Will these paints work on G1 & G3 ponies? How to get chrome MLP?

[Princess_Luvlee]

http://www.figurerealm.com/viewcustomtutorial.php?id=52
Has anyone tried the above method on MLPs?

Have any of you used the martha stewart acrylic metallics?
Would you recommend them? 

I need a way to create chrome ponies for a project & was wondering if anyone had tips. It needs to be a very durable finish, not for play or display...practical use.

If there's a thread about this already I'd appreesh a link to it ^-^ thanx guyz

[Griffin]

It should work, although I guess it works better on sculpted parts - ponies are smooth and most of that effect is based on the black showing through where you have creases and indents like those action figures. But if you intend to sculpt an armour or something on a pony, I think that method will work great. I have never tried adding colour on top of metallic paint, but I have mixed regular colours with silver in order to make e.g. metallic black, blue and green. It works better with some colours than others, you need to experiment a little. Yellow + gold mix should work, and I got some interesting results with gold and white, but you won't get that metallic sheen with white, I guess you have to resort to pearlescent paint or medium.

That chrome pony project sounds intriguing... Can you elaborate a little, what do you mean by practical use? I'm afraid you won't easily find a very durable paint that works for ponies. I remember someone making a hood ornament for a car using a fakie pony... They painted it with some car paints. I have no idea though if it survived the use they intended it for.   

[Princess_Luvlee]

Griffin, thank you so much for the info & input. Maybe if I could get a clear magenta or that smoke over the silver it'd look metal & weighty enough. What I'm planning to do is mount unicorn's heads on my wall for sorting and displaying my jewelry on. I love MLPs, have a ton of them, and hang my jewelry on their necks all the time & store rings on their horns. I feel bad for my ponies & was also thinking that in a chrome finish pony heads would look really classy. Black would be grim & white ghastly ghostly. I want it to be high class & expensive lookin: what better than mirror finish?! But I just cannot find any way to get a true chrome finish... Did you see the Onch pony project custom?
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-about-town-my-little-pony-project-2012-part-2-24826.phtml
This pony makes me believe my simple silver is do-able, but I've been at this days. At this point I'm considering trying out chrome nail polishes, lol _dead serious_ 

Thanks also for the pearly finish suggestion thaat just might be the better way to go. My room is a pastel pony wonderland so letting my rock star jewelry display diiiieee {sniff} will be tough. I'll, of course share whatever results I get...just need some uni-baits :} 

[coinoperatedgirl]

While it won't be a smooth, shiny mirror-like, I've had decent luck with Folk Art's metallic paints.   


visitors can't see pics , please register or login



I used the gold by itself for the trim on her headdress.  It looks really bad before it's completely dried, but once it was dried it looks fine.


visitors can't see pics , please register or login



On my luchas, used metallic red and blue acrylics, which actually covered amazingly well.  I then sponged silver accents over the blue, and gold over the red, which made things seem more metallic than they really are.

[pop-girl]

Maybe you could try metal leafing? I bet that would look cool.

[Griffin]

Griffin, thank you so much for the info & input. Maybe if I could get a clear magenta or that smoke over the silver it'd look metal & weighty enough. What I'm planning to do is mount unicorn's heads on my wall for sorting and displaying my jewelry on. I love MLPs, have a ton of them, and hang my jewelry on their necks all the time & store rings on their horns. I feel bad for my ponies & was also thinking that in a chrome finish pony heads would look really classy. Black would be grim & white ghastly ghostly. I want it to be high class & expensive lookin: what better than mirror finish?! But I just cannot find any way to get a true chrome finish... Did you see the Onch pony project custom?
http://www.tomopop.com/tomopop-about-town-my-little-pony-project-2012-part-2-24826.phtml
This pony makes me believe my simple silver is do-able, but I've been at this days. At this point I'm considering trying out chrome nail polishes, lol _dead serious_ 

Thanks also for the pearly finish suggestion thaat just might be the better way to go. My room is a pastel pony wonderland so letting my rock star jewelry display diiiieee {sniff} will be tough. I'll, of course share whatever results I get...just need some uni-baits :} 

Ah, okay. Well I doubt your use will be any tougher than a child's play, depending on the child of course.   The paint might get scratched but should that happen, you can perhaps repaint them in a couple of years? Whatever paint you decide on, I suggest to seal the heads with several layers of thick varnish, that'll help protect the paintwork, and glossy varnish might give you some nice results. I prefer polyurethane myself, Folk Art is what I use and I've noticed they have outdoor gloss varnish, too. That might work for your purpose, although I have no first hand experience with it.

And you're welcome, I'm happy if I can help, even if just a little. Hope you'll find something that works for you! I'd love to see some pics when you get the project started. ^^

[Ambar]

i bought some game color but don´t try it yet. i´ll let you know how it works

[Princess_Luvlee]

coinoperatedgirl - I've only used the silver folkart & it's really thin, takes like 5 coats and the perfect amount of gloss modge podge to be opaque & smooth. Are their other metallic colors like that? Your lucha ponies look great! I can see my silver being put to good use using the sponging technique. Thank you =D

pop-girl - Oh gosh, I know nothing about leafing. I'll go google that now ~thanx you ^-*

Griffin - Hmm, I didn't notice folk art had an outdoor gloss varnish. Maybe I should try that over my chrome spray paint. The finish was dulled even more(it was never close to chrome) after I sealed it with krylon gloss spray.

amber_jul - cool, I wish you the best with it ^-^ yeah! looking forward to ur review

[coinoperatedgirl]

coinoperatedgirl - I've only used the silver folkart & it's really thin, takes like 5 coats and the perfect amount of gloss modge podge to be opaque & smooth. Are their other metallic colors like that? Your lucha ponies look great! I can see my silver being put to good use using the sponging technique. Thank you =D

The silver and gold are thin.  Like I said, the gold looked awful even after a few coats, until it was dry.  I've only ever used the silver for accents, but it's the same consistency of the gold.  The red and blue are better, I think I only used two coats for the lucha ponies, and I think the combination of the red/gold and blue/silver make it look more metallic than red and blue alone.

[Princess_Luvlee]

Good news for silver seekers!

I have resorted to nail polish and it's working really rally well. There is still no chrome paint, but I think I'll be happy with the finishes that have resulted from my experiment.

The right flank of this pony rear is just one coat of Pure Ice Silver Mercedes. Starsong McPony was not primed, painted, sanded, or anything prior to me applying the nail polish. Alone the Silver Mercedes is a darker and less reflective finish. It's kind of got an industrial vibe.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The right leg is 2 coats(becuz I put my finger in the wet polish & mucked it up) of Silver Mercedes & 2 coats of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Platinum(130). After one coat of (130) it just looked more glossy & I couldn't really see any of the pink hues, but 2 coats and the light catches it and gleams pink: it's lovely.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The left leg is one coat of SM & one coat of Pure Ice Mint Dream. Just one coat of Mint Dream gives a nice gloss and pretty greenish blue sheen equal in luster to 2 coats of Platinum(130).
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I took photos without flash and as you can see the surface is SO shiny it's still throwing light like crazy. I'm no master photographer either. Pure Ice is one of my favorite nail polish brands for nails & these same application to finger nails is quite stunning. Luckily it's one of the cheapest brands available.

I'm ready to put this plan into action. Any ideas on how I can get G1 unicorn heads?

[pop-girl]

Just a word of warning that nail polish does not react well with pony vinyl. It has been known to go sticky, crack or flake over time.
Keep in mind that nail polish is not meant to be permanent even when used in the correct context - your nails.

[PetiteTiger]

Look into GOLDEN brand Acrylics!  They're more expensive than say, Folk Art, but they're much better quality.  I have their gold paint, it goes on smoothly and covers in just a few coats.  I have some other metallic-esque paints but they don't cover nearly as well, and are more of like... a glaze of silver particles in a clear paint, so I end up having to do a base coat of a similar color before putting the shiny over.

Cheap isn't always good, especially with something you want to be made to last!