color which you want your horse's main body to be and paint the entire horse that color. Use the biggest of your brushes to apply the paint faster. This is an undercoat so you don't need to worry about detail.

2. Let the first coat dry. Do not touch the horse for 10 to 15 minutes so as not to make any fingerprint marks in the wet paint.

3. Paint additional body colors onto the model horse. If you want your horse to be multi-colored, add those colors to the horse wherever you want those colors to appear.

4. Add detail. Using the smaller brushes, add detail to your horse, such as painting the mouth area black, adding color to the eyes and nostrils, changing the color of the hair and so on.

References

• Model Horse Guide: Model Horse Repainting
• Art by Crane: Model Horses