Rehairing FBR

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I'm just curious about how to go about rehairing ponies that have paint near the plugs. When I was painting, some paint got over the plug holes and seemed to solidify. I've cleaned that out with a thin needle and was going to widen the holes with a pushpin before varnishing but a small amount of paint chipped between two plugs. Should I be touching up the hair plugs after varnishing or is this just an inevitability? I've just used acrylics (not the thinnest of coats probably) and I'm looking to seal with a matte varnish.
I can also rehair with either method if one of them is less prone to issues with chipping but I'd prefer to use the needle one/no glue/knot or whatever? I don't know it's name.

[Griffin]

I've had this issue before and unfortunately it's difficult to say what causes it - the type of pony used (some of them are softer, some are harder), differences between paint brands/colours, the sealant... You mention this happened before you sealed the paint?  Because for me it has usually happened despite sealing, so that may not help. But if it's any consolation, it certainly does not happen every time! I just wish I knew how to avoid it altogether. Did you use any kind of primer?

I've tried to identify some shared traits between the problematic customs and this seems to happen mostly with ponies painted in light colours (= lots of white mixed in), but not pure white ponies for some reason. Some of the worst cases I've had were white human skin colour and pastel yellow. And the thickness of the paint coat also seems to play a part. It's almost as if the paint coat is not flexible enough after a certain point so it chips if there is any pressure.

I recommend sealing the paint job now, then rehairing with whatever method you choose - just carry on even if the paint chips a little, unless it starts to come off in bigger flakes. You can touch up the paint after rehairing if necessary. Anything between the two rows of hair is usually hidden from view anyway. If you have brush-on sealant, you can carefully apply that, too; it should help the touch-ups blend in so they are less noticeable. Hope this helps!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

I've not put any primer! I just slapped a few coats of white on before going over it with light green. I'm using a G4 early Twilight Sparkle, too.
I'll go ahead and seal the paint and I'll let you know how it goes. Good point about being able to paint afterwards!

[Roogna]

I've repainted and then rehair a LOT of customs, and I have had a handful chip the paint away when rehairing. I have no explanation why one custom and not 10 others
I have painted heavy coats of paint and light coats (I don't bother cleaning the plugs or widening them)
chipping has mostly happened on g1 for me, for what that's worth
When it happens I push on, finish the rehair, then touch up the paint

[SunPony]

Sometimes it happens and you can just touch up the paint.  I've had it happen just a couple times, between the two lines of hair so the touch up was not too noticable. 

Here are the things I do to try and keep this from happening:
Scrub the pony with dish soap and a toothbrush, and dry thoroughly before starting to paint. 
Keep the paint as thin as possible up around the hair holes.
Poke the holes that look filled-in with a needle in between paint coats.
Don't let the clear varnish/topcoat clog up the holes.
Use the rehairing tool method (mine is just a needle cut open but same idea, you push the plug into the hole then pull the tool out).
Push a thumbtack into each hole before pushing the plug in. 

I don't know if any of the above ACTUALLY works, but since doing all of the above I haven't had any more chipping/peeling issues.   

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Ah, much less chipping after I did my varnish. I had thought the varnish would make a hard layer that would crack once the rehairing started, but it did put up with me squishing the plastic quite a bit to get the neck plug back in.
The only real chips are on the plug holes from me wiggling my needle around too much and from when I nicked the paint with my fingernail, but not enough to make me want to touch it up.

[Griffin]

That's good to hear!

Out of curiosity, which varnish do you use? I believe the spray varnishes make a thin enough layer to withstand the squishing, and polyurethane varnishes and acrylic mediums are essentially plastic so they're flexible to a certain extent, just like acrylic paints.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Yep, it was a spray! I'm lazy and eating chicken nuggets (yum) so I'm gonna say it was a Krylon topcoat because I recognize the bottle, my mom had it somewhere and was like "Don't go out and buy one we  have it here". I did use a Liquitex gloss on the eyes and painted symbols, but those were on the body (well, not the eyes).