I wanted to brag on all the work that went into making this sweet guitar prop for my Sweet Notes cosplay for this year's 2015 My Little Pony Fair!
First, I used the original as reference! One notes the neck is stubby and short. Originally, I planned to make a prop brush (tines and everything!), but decided since I was going as more of a "humanized" pony, a "real" looking guitar seemed more appropriate.
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loginI took to sketching out the shape on poster board and made my pattern. Looks right! I elongated the neck to make it look more appropriately sized for a human.
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loginI glued together two boards of pine (so heavy, and yet so cheap!) and cut my shape using a jigsaw and bandsaw and routed the edges for a smooth look. The head peice was cute seperately so it could be mounted at an angle (for that authentic guitar look)
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loginAssembled! I cut the fretboard of a much thinner piece of scrap wood to be mounted to the front. I cut the MLP letters and the squiggly bridge section using a scroll saw and mounted to the front after drilling guitar string holes through the top and bottom.
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loginThe best part: Painting! I made my own mix of acrylic paint, which was surprisingly difficult to match up to the neon orange color of the pony brush. The secret ingredient was lots of neon yellow to tone down and brighten my orange. The original brush is on top for reference.
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loginFiner detail; I chose to paint on the details instead of cut individual pieces, as it became apparent that would be such an epically frustrating process.
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loginThe fret board was painted pale gold. The frets are square dowels with a thin sheet of brass glued to the top. Not exactly what I wanted, but I was crunched for time (start your cosplay projects early, kids).
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loginI bought some cheap guitar parts from eBay (Thanks, China!) and mounted them to the guitar. I also purchased real guitar strings for around $5, which ended up being cheaper than using beading wire (my first alternative).
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loginI couldn't help myself and applied a shimmery glitter spray to the top before applying a high gloss coat. And here she is, all finished! I even managed to find some gold cord to use as the strap.
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loginThe prop really brought my cosplay together.
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loginENHANCE!
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loginAs a costume tidbit, I dyed a white denim jacket and skinny jeans to the (almost) appropriate shade of pink and embroidered the back of the jacket with my Brother SE-500 (wonderful machine!). I added some cute neon blue and yellow buttons to the front to make it more 80's. The wig is hand sewn together from three separate wigs to really give it that 80's POW and all the other accessories were lucky finds. How crazy are those shoes? I'm just glad I didn't go face first into the floor.
I hope I made Sweet Notes proud! I sure had a lot of fun making the whole getup and being a part of the Rockin' Beats cosplay group!
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