Joanna's BCC entry

 Today's first featured BreyerFest Best Custom Contest is Joanna Bechtel Chronister's Kito.

She writes: This is Kito. He is a Pseudomelanysm Bruchelli Zebra. I entered him in the Most Extreme Custom division.

His name means Jewel in Swahili.

He’s based off of a real zebra in Kruger National Park.

I’ve been fascinated by pseudonysm in zebras since I saw him.

Kito started as an Idocus. I removed his mane, tail, head, neck and ears. Then I resculpted all that plus  part of his head.

Congratulations, Joanna. I, too, have a picture of this zebra in my reference files, so I love seeing him realized in model form. He is every bit as neat as I'd imagined. Good work and good luck at BreyerFest!

Barn party

Every year since 2022, barn buddy, Linda, has organized a barn party in June.

The first year was just food and dress up.

literally, the only thing Olive would wear

Since then, things have gotten a little more exciting.

We still have food, of course.

Everyone loves food.

But now we have obstacles, too.

Tulio and Kat

A whole arena full!

This year's obstacles included a Bozo the Clown punching bag,

Princess and Ris

a cowboy curtain,

Guaranteed and Diana

a rattley drag bag,

Sage and Jennifer

some hula hoops,

Pebble

Angelo's inflatable kangaroo...

Dango

and zebra,

Domino and Ruth

ground poles,

Rhaena and Nicky

a tarp,

Breezy and Giselle

an umbrella,

Humvee and Greg

a walk through...

Gambler and Linda

and, of course, the giant blow up unicorn.

Everyone takes turns going through the course with their horses.

Guaranteed, Kalypso, Halston and Sage with Diana, Julie, Anthony and Seth

It's a little bit chaotic...

Spanky and Issica

and a whole lot of fun.

Summer and one of her students

Sadly, this will be the last party with this particular unicorn.

There was an incident, which did not involve either Sage or me...

actually innocent

and the party ended with a burial.

Goodbye, friend. You served us well.

Despite - or perhaps, because of - everything, that was a truly epic barn party.

Gambler, Linda and Diana

I can't wait to do it again.

Sage, too.

All we need is another unicorn!

Kira's BCC entry

Every year, the Fantasy category is a showcase for some of the most ambitious, accomplished and competitive pieces in the entire BreyerFest Best Customs Contest. This year is no exception. Take a look at this gorgeous - and gorgeously photographed entry - from past winner, Kira Matrejek!

The Lotus Hippocampus

by Kira Matrejek

My entry for this year's BreyerFest 2026 Best Customs Contest is the Lotus Hippocampus. Smaller and rarer than their ocean-dwelling cousins, this seahorse lives in freshwater lakes and ponds, nibbling on lotus leaves, their favorite food. Flower-like fins bloom from their necks and backs like living petals, and their shimmering scales catch the light in bright glints and flashes. If you spy a line of lotus blossoms weaving through the water, you might just have spotted a Lotus Hippocampus!

This fellow is customized from a Breyer freedom-scale rearing mustang, epoxy putty, and air-drying clays. His tail is actually made from part of the original neck, dremeled and glued in and epoxied over:

My original plan was to make a bunch of individual scales and glue them on. I spent hours making tiny scales out of air-drying clay. But then I found it took forever to glue them on, to position them... and I also didn't start on that til far too late. On Sunday morning, five days before the deadline, I had this: 

I liked the look of this but admitted I wasn't going to finish in time. So I removed all those and went with plan B: I rolled out layers of air drying clay and glued them on, then pressed in scales using some U-shaped stamps I made. Later the same day I had this:

Much better progress! Two days later I had all the scales in, and had him primered:



He's almost entirely painted in metallics, which didn't photograph well but I do love the look. It's pretty fantastic in person. Here's another in-progress, after metallic airbrushing but before handpainted details:

I still had to make a bunch of lotus flowers for his back, and stayed up late making all of these the night before the deadline. (Yes, I'm a maniac.) I used a stamp for making individual petals. I stamped out four petals per flower, arranged them in a cross-shaped set of four, then let them dry in a circular mold. Then made four more petals, cut them to be a little smaller than the outer set, glued them together, then glued them *inside* one of the existing flowers. Each lotus flower has eight petals, and I made thirteen of them... plus some buds for the tail. Once dried I shaded them with a bit of magenta pan pastels... that was probably the easiest part of the process!

I didn't get a photo of the flower-making while I was doing it, but here's an example with some of the dried petals:

I made the lotus leaves out of air drying clay also, though they were simpler... I just cut out circles and pressed in some texture. I also painted some lines on them for better detail. 

There was a lot of gluing and arranging the morning of the deadline, but finally with a little over an hour to spare, I decided he was done and got busy taking photos!

I  picked out the perfect underwater photo from an online stock photo site, and had it printed large enough to be the backdrop for my entry. Yay for Staples having a 40% off printing sale this week!

And I love the end result! He does look magical, doesn't he? 

Usually I try to come up with a creative name for my fantasy entries, but this year this fellow let me know his name before I even finished him. Meet "Mr. Pringles." And given the name, I went ahead and sculpted some whiskers for him too. Why not? I like that mustache!

Congratulations, Kira. Mr. Pringles is a stunner, and I also love that mustache. Good luck at BreyerFest!

Cameryn's BCC entry

Introduced as a permanent category just last year, Glow Ups is the newest addition to the BreyerFest Best Customs Contest roster. In it, artists are challenged to take a model and customize it to make better but still completely recognizable. That's exactly what Cameryn Oswald did with Adios. Here's the story behind the entry.

The Making of Adios

by Cameryn Oswald

Introducing my Best Customs Contest entry for this year.... Adios!

He was my last minute switch after my original entry didn't pan out, and I finished him within a month. I've always loved Standardbreds, but I never felt like this mold looked right for the breed, so I wanted to glow up that aspect! 

While creating him I read a biography on him - a bold move for someone with a tight deadline! - and learned just how pivotal he was for the Standardbred breed. 

He is a rather simple model, but I think he is one of the most challenging customs I have created! I started with a cheap Yellow Mount I found at an antique store. He underwent a lot of chopping to fix his overall proportions and fit the breed. 

Funnily enough, he was full of dirt. I’d like to think this was some child’s favorite. 

He got completely sanded down and new muscling over everything, newly sculpted head, and tail. 

He had lots of sanding, and poor little me accidentally took away some of his wrinkles trying to smooth him out. 

When it finally got to painting I started him with a metallic coat but when I sprayed over it the metallic paint reacted and he needed stripped. 

Honestly he kinda became a train wreck after I finished sculpting, but somehow we pulled through and got done on time! 

I’m just so proud of how he turned out! 

Congratulations, Cameryn. I love that you repurposed a model full of dirt and also hope he was someone's favorite. Perhaps soon, he will be a three judge panel's favorite, too! Good luck at BreyerFest!