THE original models used to create the Scottish Kelpies landmark have gone on display at Musselburgh’s Queen Margaret University, after being brought over from America.

The three-metre-high maquettes, which were used to launch the now famous horse heads in Manhattan Square, were unveiled on the Musselburgh campus last week and will be ‘stabled’ there for the winter.

The Kelpies form the dramatic gateway to the new section of canal in Falkirk which links the Forth and Clyde canals and were hand-crafted by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott.

The final design of the 30-metre-high-scupltures was based on the maquettes, which toured the USA, appearing in Chicago, North Carolina and at New York’s Scotland Week.

QMU has a special connection with the Kelpies, after Walid Salhab, the university’s media practice lecturer, produced a stop-motion film of them which has been shared on social media all over the world and has received nearly 93,000 hits on the official website alone.

He was the only filmmaker to have unlimited access to the full four-month build phase and his portrayal of the construction helped launch the Kelpies and has been used promote them.

Award-winning filmmaker Mr Salhab said: “Filming the Kelpies over a six-month period, capturing the build and then their final completion was the most challenging project of my life.

“I spent so much time filming them during the day and in the dead of night, trying to capture their changing qualities, I began to feel that they belonged to me.

“To have the maquettes on display at Queen Margaret University is a dream come true. We couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present.” Professor Petra Wend, principal of Queen Margaret University, said it was an honour to be asked to home the models for the winter.

She said: “We are extremely grateful to Falkirk Council and we feel honoured to have the maquettes of the Kelpies housed at the university.

“We have sited the maquettes near the entrance to our academic building so that they face towards Musselburgh. It is also the first time that we have had art work displayed in University Square.” University Square has a daily footfall of about 2,500 and QMU believes that the maquettes will encourage many more people from the surrounding area to visit the campus.