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Pony Corral / Re: Condition of neck seal
« on: June 17, 2013, 10:49:26 AM »
OK I've bathed and de-washered 10 ponies in two days. Here are the things I've learned (confirming some of the great advice above, many thanks!)
1. I'm not going to try to do so many in one go again. I run out of patience even though I love it so much. And you need major patience to remove heads.
2. Neck rings vary a lot. Use copious hot water and even hair dryer to warm up the glue. In many ponies the glue on the outside of the neck seal is easy to crack open under hot water with a blunt blade. However, one further into the join, some pony types have one or more points where the plastic seems actually fused between body and neck plug. Here it seems that using a sharp knife is unavoidable. Annoyingly in the Bow Tie pose the tough spot is right in the crook of the neck where any mistakes will be mega-obvious. On some ponies the base of the plug it really tough to open up all around the circumference - I ended up gently scoring with a sharp knife till the plug was free.
3. The two neck plugs (inside the neck seal) that I tore happened (1) because the blunt knife slipped in too far during the initial stage (2) I pulled strongly at a strong spot in the ring of the neck plug and tore too quickly into a weaker spot. So I blame myself and put this down to lack of patience. The variation in the plastic makes it really hard to judge how deep to go or how much strength to use so you just have to take it REALLY REALLY slowly, use strong but consistent pressure and keep swilling it under the hot water tap. This damage doesn't show on the outside and is 2 in 40 ponies so I'm kinda OK about it.
4. If nail varnish remover is necessary, only use the cheapest least coloured nail varnish remover as this is more likely to be purer acetone; formulations are different. Yesterday I stained a Cherries Jubilee slightly yellow as the remover contained some kind of conditioning agent (you shake two immiscible layers together before use). Luckily she was baity, and I'm going to keep using her as a guinea pig, and stick to the lab ethanol and acetone I swiped. She will be my first re-hairing project as the entire forelock is missing!
5. Factory curl is almost always salvageable with patience. I have heard so much about people taking straighteners to the ponies that I thought Buttons (my first) was a fluke but I'm so chuffed with my long haired Bow Tie and Waverunner from today. The ponies have less curl but you can still make it look nice - I don't mind if there is a little friz and fly-aways in curls, it's only natural. My Bow Tie is kind of frizzy in a way but it looks kinda cool like some enormous extravagant wig ha ha. I wish I had done hair before and after pics but I will in future!
6. I have decided my preference is that I don't want to buy ponies that have been treated in the following ways:
1. Boiling
2. Boiling in Oxy clean
3. Hair straightened using heat
4. Bleach
5. Excessive sunfading (Ok to fade unsightly biro, not left for weeks on end).
I'd rather have creamy coloured frizzy ponies until I learn more about how the above treatments affect the vinyl or Nylon hair.
I've had such a good time!
When I get the data cable back for my camera I'll post pics. I have before and after for Parasol, Windy and Gusty. Still havign problems with rust stains around Gusty's tail hole but it's coming together.
Lots of Lovexx
1. I'm not going to try to do so many in one go again. I run out of patience even though I love it so much. And you need major patience to remove heads.
2. Neck rings vary a lot. Use copious hot water and even hair dryer to warm up the glue. In many ponies the glue on the outside of the neck seal is easy to crack open under hot water with a blunt blade. However, one further into the join, some pony types have one or more points where the plastic seems actually fused between body and neck plug. Here it seems that using a sharp knife is unavoidable. Annoyingly in the Bow Tie pose the tough spot is right in the crook of the neck where any mistakes will be mega-obvious. On some ponies the base of the plug it really tough to open up all around the circumference - I ended up gently scoring with a sharp knife till the plug was free.
3. The two neck plugs (inside the neck seal) that I tore happened (1) because the blunt knife slipped in too far during the initial stage (2) I pulled strongly at a strong spot in the ring of the neck plug and tore too quickly into a weaker spot. So I blame myself and put this down to lack of patience. The variation in the plastic makes it really hard to judge how deep to go or how much strength to use so you just have to take it REALLY REALLY slowly, use strong but consistent pressure and keep swilling it under the hot water tap. This damage doesn't show on the outside and is 2 in 40 ponies so I'm kinda OK about it.
4. If nail varnish remover is necessary, only use the cheapest least coloured nail varnish remover as this is more likely to be purer acetone; formulations are different. Yesterday I stained a Cherries Jubilee slightly yellow as the remover contained some kind of conditioning agent (you shake two immiscible layers together before use). Luckily she was baity, and I'm going to keep using her as a guinea pig, and stick to the lab ethanol and acetone I swiped. She will be my first re-hairing project as the entire forelock is missing!
5. Factory curl is almost always salvageable with patience. I have heard so much about people taking straighteners to the ponies that I thought Buttons (my first) was a fluke but I'm so chuffed with my long haired Bow Tie and Waverunner from today. The ponies have less curl but you can still make it look nice - I don't mind if there is a little friz and fly-aways in curls, it's only natural. My Bow Tie is kind of frizzy in a way but it looks kinda cool like some enormous extravagant wig ha ha. I wish I had done hair before and after pics but I will in future!
6. I have decided my preference is that I don't want to buy ponies that have been treated in the following ways:
1. Boiling
2. Boiling in Oxy clean
3. Hair straightened using heat
4. Bleach
5. Excessive sunfading (Ok to fade unsightly biro, not left for weeks on end).
I'd rather have creamy coloured frizzy ponies until I learn more about how the above treatments affect the vinyl or Nylon hair.
I've had such a good time!
When I get the data cable back for my camera I'll post pics. I have before and after for Parasol, Windy and Gusty. Still havign problems with rust stains around Gusty's tail hole but it's coming together.
Lots of Lovexx
