TE Fizzy Rehair + Guide (first time)

[Passionfruit]

INTRODUCTION

  Fair warning: Skip this if you don't want to read a lot random personal tidbits! I did replace my Fizzy's tail as well, but I did not include a guide for this. Sorry!

Hi there

First of all, I apologize for the terrible photos, an iPhone 4 was used to document the entire process under a dim light in a dark room.

I'm Passionfruit, a new member to the mlparena. Recently, I bought a G1 Fizzy off eBay, for around $20. There were several Fizzy's, all with different good and bad traits, but this Fizzy was by far the most well rounded (lack of spotting/decoloration/small marks/saturated cutie mark). The only downside was her hair, it looked a mess. I didn't really know just how bad until I got her though!

I think that photos speak louder than words here.

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Poor Miss Fizzy has what appears to be a haircut from a toddler! 

Anyways, one detail I forgot to mention was that this was a gift for my husband, whose nickname is, of course, Fizzy. Were both pretty disappointed in the hair. So I researched a quick bit, and found re-hairing to be a viable option. We didn't want to change her, we just wanted to bring out her full cuteness potential! And Fizzy was the perfect candidate. 

However, I've never modded a pony in my life. And the amount of options for rehairing seemed endless! There was the rehairing tool, which seemed really efficient, and well, just quite interesting. A time saver. But I asked my husband, "How are we guaranteed the hair isn't going to come loose?" We like brushing our ponies, and I could see a lot of hair being pulled out. I believe the answer is Glue and tension? I didn't research further into that, I knew I needed something that wouldn't pull out at the tug of a hair. So a knot, right? I thought, well, that's great, but then I have to individually tie each strand individually, which seems like a lot of work.

I researched more. And finally, my researching paid off. I found the Lock and Loop Technique that was elegantly described by MyLittleCustoms on their Youtube channel.

So the quest to rehair Fizzy began! I compiled as much information as I could, from My Little Customs, various other youtube tutorials, and DollyHair.com tutorials.

/INTRODUCTION

A quick list of terminology used in this guide:
Hank - A length of hair
Plug - A strand of hair pulled from the hank, usually cut down to the size needed for your pony
" - Abbreviation for inches

The list of items required were as follow:

- A couple grocery twist ties to keep from losing your place in the loop of hair
- A Sewing Needle and thread (I prefer a medium to large eye, small takes too long to thread)
- Tweezers to pull out hair
- Scissors to cut hair
- Pliers, preferably with a grip. I however, did not think of this in time, and had to use TWEEZERS. I really do not recommend, however considering I managed, it is not entirely impossible to do a rehair with either ...
- One Hank of each hair color in Nylon. I easily found a guide online that suggested Pink Sugar, Virgin Snow, Heartthrob, and Sea Nymph. I was wary of where I was going to purchase these colors. Nylon is what original pony hair is made of. Original choice was MyLittleCustoms.com, but they unfortunately were sold out of all the colors I needed! The next best thing was DollyHair.com, but several users had noted issues with this site in the past, which did leave me a bit worried. However, I felt despite this, the site was still up and running from many years, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. And thank god I did, for I was most certainly not disappointed! I would vouch for their site. Fast and cheap shipping, and I got all my colors, which were drop dead gorgeous!
- A Bowl of Water to wet down plugs of hair.
- and a Thumb Tack to widen the holes in the head.

Finally, I was faced with one last task. Learning how to cut my hanks into perfectly fitted plugs of hair. Basically, I tried my best to understand the math behind it, but in the end, I just had to cut and hope for the best.

Measurements

Super fun math times! A 38" hank can be turned into four 9.5" hanks. And Fizzy's head required 4.5" of hair at longest, at the very least, to leave room for a haircut. So that worked out in the math. But then came the tail, which would need to be redone as well. Her tail wasn't actually bad at all, the length seemed fair, but with her new hair, it would be appear quite pale and used by comparison. And my husband and I both agreed that a longer tail would be nice. So 5" in length meant we needed a 10" hank as well. So we needed to cut our 38" hank in half, which would give us two 19" hanks, then cut one of the two 19" hanks in half once more, giving us our 9.5" hanks required for the head. The other 19" hank would then be cut into one  10" hank for the tail, which gave me a lot of left over hair. 9"'s to be exact. This hair was never used, unfortunately. The entire project left us with a LOT of extra hair!

That seems like a LOT right? And if you're anything like me, you would never be able to visualize that in a hundred years! Go to http://www.dollyhair.com/reroottutorial.htm where it is much more eloquently explained (and visualized!) 

Time to get started, Fizzy is eager to get this over with!

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Possibly my worst photo yet! Get away grabby hands! 

Step 1. Removing the Head

You will not get far rehairing without taking off your precious ponies head! I know it sounds scary, but to a pony like Fizzy, it's just a fact of life! The process of removing the head is pretty simple. Take a blunt object like a knife or a strong comb. You will need to CAREFULLY run your pony under hot water, making sure to avoid the eyes (you CAN ruin the original paint job if you are not careful). This process makes the plastic more pliable, and the glue will be melted and easy to remove. Taking your knife (or comb), pry the head off CAREFULLY. You may need to cut a little inside, as that is what I did, but with a bit of persistence, and patience, the head should come off without too much resistance.

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I got a bit carried away and removed the hair without photos, oops!

Step 2. Removing the hair
Removing the hair was difficult at first. Most guides didn't describe just exactly how I was supposed to achieve perfect baldness. What they did say was to cut the hair down as close to the head as possible, which is exactly what I would recommend. Give her a mohawk!

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A very scary part of the process!

Protip: Document EVERYTHING. Take a picture of your pony at EVERY angle before doing anything! I took a picture of the hair cut short so I could see just exactly where to transition my colors! It will help you a lot in the end, especially if you're going for a perfect pony replication.

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Then, taking some tweezers, pull the hair from the outside, and in. You'll find it easier on the outside sometimes, and easier on the inside sometimes as well... Hair is just stubborn. I also took some small craft scissors and cut as much out from the inside as possible, making the hair shorter and thus easier to pull. A little patience...

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...and voila! A beautiful bald head, and the perfect canvas for our ponies new hair!

Yay!! 

Step 3. Cutting Hanks

I just used scissors, and then cut the pieces into the calculated lengths. Again, use the DollyHair tutorial to figure out your exact lengths. http://www.dollyhair.com/reroottutorial.htm

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(Sorry, I didn't take photos of the cutting, but it's fairly self-explanatory!)

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Here is one 38" hank of hair, ready to be cut in half. Once cut in half, I had two 19" hanks. I cut those in half once more, getting the desired length of 9.5".

Step 4. Following the Process!


PROCESS

So let me try and explain the process I used. Again, this may be hard to visualize, so I'll provide a link to the video that best describes it after. As I mentioned before, this method is called the "Lock and Loop Technique". And unlike other techniques, you can use simple household items to complete it! The way it works is incredibly simple, the worst part is how long it takes to complete. Definitely one of the slowest methods around, but it is also the most effective and strong holding, in my opinion. Basically, you'll be creating a chain with the hair, which will make it so the hair doesn't slip out.

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 First off, before you do anything else, take a thumb tack and put it in the first hole of your pony's head. The more time you leave it in, the more stretched it will be, so do this before even threading. Apologies for this particularly awful photo, but the idea is simple

Next, take a needle and thread.

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 Medium to large eye is best, as I said, because I started with a small one, and it took me a VERY long time to thread it over and over again. A medium-large eye is SUPER fast to thread, the only con being it's a tight fit to pull through the holes in the head.

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 Anyways. Taking a medium length piece of thread (I like mine to be around 12-13 inches), loop it over itself like so

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 then, taking the loop, thread it through the eye like you would normally, but looped.

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 Finally, pull the loop equally through so it lies about half way through, leaving the ends UNTIED. You will need this to be free for quick release.

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 Now, take your first plug, which should be very thin in size and wet it down. I suggest small amounts of hair per plug, because I made the mistake of putting a lot of hair in my plus, and ended up with a little too much hair! A small amount, when looped over, creates the perfect amount needed.

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 One plug created!
 
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 Take your first, wet plug and fold it over the looped end of the thread so it looks like these pictures. It's very important you make it wet, that way you won't have any hair strands going astray. It also keeps it neat and tidy.

I apologize, I don't have a photo of this next part, I didn't think far enough ahead! Please see the video below for a demonstration!

Take your needle and push it through the first hole in your pony's head, pulling it through with your hair plug not far behind. Try to get it all the way through, using tweezers to push it through the top if possible. Then, taking your handy no-slip pliers (or in my case, some practically useless tweezers) and pull the needle through until you can see your hair plug loop. Do not pull it any further than the plug sticking out, or you'll just pull it out. Now, take your thread and unloop it from the plug, leaving the hair in place and removed from the needle and thread!

Take your grocery store twist/bread tie, and loosely loop it through the exposed hair plug. This will prevent it from accidentally getting lost/mixed up with the next plug you'll pull through.

Now it's just a matter of RINSE and REPEAT! But as you go to pull through your second plug, make sure to pull it through the plug from before so that they chain together. This is what prevents the hair from getting pulled out. Occasionally, you'll mix it up or confuse yourself, and accidentally miss the previous plug, thinking you got it through pull out the entire plug you just threaded, and have to restart. It's frustrating, so be careful to always pull it through carefully!

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The first two holes completed.

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A few more done

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The first row DONE!

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Another shot

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Annnnd skipping ahead, DONE!

Now all that's left is to reattach the head. Using super glue is probably your best bet. Try to pop the head in almost completely, because the glue will dry fast. Leave just a bit of lip so you can insert the glue in between the head and the neck. Be careful not to get your fingers stuck together!

Easy, right? Okay, well, if you didn't follow that, here's that video link I promised, posted by MyLittleCustoms. It's a lot easier to follow, methinks. Hopefully you can see exactly what I am saying!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvVgxfaWHM

After you have followed the process, and spent many, many hours rehairing your pony, you should have the most majestic, beautiful mare anyone has ever laid eyes upon. Really, it's quite magical to take that first step back, and just go, "Wow. I did that."

Ta da!!!

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Right after rehairing, oh my I'm pretty! 

Before
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After   
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Welp! That wraps up this guide. Hopefully someone learned something from it, but I'll happily answer any more questions someone might have that has not already been addressed. The total time taken was about 16 hours. I worked straight through for an entire day, and finished up in the next. I think, however, that time could have been cut down had I simply used a larger eye on my needle in the first place, so please remember that if you do attempt this rehair technique!

Bonus Picture!

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Fizzy and Fizzy Pop! =)

Thank you so much for reading!!!! <3<3<3

---


References:

Where I bought my hair - http://www.dollyhair.com/main.htm
Another great place to buy hair - http://www.mylittlecustoms.co.uk/
Reroot Tutorial with Hank Cutting Guide - http://www.dollyhair.com/reroottutorial.htm
The Lock and Loop Technique - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvVgxfaWHM
A Super Similar Method "Floss Method" - http://ponycustoms.com/88/my_little_pony_tutorials/hair/rehairing/how-to-rehair-my-little-pony-manes/
A Website with all your Restoration Needs - http://www.mlppreservationproject.com/
Tutorial used to make new tail - http://www.mlptp.net/tutorials/makingtails.html

[rybett]

So that's how the needle/thread thing works!!  I use the rehair tool but had always wondered about this. 

[mlp4me]

She looks much better.
I use long beading needles from Hobby Lobby; I find they speed up the re-hairing process (don't last as long as needle and thread though) it usually takes me about 2 hours to finish an adult head with one of them.

[Spectrum]

Thanks for this! I tried using a rehairing tool but, even though I did everything pretty much every tutorial said, the needle kept snapping or pushing itself back inside the tool itself, so I gave up.  I'll try this sometime.

[Whippycorn]

Fun tutorial. I have never tried this method, I use the knot method usually (where two plugs share a central knot).

[EeveeMUA]

She looks so pretty now!   

One of my Fizzy's could do with a re-hair, but I'm far to scared to try! Maybe one day .. 

[Passionfruit]

Gosh, what a warm reception! I really appreciate all your comments, and I hope my guide helps with anyone who may want to try this technique! I sense there's a bit of fear in trying it for some of you, which is understandable, but it's definitely simple! It's just something you need to be able to dedicate yourself to for several hours at a time, which is frankly, tons of fun to me! I love doing small repetitive actions.

[hathorcat]

This could easily go in the Corral, but as its a full out rehair tutorial I am going to bump it over to Customs.

Fizzy looks awesome! Nice job.

[SunPony]

She looks great with her new 'do!  I'm sure she appreciates having a full head of hair again.
I have heard of this method before, but yes I suppose I have a little trepidation about trying new things    Maybe on my next pony head I should give it a shot! 

[Shenanigans]

She has such beautiful, thick hair now! Awesome job

[Passionfruit]

Thank you for your comments! 

I am brand new here and instantly assumed this would be a customs post. Then someone moved it to Corall? I'll have to research a bit more before making any new posts! Thank you for moving it.

[Colorscapesart]

Nice tutorial!  I'll add this to our Arena tutorial sticky!

[Passionfruit]

Awesome! Thanks ^^

[SpookyTrees]

She looks beautiful! Well done!

[achab1984]

She turned out very pretty! Make me want to get the other ponies out that I have to work on still!