My first Twinkle Eyed pony, need advice restoring her ![Now with pics]

[RoseNoire]

Hello everyone !

A friend of mine just gave me her childhood ponies, thinking they were fakies I intended to custom, I discovered she had a Twinkle Eyed pony (Whizzer) and a Rainbow pony (Moonstone). I am so happy right now even though they are in really bad shape. (Dirty, probably rusty, mane cut off, "makeup" with sharpies,...) I really want to bring their honor back, I need your help !

Well, Moonstone is the easy one, just have to clean her up, remove the stains, maybe sunfade, scrub the rust off the inside and make her mane better looking even though it'll be short.

But Whizzer is the most important and delicate. She is as dirty as Moonstone, but since she is a Twinkle Eyed pony, she needs special treatment I don't know. That's where I need your help. Tell me all I have to know to restore a Twinkle Eyed properly. Her eyes are already damaged on the front face of her gems. What should I do to repair her eyes properly so she doesn't have that weird looking white spot ? Also, she is really hard, so I know she's not like the others. I will have to apply a good amount of heat to pop her head out, I guess. What chemicals am I allowed to use on her without ruining her eyes ?

How do I remove my pony's heads properly ? They are so hard sometimes it looks like their head and body is just fused together. I damaged enough pony necks, I need to know how to do it the right way. T-T

So, yeah, I'm so happy to have them, it is such a surprise, I really want to restore them the best way possible ! Send Help !

Photos below :

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Have a nice day, thank you so much for your help !

[Mlp Sunsparkle]

Hi!
Unfortunately I don't think there's a way to restore scuffed twinkle eyes
If she's like a rock then her plasticiser has probably leached out, which is fairly common with the twinkle eyes.

As for head removal, being rock solid will make it harder, and hopefully others have some suggestions for you, as I have only removed already partially loose heads. You could try warming her up with a hairdryer not too close to paint or a hot water bottle to make her squishy, but I don't know how well that would work.

As for chemicals, I would reccomend avoiding using them on with twinkle eyes, as the coating can be removed easily by them. For dirt, a magic eraser is the best option (just go careful on painted areas), as it contains no chemicals. You could also use soap or washing up liquid if you cant get hold of one

I hope this was at least a bit helpful for you, and I'm sure some restoration experts will be along soon

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

You may have to find replacement sequins

[RoseNoire]

Okay, where do I find find them ? Are they an exact match ? How do I make the replacement properly ? I have so many questions. I don't have any baits, I can't mess this up.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

I've never replaced them myself. But they are or at least appear to be fake-jewel sequins like you would find at a craft store.
If they're just glued to the surface you should be able to pry them off bt working carefully with a fine sharp blade.
A fine sharp blade would also probably be helpful in getting the head off - it's my experience that G1 heads actually are fused to the body in one or two spots. Just be very careful and don't poke the blade in any farther than necessary.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

http://www.aikarin.com/mlp/customs/customfaq.html
Ctrl+F and type in "Twinkle Eye" or just scroll down!

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Wow was I wrong about the eyes

[Safflower]

To take her head off, just heat it up using hot water. She is hard because her plasticizer has leaked out. It should soften the vinyl anyway. If there are any spots already unsealed, stick a butter knife in and try to go around the head and break the seal. To get rid of dirt, you can use a magic eraser. Don't scrub on the paint too hard though. To touch up here eyes, you could use some pearlescent coating on the part that is scuffed. I don't really know how though, I haven't tried it myself. As for which chemicals you can use, don't use OxiClean or hydrogen peroxide (OxiClean contains hydrogen peroxide.)

[Shy Violet]

Before you even think about the eyes I would wash her in warm water with dish soap and a tooth brush and shampoo and condition her hair. That should get the dirt off and then you can better assess what she needs done. I use acetone on a q-tip to get stubborn marks off but don't use it by eyes or symbols. Magic eraser is also a good suggestion.

Does she actually have rust in her? If she doesn't then I wouldn't bother opening her up. If she does then you'll want to put her in hot water to soften the neck joint and gently pry it apart. You may have to re-submerge her several times to heat it back up as you go. Don't cut the join but do use a butter knife to help gently separate the neck.

Her eyes are not bad, I wouldn't replace them. I've never done it but I hear that you can't get the exact same size gem so they'll always look off. I think Twinkle Eyes look just fine with some scratches and rubs.

As others have said, don't use Oxyclean because it will remove the finish on her eyes and it can also remove glitter symbols. It also dries out hair so I only use it on baity ponies.

Hope that helps.

[Leave a Whisper]

http://www.mlppreservationproject.com/index.html

When in doubt, I often turn to this site. It has lots of helpful tutorials.

[LadyMoondancer]

I really wouldn't suggest replacing her eyes. It would be a huge pain in the butt and would require major surgery. The real gems have a special shape that allows them to sit securely in the sockets. You won't find craft gems like that.  Replacing eyes on TEs isn't something most people do, even if they're scuffed.

[Leave a Whisper]

I wouldn't suggest it either.

[RoseNoire]

Hello everyone, thank you so much for your advice, they were quite helpful, thanks for all your links.
Well, it took me about one and a half hour to clean them both, they look better with their mane done and all that dirt cleaned off. I guess they will stay as they are now. Some dirt spots stay here and there. Their "makeup" didn't go 100% away but it's better. I might have to sunfade, but I have zero experience with sunfading. I don't want to mess this up.
I am really happy to have a TE. They look like like aliens with those bug eyes.  But I don't mind at all, they look funny.

Photos of them after their bath :

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[Baby Sugarberry]

Third-ing don't replace the eyes.  It's a very difficult thing to get right, and they're really not that bad.
Sunfading is the only likely option for taking out those makeup stains.  They're in the plastic itself.

You've got what looks to be the Italian Moonstone there, which is a bit rarer than the usual one.

[LadyMoondancer]

Wow, they look so beautiful after their bath! <3