some quick custom questions...

[starflyer425]

i have a few questions about g4 customs and i thought here would be the best place to ask.

1. i dont own an airbrush as of now, what is another good way to do a full body repaint?

2. what brand of sealer do you guys use?

3. what kind of clay do you guys use? ive heard of sculpey and apoxie, but i want to know which one has the best results.

[Sarahlacewing]

1. I dont own an airbrush as of now, what is another good way to do a full body repaint?
I use makeup sponges to avoid brush strokes.  Some colors are harder to work with than others.  The trick is many thin layers and good quality paint.  It's crucial to let each layer dry before adding a new layer. 

Some people use a dry brush method where they will paint on a thin layer and go over it with a dry brush to remove any extra paint that could cause lines to bunch up.  Some people use a plastic primer first but you have to be careful some primers will damage plastic over time.   Some people dye for color but there are a few threads you could search about the mixed success of that.  G4 don't take dye well, it tends to be uneven/spotty and it fades over time.

2. what brand of sealer do you guys use?
I think Testors dull coat and mod podge (watered down to milk-like consistency) are the standard.  Dull coat for no shine, and then MP matte for a little shine, and gloss for a lot of shine on the eyes or detailing.

3. what kind of clay do you guys use? Ive heard of sculpey and apoxie, but i want to know which one has the best results.
In my opinion this depends on the project.  Apoxie cures harder and holds up better to sanding and drilling in my opinion.  However, it can pull away form the G4 body occasionally.  Also since it isn't as porous sometimes it's harder to get a good paint color match between the sculpted and unsculpted sections of the pony.  Again just my experience.  Not having to bake is really nice if you need to work on small sections at a time because firing sculpey over and over can cause over bake and make it brittle/crack. It's also really nice for small work because you can smooth it out with water. 

[Maniah]

1. i dont own an airbrush as of now, what is another good way to do a full body repaint?

Before I got my airbrush, I just used high quality acrylic model car paints, or airbrush paints and painted them on in thin coats with a paintbrush. I almost never had brush strokes. I have only used a sponge twice, and it leaves a faint texture to the paint that I dislike. However, it IS faint.

2. what brand of sealer do you guys use?

I use Testors Dullcote, ModPodge Matt Matte, and Triple Thick. Dullcote is dreat for a dull finish. ModPodge is sort of iffy.. If the pony will be in a high humidity area, then it may turn sticky. ModPodge should be watered down to the consistency of milk before using as a sealer. And Triple Thick is high gloss. Great for eyes. Great for any shiny bits. I use it to seal symbols sometimes.

3. what kind of clay do you guys use? ive heard of sculpey and apoxie, but i want to know which one has the best results.

This is a matter of preference.. I dislike sculpey because you have to bake it to set the clay. So if you are working on something with a lot of detail, you have to bake it to save the detail, then you add more, and have to bake it again.. You CAN over bake and burn the sculpey and the more you bake it the more brittle it gets. Plus, it tends to shrink slightly when baked, so it can pull away from the pony.

Apoxie on the other hand has a working time of 3 hours or so. less if your clay is older like mine. It dries hard on its own with no baking. You can do fine details. Sand it. Drill it. Carve it. It is tougher and doesn't break as easy. And it doesn't shrink when it dries, so it does not pull away from the pony. Im thinking the above statement about it doing so may have been a typo? Im not sure.. But I have been using Apoxie for a year now, and I have NEVER had it pull away from the pony.

Your best bet would be to buy small amounts of each, and just play with it.

[Sarahlacewing]

Maybe pull away isn't the right word. It was more that the clay didn't stick readily to the pony and so the entire portion I was working on separated from the plastic after curing. I suspect it was because I didn't do enough prep and the slick coating didn't allow for proper adhesion. That or else i didnt get a good mix of the two parts. Generally speaking I agree the apoxie will have less problems. it was probably something I did wrong.

[Maniah]

Oooh. I see what you mean. By any chance did you let the clay sit and cure for a while? I have found that if I let it harden too long, then it doesn't stick well.. But when I first mix it, it is rather sticky.

[jayellery]

1. i dont own an airbrush as of now, what is another good way to do a full body repaint?

I use acrylic paints, diluted down 1 part paint/1 part water or 2 paint/1 water.  Even within the same brand, different colors are going to go on differently.  Many, many thin coats of paint, 5-7 depending on the paint and the base color of the pony.


2. what brand of sealer do you guys use?

Dulcoat and Mod Podge Gloss.  The MP-Gloss works great for a "wet" look, whether it's the eyes or for a water pony.


3. what kind of clay do you guys use?

Apoxie.  Definitely Apoxie.  I love Sculpy/Fimo for other work but I love Apoxie for ponies.  It doesn't need to be baked and there is basically no shrinkage.  My first batch was the grey color, which does take a few more coats of paint if you're matching it to the plastic.

I have played around with air dry clay as well but the shrinkage was terrible.  Covering too large of an area or trying to go around a leg will result in severe cracking.  However, I have a WIP where I'm using the air dry clay for a sculpted mane and tail.  It's working well enough but it isn't is strong as the Apoxie.

[Sarahlacewing]

Oooh. I see what you mean. By any chance did you let the clay sit and cure for a while? I have found that if I let it harden too long, then it doesn't stick well.. But when I first mix it, it is rather sticky.

That's good advice! I think I did let it sit a bit.  (I have a little allergy to Apoxie so I usually let it sit for a few minutes right after I mix it so the chemicals aren't as strong.)

[starflyer425]

thank you guys 1 more question. what brand of acrylics do you use?

[Rion]

Apple Barrel brand acrylics work really well, compared to everything else I've tried so far. You can find them at Wal-Mart and Michaels craft stores.

[starflyer425]

thank you rion