Customizers' chit-chat thread

[Primaltimediamond]

I've made a Pokemon character custom pony, Piers from Sword and shield! For my next project, I've gone way more ambitious!
I'm planning to make custom ponies out of Emperor Belos and Hunter from The owl house. Not only that I wanna pick up sewing so I can make several outfits they are seen wearing throughout the show and the like. I also plan on surprising a friend of mine with a custom mlp of her oc, she's not big into mlp but I think she'll like it regardless!

Piers was my first custom and I'll admit I really got the taste now!

If anyone wants to buy blank ponies (or mostly blank) I'd recommend Ahorseofeverycolor on Etsy, they sell blank pony bases and even several accessories you can customize! That blank seashell base of theirs def makes me wanna make a custom sea pony haha

[BlackCurtains]

You should post pics of your custom

Yes, there are a few different sites to get blanks, or rehaired blanks from. The others are https://www.clipperssail.com/shop and there is one in the UK.

[Primaltimediamond]

any reason why there are no custom G2 ponies? I've mostly seen G1 and G3 customs but i don't think i've seen g2 customs

[Pokeyonekenobie]

any reason why there are no custom G2 ponies? I've mostly seen G1 and G3 customs but i don't think i've seen g2 customs

Probably because they're not as widely available. I grew up with G1 ponies and didn't know G2s existed until after G3 was over.  They were more popular/available in Europe than the US.  The US is such a large area that ponies released here are released in large numbers, which makes them more readily available for customizers to find in bait condition.  When shipping prices weren't so crazy, it was easy for those living outside of the US to get US released ponies.  European ponies were still harder to get in the US due to low production numbers and G2s are part of the collection that is harder to get ahold of because of that.  I also think that most customizers didn't really get started until the G3s came out.  There were some G1s that were customized but the popularity of customizing didn't take off until G3, probably because there were so many bases to pick from and there were very few that were considered rare or hard to find.  Since they were in current production there was a lot less guilt about it than using G1s that were no longer in production.

I have seen some G2 customs, but mostly from European customizers. 

[BlackCurtains]

Someone just posted a G2 custom Harley Quinn

You do see them every once in a while. I have a whole box of baity G2s myself, I just prefer to work with G1 or G3.

[Snapdragon]

I also suspect it has to do with relative popularity! There aren't that many pony customizers compared to collectors, and that ratio goes way down in tandem with the G2 collectors. A lot of people simply don't collect or like them, so accordingly there's fewer customizers! Plus, I'm sure it's a struggle to sell art pieces in general; selling G2 customs must be exponentially more difficult. Why put the time and effort into something that may not sell?

I went to a pony meetup several years ago, and in the prize pile for the raffle (or maybe bingo?) was a beautiful G2 custom, a Merry Go Round styled G2. I picked her, and exclaimed how grateful I was to get her, when I was one of the last people to win a prize! And most of the collectors there didn't even realize she was a custom. I'm sure that wasn't a wholly representative slice of the pony populace, but it illustrates my point! (And no, I won't keep you waiting for a photo, LOL!)

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


This is her! She's gorgeous, and so well made! But no maker's mark, so I have no clue who made her! The host who donated her said she got her in an eBay lot!

[Primaltimediamond]

I forgot G2 did better in Europe hah, but that is a goregous custom! I saw two very baity G2's like manes entirely gone, missing strass stones, cutie marks rubbed off, tail almost cut entirely, poor girls! I was thinking to pick them up and customize them, well down the line as I already have several projects planned so that will be a while

I def would be both if I had room! collect and customize

[BlackCurtains]

What is everyone working on?

I've got four customs lined up. One is a gift so I can't talk about it. One is a 3 year old WIP I want to finally finish. The other two are going to be a general spring pony and an Easter pony. I'll be making wool felted and polymer clay minis to go along with them.

[starscout]

What is everyone working on?

I'm working three G4s and one G3, three of which involve sculpting... one of which involves A LOT of sculpting. I've also got a baity G1 Bowtie that I think I might attempt to flock.

[SunPony]

What is everyone working on?

I've got four customs lined up. One is a gift so I can't talk about it. One is a 3 year old WIP I want to finally finish. The other two are going to be a general spring pony and an Easter pony. I'll be making wool felted and polymer clay minis to go along with them.

I need to style the hair on my second, larger Sugar Moonlight custom!  I think I need some kind of gel or glue to keep the hair in position, I don't know much about styling other than boil perm curls :/

Other than that I want to prep a bait to make Thunder ("green guard" from G5) and send it and another pony to you (BC) for airbrushing!

[BlackCurtains]

Great! I need to bust out the airbrush for what I'm working on too.

Depending on what you're trying to do with the hair you can use hairspray or even craft glue to keep it in place. I have one custom whose hair is all twisted up like a tornado and Mod Podge was used. It's still the same like 10 years later


A question: How would you guys feel about a wing tutorial? I'll be doing feathered wings on one of these customs and could take pics and write one up. They'll be made using polymer clay.

[SunPony]

Thanks for the hair tips, BC!

And I would be interested in the wing tutorial.  I don't have any immediate wing-related plans, but I'm a lifelong learner, lol

[BlackCurtains]

Thanks for the input! I think I'll put one together when I start on these guys.


Another question! Do you sign your ponies with your real name or your online/art name? I have always done BC or in the beginning it was BCC for BlackCurtains Customs, but I dropped the second C at some point.

[ChocolateStarfire]

I also suspect it has to do with relative popularity! There aren't that many pony customizers compared to collectors, and that ratio goes way down in tandem with the G2 collectors. A lot of people simply don't collect or like them, so accordingly there's fewer customizers! Plus, I'm sure it's a struggle to sell art pieces in general; selling G2 customs must be exponentially more difficult. Why put the time and effort into something that may not sell?

I went to a pony meetup several years ago, and in the prize pile for the raffle (or maybe bingo?) was a beautiful G2 custom, a Merry Go Round styled G2. I picked her, and exclaimed how grateful I was to get her, when I was one of the last people to win a prize! And most of the collectors there didn't even realize she was a custom. I'm sure that wasn't a wholly representative slice of the pony populace, but it illustrates my point! (And no, I won't keep you waiting for a photo, LOL!)

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


This is her! She's gorgeous, and so well made! But no maker's mark, so I have no clue who made her! The host who donated her said she got her in an eBay lot!

That's a beautiful custom, it looks factory?!

Another question! Do you sign your ponies with your real name or your online/art name? I have always done BC or in the beginning it was BCC for BlackCurtains Customs, but I dropped the second C at some point.

I sign mine under a hoof with my RL initials, DLP. I have since I started customizing!

[kaelynn]

Just got back home after six weeks away and I'm itching to get back to the ponies! 

So what is everyone working on right now?

I looked through my list of planned and in progress customs and I'm trying to figure out where to pick back up! 

Of course I got ideas for a few more customs while I was away and one idea that's really sticking in my head is a Mandalorian/Grogu custom set using a baity Big Brother for Mando and a Breezie for Grogu.  It will be a challenge and a half that's for sure but it's exciting to think about. 

BC, I'd love to see a wing tutorial!  I've never done feathered wings using clay on a custom though I've thought about it many times.

Also, am I the only one who regularly forgets to sign my customs?