does anyone have a good clay feather tutorial? i'm in the middle of making my oc (my icon) and cant fid real feathers that i like or are sturdy

Hello vampyrefay. Wow, that OC looks cool. Long feathers may be a bit complicated. I'd use a wire as a "backbone" for each feather. Then I'd put a bit of cardboard or thick paper on it to make it wider and give the clay something to rest on.
I use Apoxie Sculpt, so the following is based on that type of clay. No idea how other clays behave.
Then I'd sculpt one side of the feather. Make a feather shape and smooth it out with damp fingers. To give it a smooth surface I don't use water, but body lotion. It keeps the modelling clay flexible but doesn't mush it to mud.
With a toothpick or needle I draw the lines on it and cut the sides with a hobby knife.
Rest the half-feather on a curved thing (pen, winecork) to give it a bendy shape and let cure completely. Then do side 2.

Hope this helps.
Can't wait to see the result.

Puush is a genius!!!  There are 4 inch length baseball bats on eBay.  Texas Rangers seems appropriate.... 

Thanks. I can't wait to see it.

I started with the needle&thread method back in 2009 (wow). Went through a lot of dental floss because it was the sturdiest thread I could find and easy to get in the needle.
But when I tried the rehair tool I never looked back. It's just quicker.
Rehairing is not my fave part of customizing, but I have several friends who love doing it, so sometimes I can outsource for tea and cookies = win-win-cookies situation.

The thing that really gives me a headache is styling hair. I just can't really do it. Most of my customs have unstyled long hair.

Those both look awesome!  The level of detail!!

Regarding sticky customs: I actually JUST dealt with the same problem.  I think I hadn't let the paint dry long enough before sealing.  But I tried using a new kind of sealant over to of it, weeks later, and it seems to have done the trick - she is now totally dry-feeling.  The new kind I tried is Vallejo polyurethane matt varnish.  I brushed it on but apparently it can be used with airbrush as well.  Note that it is water based.

Thanks SunPony. I will try this. Fingers crossed.
I tested 4 different sealants under the hooves now and all turned out to be sticky. I have a feeling, that it is the plastic of the pony itself, as I had this problem with every single layer of paint. And believe me, there are about 5 layers of paint and now about 3 layers of sealant on this poor girl.

Ah puush, it's so nice to see your work again! I really dig the dragon! I love that the eyes of the peacock feathers are also Pony

Hahaha! I'm so happy you realised that! :hugs:

Thank you all. It feels so great to be back and get the wonderful cheering and support of my pony friends.


Wow, mlp4me. That is a lot of work. Painting it white will need lots of layers. Can't wait to see them.

Oh ChocolateStarfire, a Jurassic themed boy would be sooooo coooool!

Thanks ChocolateStarfire. I'd love to be part of a swap again. Maybe a holiday seasoned one.

As soon as I re-figured out how to attach pictures here, I'll show finished ponys and WIPs.

Hahaha, I can so relate to your prepping rant. Same here. Prepping baits is my least favourite part of customizing, but so rewarding when you have your blank pony to start painting.

Oh, G4 dancing butterflies sounds so cute. Can't wait to see her.

Pretty cool. She's really cute.

Oh, that is a fun thread.
So many great projects. Love the Ghostbuster Pony. And your winged Boy is stunning already, BlackCurtains.

I recently got distracted by Warhammer 40k minis. I'm a bit addicted to painting them. I'm making a Friendship is Magic Mane 6 Chaos Space Marines squad though.

Also I have some pony WIP: an Eastern Dragon G3 custom, a rainbow custom that gets a heavily sculpted diorama and a Pony Peacock that is nearly finished.

Reading this thread makes me nostalgic again. I miss the swaps and chit chat. (My fault for not participating enough).
I need to kick me back into customising and to finish some ponys.

So bright and cheerful. Love the colours and the gradient. Nice first custom!