MAKING THE Mold

Meet the artist behind some of your favorite Breyer models!

- SHOSHANA RUDSKI

We’ve all seen the finished product: realistic, scaled-down versions of beautiful and unique horses. But a lot goes into the process of making Breyer models come to life! Rayvin Maddock is an artist who gets to make her passion into her profession and sculpts Breyer horses for a living. We sat down with her to learn more about her process and what makes Breyers so special.

YR: What made you decide to start sculpting Breyer models?

RM: I started out by customizing Breyer models. That means re-painting or resculpting parts of the model, like the hair, face, or even the position of the legs, to make something totally new. I loved turning an existing model into a whole new horse and pushing the limits!

Eventually, I was invited by Breyer to sculpt their limited edition resin portrait of (Triple Crown-winning Thoroughbred) Justify, and then their Fireheart Mustang stallion mold, along with his mare and foal, Tigerlily and Firestorm. I also got to create a unicorn carousel ornament named Rosalie.

I honestly never imagined I'd even be good enough to repaint models, let alone sculpt for Breyer. I started collecting in high school, and a friend showed me how to repaint. After that, I got brave and tried resculpting and I fell in love with it. My favorite thing was making “drastic customs,” where you change the model so much you can’t even tell which Breyer it started as! That’s where my studio name comes from: Khrysalis Studios, like the chrysalis where a butterfly transforms.