Shadowlark's Cleaning/Restoration Thread (PIC HEAVY)

[TexasGal]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Girl, you work wonders. 

[Artemesia's Garden]

Great work on Seashell, I've seen some that are quite dark but usually it's either a head or a body and sadly not the twain! She looks fantastic 

[GreenMare]

I think you have done miracles! They all look fantastic!
You may have said this already, but how do you go about curling the hair so beautifully? I am restoring a few ponies and trying to do their hair in a similar way but the technique I have tried isn't as effective?

[shadowlark]

Awww thanks! Seashell was one of my faves as a kid, so it was nice to get her looking healthy again!

Hair tips:

For mane curls like I did on SS Twilight I used rollers.

For tail curls - for one big curly, I wrap it around a marker. At the end of the hair, I wrap a paper towel around the end to hold it in place and then secure with an elastic, but not too tight or it might leave an indent in the hair

For straw curls, practice makes perfect! I think I usually do about 4 curls for the tail. Basically the same as the marker, just smaller sections wrapped around straws. At the start of the wrap, ie by their bum, I'll put a bobby pin to hold it secure, with the wave part of the pin on the inside of the straw so it doesn't make indents. Then the paper towel at the end secured with another bobby pin.

Right before I do any hair styling, I run the hair under really hot water for a few seconds. Apparently the hot water makes it hold the curl better. Not sure if that's true as I've never tried cold water

[achab1984]

They all turned out very good! I love to see before and after ponies. I have done a few myself. I am most proud of my SS Twlight that I did in the past

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She was horrible when I first got her!

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After I am all done with her

[shadowlark]

Your SS Twilight looks great deflocked! She's on my list to try and find cheap to deflock. Soooo pretty!

[Snapdragon]

Okay, question - when you say 'I had to put on three coats to protect her symbol,' are you painting the eyes/symbols with white paint to protect them from the sun? does it work? I've tried tinfoil before, which works perfectly, but it's near to impossible to get the tiny spots fully covered, without just resorting to a block of foil, which results in clumpy fading results near the eyes/symbols.

They all look GORGEOUS, by the way!! I can't wait to see who you do next!

[svetilda]

Awesome work! Love you collection especially babies Applejack and Bow Tie! And thank you for the restoration tips you're giving!

[Khema]

they don't even look like the same ponies! You did a fantastic job!

[achab1984]

Your SS Twilight looks great deflocked! She's on my list to try and find cheap to deflock. Soooo pretty!

Thank you , when I got her I was washing her and her flocking was falling off. So I had no choice and of course her hair was horrible. I know there are more out there

[shadowlark]

Aww thanks everyone! 

Okay, question - when you say 'I had to put on three coats to protect her symbol,' are you painting the eyes/symbols with white paint to protect them from the sun? does it work? I've tried tinfoil before, which works perfectly, but it's near to impossible to get the tiny spots fully covered, without just resorting to a block of foil, which results in clumpy fading results near the eyes/symbols.

They all look GORGEOUS, by the way!! I can't wait to see who you do next!

Yes, that's it exactly - just plain white paint and then remove with rubbing alcohol, but rub VERY gently when removing the paint - I've rubbed too hard cause I get impatient and rub a bit of the symbol off. That's what happened with Sugarberry - if you look closely, you'll see her symbols were a tad bit darker in the before picture and lighter in the after - got too impatient to get the white paint off. But there was no way I was going to try and tinfoil around her symbol!

Maybe practice on a more baity pony until you get the hang of how hard to rub the paint off.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Aww thanks everyone! 

Okay, question - when you say 'I had to put on three coats to protect her symbol,' are you painting the eyes/symbols with white paint to protect them from the sun? does it work? I've tried tinfoil before, which works perfectly, but it's near to impossible to get the tiny spots fully covered, without just resorting to a block of foil, which results in clumpy fading results near the eyes/symbols.

They all look GORGEOUS, by the way!! I can't wait to see who you do next!

Yes, that's it exactly - just plain white paint and then remove with rubbing alcohol, but rub VERY gently when removing the paint - I've rubbed too hard cause I get impatient and rub a bit of the symbol off. That's what happened with Sugarberry - if you look closely, you'll see her symbols were a tad bit darker in the before picture and lighter in the after - got too impatient to get the white paint off. But there was no way I was going to try and tinfoil around her symbol!

Maybe practice on a more baity pony until you get the hang of how hard to rub the paint off.

I may have a cunning plan. I'm going to try flour and water paste or children's poster paint that might come off with water alone...

[shadowlark]

I may have a cunning plan. I'm going to try flour and water paste or children's poster paint that might come off with water alone...

Ooh let me know if that works!!

[Artemesia's Garden]

I may have a cunning plan. I'm going to try flour and water paste or children's poster paint that might come off with water alone...

Ooh let me know if that works!!

I am just about to get a load of very grubby looking USA ponies, I'm really excited. I think I'm most likely to go with white goache, I'll try the bottom of somepony's feet first 

[FarDreamer]

I may have a cunning plan. I'm going to try flour and water paste or children's poster paint that might come off with water alone...

Oh!  Good idea!!!