Yay and neigh! Favourites questionnaire

[Griffin]

Just a fun and light topic

What is your favourite...

1. Generation and pose to use for customs?
2. Hair colour or combo?
3. Body colour?
4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?
5. Theme?

What about your least favourites? Why?

Feel free to tell me more about your choices!

[BlackCurtains]

Ooh! Fun

1. Generation and pose to use for customs? I like G3 the best. Sometimes G1 are just too big, especially if I'm sculpting. G3s tend to be just the right size and they're proportioned really well. For pose... hmm. I like Kimono pose but I also like the 3D symbol poses a lot, which sucks, because you have to cut the gem out

2. Hair colour or combo? Well, orange and blue are my all time favorite color combo. I also like yellow and pink, brown and pink, and really dark greens and black.

3. Body colour? Orange No, but I like yellow too. My favorite body color to actually work with is white though. Nice clean slate.

4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?). I love sculpting on the body. It can be tricky though, because I prefer polymer clays to epoxy and the pony needs to go in the oven. I've baked a lot of ponies and only had weird issues pop up a couple of times, but it's always a risk. Also, because I tend to sculpt heavy handed and the pony gets squishy, I've had some collapse under the weight of the clay

I have experimented with sculpting separate from the pony itself and then gluing it on later. It just doesn't have that nice smooth look.

5. Theme? I like horror themes, but I also like pretty pastel themes. Food is always fun.

What about your least favourites? Why? My least favorite gen to work with is G4, and again it's because of the size. They just don't leave enough room for me to get inspired. To this day I've never customized one. Least favorite poses, hmm.... the Diva G3 pose is a little hard because of the way the neck is turned. I find the head harder to get off cleanly. Any G1 pose with the legs close together, like the Fizzy pose. Ugh! I just want to paint ONE leg, not both at the same time!

Least fav color combos? Hmm. I'm not a big fan of purple and like the Halloween purple and green look I think is overdone.

Don't really have a least favorite body color. I recently started applying gesso to my customs as a base layer. So it doesn't matter much.

Least favorite technique, I just don't like painting eyes. I'm not good at it and bad eyes can completely ruin the whole look. Material to use, I'm actually gonna say Apoxie Sculpt. I do have a slight allergy to it (makes my hands itchy) and I don't like wearing gloves. It has its uses for sure. I use it more inside the pony, like holding weights in or anchoring wings. I've tried Apoxie Clay as well and that is a little better. I dunno. I just like polymer better.

My number 1 least favorite thing of all? PREPPING! Hate it.

[SunPony]

This is a fun thread to

What is your favourite...

1. Generation and pose to use for customs?  G3, unless its one of those G3 baits with the impossibly large amount of glue in the head    As for pose...hmm...I don't think I have a favorite, I like to pick on that suits the "personality" of the theme.
2. Hair colour or combo?  I secretly prefer natural-horse-type colors <.<   And I like doing thin little stripes in the mane, if that makes sense?
3. Body colour?  I think maybe ivory!  I've done two ivory colored customs and they ended up being two of my top faves that I've made. Whatever else one paints on the pony really stands out against it, I guess.
4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?  I like to do really detailed symbol painting.  Which is ridiculous because I have no depth perception so it is very hard for me to do 
5. Theme?  Possibly food, lol 

What about your least favourites? Why?

1. Generation and pose to use for customs?  G5 because the baits are REALLY HARD to prep!  Literally hard.  And I'm with BC on anything with a gem or 3D symbol 
2. Hair colour or combo?  Really bright colors.  I like to see them on other ponies, but for some reason I shy away from them.
3. Body colour? I've never met a body color I didn't like    Maybe gray? 
4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?   I'm intimidated by sculpting
5. Theme?  Realistic horse.  I've seen awesome ones others have made, I just have no desire to do one myself.

[Griffin]

Thanks for the replies, I love reading these! Keep them coming  
Here's my own

Favourites

1. Generation and pose to use for customs?
Although it really depends on the personality of the custom like SunPony said, I always love working with the G3 diva pose. (Not the prepping part, though!) And G1 shy pose, I find it very versatile.

2. Hair colour or combo?
I like subtle blends of several colours, but some that I can't do without are Poison Ivy green and maybe Espresso or some other chocolatey brown colour.

3. Body colour?
White is my favourite to work with, but I love all colours.

4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones)?
Dry brushing is a fun technique! I use it often. As for more creative materials, paper is versatile. I've used it to make armatures for sculpting, and once on top of the pony (strips of patterned paper glued down and sealed).

5. Theme?
Animals and nature-inspired.

Least favourites

1. Gen & pose
I'm rarely inspired by the G1 collector pose or the early G1 unicorn poses (Glory, Moondancer etc.), although they can be just right for certain types of customs. G3 Daffidazey pose looks goofy. I'm not sure if I've ever had a bait in that pose, though, so this is mostly theoretical.

2. Hair colour or combo
Also not a fan of the purple & green Halloween combo (but I admit I've once done a H'ween custom in these colours and love it, so...).

3. Body colour
I love orange ponies but orange FBR sounds like a nightmare, even more difficult than yellow to pull off! I've never tried it though. Bright red is something I struggle with, design-wise. White skin colour is also tough, I've done a couple of customs that are based on white human characters and it's difficult to achieve the colour, plus I've noticed it tends to crack easily. I've sometimes had this happen with other pale colours with a lot of white mixed in, but for some reason never with white paint only...?

4. Technique or material
I don't like spray sealants. These days I also avoid putting ponies in the oven. I use both Apoxie Sculpt and Fimo, but try to limit the latter to accessories or other things that can be baked without the pony. And as much as I hate working with gloves, I've started using them with Apoxie, just to be on the safe side...
 
5. Theme
I was never that interested in merponies (i.e. ponies with a mermaid tail) back when "everyone" was making them. I admired beautiful ones made by others but never had the desire to make one myself. But now I feel like it would be fun to try it some time! I've also never done a Hasbro custom, I'm happy to leave those to others. I might be persuaded to do a remix or reinterpretation in my own style but I wouldn't attempt a factory look, I don't have the tools and techniques for that. I hugely admire people who can make those kinds of customs, however!

[BlackCurtains]

Oh, I forgot my least favorite theme! I'm going to also say Hasbro ponies for the same reasons you stated, Griffin. With the exception of Raincurl in different gens, I've never wanted to make one.

[Ponybookworm]

1. Generation and pose to use for customs?
Fave: G1 because of size, ease of head removal, room to rehair, room to paint symbols, & simple eyes. Classic & gorgeous.
Least fave: G5, so small, so awkward to get at anything...

2. Hair colour or combo?
Fave: Rainbows, the more colours the better!!!
Least fave: pink because it's so overdone, like half of all Ponies have pink hair & it's ridiculous...

3. Body colour?
Fave: blue because it's my fave anyway, also shout out to orange & green
Least fave: pink for the same reason as the hair.

4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones)?
Fave: dyeing. Love being able to add or change a colour with so little effort & it still looks natural, unlike a paint job.
Least fave: baking clays. If I have to mould, I'd rather do an air-drying clay so the Pony doesn't get damaged too much.

5. Theme?
Fave: Rainbows, stars, anything which hasn't been done to death. Also give me a unique theme & I'm on that!!!
Least fave: Hair/ make-up themes have been done to death. I make an exception for Twisty Tail in different gens but yikes I do NOT want to see more "beauty" Ponies. I'm not huge on make-up or elaborate styles, on me or on Ponies...

[Leave a Whisper]

1.Generation and pose to use for customs? G1 is my favorite generation,  but G3 and Coconut Grove pose is my favorite for customs. That neck glue however is too strong.

2. Hair colour or combo?
Since I can't rehair a mane, white so I can dye it. Unless they have a particularly pleasing or theme appropriate hair color. I usually leave the hair as is tbh.

3. Body colour?
Any body color will do.

4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?
I'm not very good, just paints, a variety of brush sizes, and maybe some ritdye more

5. Theme?
No particular theme. Just whatever I can do with my meager skills that happens to strike my fancy.

What about your least favourites? Why? G4s, I don't like their moulds, their hair can't be dyed, and they're poor quality all around.

[starscout]

Favorites:
1. Generation/pose - Does the HQG1C blanks count? Pose doesn't really matter to me, but if I had to pick, I'd say I probably enjoyed using the Wing Song pose the most.
2. Hair color/combo - I love using blends! I think my favorite so far would be the blend I used for my Autumn Crisp rehair.
3. Body color - No particular favorite here. I just really enjoy warm colors in general.
4. Technique/material - I LOVE rehairing with yarn! It's much cheaper, and the results are usually very nice. I love how voluminous it makes the hair look.
5. Theme - I have a tendency to gravitate towards sky/space themes, just because they're so easy for me to design around. I've been trying to break away from that, though. Don't wanna be a one-trick pony.

Least favorites:
1. Generation/pose - The G4 retros are now my mortal enemy. One of them cost me my hand. 
2. Hair color/combo - I'm not really a fan of super bright, overly saturated colors in the hair, unless there's some white or black in there to balance it out.
3. Body color - I've seen some customs that are based off characters/people where the ponies' bodies are painted to look like human skin. Imo it just doesn't look right.
4. Technique/material - I cringe up so hard inside when I see full-body repaints with nail polish.
5. Theme - None in particular I dislike here. It just depends on how well it's executed.

4. Technique or material to use (incl. all regular supplies and more creative ones?). I love sculpting on the body. It can be tricky though, because I prefer polymer clays to epoxy and the pony needs to go in the oven. I've baked a lot of ponies and only had weird issues pop up a couple of times, but it's always a risk. Also, because I tend to sculpt heavy handed and the pony gets squishy, I've had some collapse under the weight of the clay

I have experimented with sculpting separate from the pony itself and then gluing it on later. It just doesn't have that nice smooth look.

 Rather than baking, you can cure polymer clay with boiling water. I did that with a Hidden Treasure base, and because I didn't need to put her in the oven, I was able to keep her gem on.

[BlackCurtains]

You can't actually cure it that way. It will crumble in the future. I wish that myth would die.

[starscout]

Huh, really? I once saw it listed as curing method on a box of clay, and I've been doing it for small projects since. No issues here yet.

[BlackCurtains]

What brand of clay?

The thing is the water doesn't get hot enough so it doesn't cure all the way through. It might be fine for a while, but over time the undercured clay will leach out into the semi-cured clay and it will destabilize and crumble. The same thing happens if you don't bake for long enough. That's why it's always better to double the baking time, even for small items. You can't overbake. It doesn't make the clay brittle, that's another myth. It will turn dark on the surface because of the direct heat, but you can put an aluminum foil tent over it to keep that from happening.

The very best thing to use is a convection oven. There is less space so the heat doesn't "travel" like it does in a stove oven. The temp is also more stable so your clay bakes evenly. For larger projects you can actually use polymer stuffing to lay your piece down on. The stuffing won't burn or catch on fire and it will gently hold your piece and not block the heat from getting to it. That's not to say a regular oven is bad, it's not. It's perfectly fine, but you need to add extra steps (like the aluminum and baking longer) for it to sort of equal the convection oven.

[starscout]

What brand of clay?

I want to say Sculpey, but I don't 100% remember. How long does it usually take for uncured clay to start breaking down?

[BlackCurtains]

It depends on your climate. If it's warmer it will happen faster. It can take years though.