Customizers' chit-chat thread

[Ponybookworm]

Absolute WOW Puush!!! I'm particularly in awe at the details in the Peacock's tail!!!

[SunPony]

Those both look awesome!  The level of detail!!

Regarding sticky customs: I actually JUST dealt with the same problem.  I think I hadn't let the paint dry long enough before sealing.  But I tried using a new kind of sealant over to of it, weeks later, and it seems to have done the trick - she is now totally dry-feeling.  The new kind I tried is Vallejo polyurethane matt varnish.  I brushed it on but apparently it can be used with airbrush as well.  Note that it is water based.

[BlackCurtains]

Ah puush, it's so nice to see your work again! I really dig the dragon! I love that the eyes of the peacock feathers are also Pony

[mlp4me]

Cute Puush!

Well, I've gone a bit sea pony crazy. Decided I want to finish up my adults, whether original or customs.

I'll be painting clam shells (purple in pic to be painted a lighter purple, green won't be painted) repro and originals will not be spared.

Customizing both ponies in the below pic (one to be white body ::gasp:: with red hair adult, the other I'm not sure yet).

Starlight studios conch shell set is on the way, I can't wait to see them in real life. I eventually will buy a second set to paint.

Another custom, ordered from Clipper the HQG1C gitd upward looking sea pony. There will be either a dye or fbr yellow with pink hair...

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Whew! This is going to be an INSANE undertaking!

[ChocolateStarfire]

Puuush, I love your sculpted elements, the Muffins tail is beautiful, and that dragon looks so cool! <3

I've finished Janine, just need to seal in her paint and do some clean up...when I was painting her jumpsuit I thought of the Pink Ladies from Grease! LOL

I'm moving soon-ish, so I am hesitant to keep customizing...I do have a Jurassic Park themed boy in mind...but other than that...we shall see! :3

[puuush]

Those both look awesome!  The level of detail!!

Regarding sticky customs: I actually JUST dealt with the same problem.  I think I hadn't let the paint dry long enough before sealing.  But I tried using a new kind of sealant over to of it, weeks later, and it seems to have done the trick - she is now totally dry-feeling.  The new kind I tried is Vallejo polyurethane matt varnish.  I brushed it on but apparently it can be used with airbrush as well.  Note that it is water based.

Thanks SunPony. I will try this. Fingers crossed.
I tested 4 different sealants under the hooves now and all turned out to be sticky. I have a feeling, that it is the plastic of the pony itself, as I had this problem with every single layer of paint. And believe me, there are about 5 layers of paint and now about 3 layers of sealant on this poor girl.

Ah puush, it's so nice to see your work again! I really dig the dragon! I love that the eyes of the peacock feathers are also Pony

Hahaha! I'm so happy you realised that! :hugs:

Thank you all. It feels so great to be back and get the wonderful cheering and support of my pony friends.


Wow, mlp4me. That is a lot of work. Painting it white will need lots of layers. Can't wait to see them.

Oh ChocolateStarfire, a Jurassic themed boy would be sooooo coooool!

[mlp4me]

Wow, mlp4me. That is a lot of work. Painting it white will need lots of layers. Can't wait to see them.

Decided that I'll actually start with a layer of white pearl. Knowing it spreads smoothly and can offer a reasonable amount of coverage in a few layers. Fingers crossed!

[Griffin]

Does anyone else have a hard time coming up with names for customs?

Sometimes the name comes easily, in a few cases the name has been the starting point for the whole concept. But sometimes (probably more often than not) I only start thinking about the name when it's time to show off the custom or ship it to my swap partner. Where do you get ideas for names?

(I may have spent some hours yesterday and today desperately browsing the dictionary for ideas )

[BlackCurtains]

I like to take a feature from the custom and plug it into Google translate, cycle through languages until something sounds good. Like, one custom I made was a bat. Bats live in caves and the custom was like a mega bat. I came up with  Cave Master but thought it was too plain a name, so I ran it through the Romanian language and used that. Romania because Dracula and bats!

Or even simpler, flower or storm or whatever in a different language. Maybe it's a little lazy but it's worked for me so far, haha.

[rybett]

Ooo, I like that idea. 

[BlackCurtains]

Thank you!

Suddenly, I want to make a bee pony.

[SunPony]

Those both look awesome!  The level of detail!!

Regarding sticky customs: I actually JUST dealt with the same problem.  I think I hadn't let the paint dry long enough before sealing.  But I tried using a new kind of sealant over to of it, weeks later, and it seems to have done the trick - she is now totally dry-feeling.  The new kind I tried is Vallejo polyurethane matt varnish.  I brushed it on but apparently it can be used with airbrush as well.  Note that it is water based.

Thanks SunPony. I will try this. Fingers crossed.
I tested 4 different sealants under the hooves now and all turned out to be sticky. I have a feeling, that it is the plastic of the pony itself, as I had this problem with every single layer of paint. And believe me, there are about 5 layers of paint and now about 3 layers of sealant on this poor girl.

I hope it goes well for you!  Do keep me updated, I'm very interested to see if it works for you, too.  I think Vallejo is a Spanish brand so probably you can find it where you are?



About naming customs...I'm afraid I'm not very clever about naming ANYTHING, so mine are pretty generic if I even name them at all.  The Google translate idea sounds pretty cool!  I might have to give that a try.

[Snapdragon]

Welcome back Puuush, it's been a little while since I saw your name! Your WIP looks fab, and I hope you can de-sticky that dragon pony, because they're lovely!!

I've finally got back into some work; making hair plugs! Since I use the knot and loop method, it takes foreeeeever, but I've got a good rhythm going! Listening to a podcast makes it go so much faster! I did red months ago, then I did orange two nights ago, and yellow last night! I'm halfway through the rainbow!!

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[Griffin]

Thanks for the eye candy, Snapdragon! Knotting the plugs does take some time. When doing (adult G1/G3) customs I like to do the knotting first and the actual rehairing the next day, although I've sometimes done it all in one sitting. (But I was younger then, lol!) I typically use the rehair tool on G4 ponies, and since they have much less hair anyway I love how quick they are to rehair. But I'm still not willing to give up my trusted needle & thread method. I find trimming the hair afterwards difficult, and that's pretty much what has to be done when using the tool. And I don't like filling the heads with glue. Besides, knotting the plugs can be quite soothing and I enjoy doing it while watching tv!

I have so many ponies now that are either complete or will be complete soon, I can't wait to post pics! A couple will be offered as prizes for the Halloween colouring contest so keep your eyes peeled.

[BlackCurtains]

I used to do needle and thread, don't remember how to anymore I use the reroot tool these days, though a lot of my customs don't have hair anyway. I think I'm going to use wool or something on my wing guy and that gets glued.

Speaking of my wing guy, I still haven't uncovered him. I'm wondering if I put him in a box of customs. That would have made the most sense but for some reason I thought he was in a craft box.

I'm kind of nervous about using my airbrush whenever I get around to it. My compressor is small and shuts off automatically when it gets to the right pressure but it's still a little loud. I hope my downstairs neighbor doesn't complain... (though I could complain about her dogs barking all day too). I was thinking of running it when the lawn care people are here to mask the noise. Oh well, that's still a ways off. I need to find the darn pony first