FBR question - first seal, then paint cutie mark?

[starfish]

Tell me, do you seal a full body repaint before painting the cutie mark? Why or why not? I was thinking about this because I'm about to write tiny numbers as a cutie mark on a pending custom and I'm pretty sure I'll mess it up badly the first few tries, so maybe sealing the black coat beneath first might save me from fixing the whole pony each time I try to wipe off the green colour ... sorry for this stupid newbie question^^

[BerryMouse]

I never seal the FBR just the eyes and the cutie mark  =)
I just hate glossy looking ponies lol

[starfish]

My acrylics are glossy and sticky enough to attract a lot of dust (which is stupid when the body is black!), so a matte varnish is in order^^ did help a bit with the white pony's stickiness at least.  Maybe I should just throw some varnish on my test subject and try to paint over it?

[kaoskat]

I always Dullcoat after the FBR before doing anything else. Saves having to start all over if I mess up.

[Colorscapesart]

Testor's Dullcote spray is an excellent sealant with a nice matte finish.  I use it after my FBR and often a qucik spray over the detail paintwork when I am done as well.  It's not sticky or shiny.  I am not sure it it's available overseas however

[starfish]

Thanks, that's what I thought!
Yeah, haven't seen any Dullcote around, I just got some random matte brush-on varnish from Panduro, maybe I could try to thin it out with water and put it in a spray bottle ...

[keikokukien]

I use an all over coating of watered down modpodge and do a couple layers of it after the FBR is finished and then paint the symbols. Then I do a light, two-layer coating of the same just to lessen the paint lines around the symbol if there are any and go over it with glossy modpodge. Testors never worked quite right for me, to be honest, but a lot of people use that and it seems to work really well.

[Eluluu]

I seal between fbr and symbols, saves you from the hassle of fixing the fbr. I agree to testors dullcoat, I mainly use Armory dullcoat tho. basically the same stuff tho.

[BerryMouse]

I'm sure you won't find any Dullcote in the EU ... there's a forbidden additive added. 
I guess if someone has it they smuggled it into the european union lol

Something similar like topcoat might work as well or dull Acrylic Polyurethane Varnish =)

[Griffin]

I never seal between the FBR and the details but of course you can if you wish to. I don't even know why that is... maybe sealing just marks the pony as finished for me (well, rehairing aside) so I want to put it off until I've completed the paintjob. That, and I've noticed it's sometimes actually harder to wipe off paint from a coat of my sealant than from a coat of acrylics. I usually let the paint dry for a couple of days before sealing. I use matte polyurethane varnish, it's great stuff!

Whatever you decide, I advise to sketch your symbols on the pony with a pencil first, it's much easier to paint over a sketch than completely freehanded. To get familiar with your brush you may want to practise first anything more detailed - paint those numbers on paper or something plastic (palette or whatever you have on hand) first. I always practise thin lines like this before painting e.g. eyelashes, I want to get a feeling of the exact angle or the brush, the pressure and direction of strokes needed. Of course I still mess up every now and then, but practising like this really helps - I'm more likely to do it correct if it's the tenth time I'm drawing that stroke instead of the first.

[ravengusty]

I got my Testors Dullcoat spray on uk ebay i spray before putting symbols on especially with colours that 'bleed' into others. That's advice i followed from a website to do with customizing but i can't remember the name of it.

[Tabbyclaw]

Sealing after an FBR but bfore any other work not only makes it easier to fix symbols as you make them, it makes it possible to fix them if you change your mind partway through the process. On the last pony I finished (and keep forgetting to photograph), I gave him some painted stubble. After staring at it for several days I decided I didn't quite like the look of it and wanted to redo it. The stubble paint came off cleanly with a stiff brush and some pink soap, and the sealed paint underneath was completely untouched. It didn't even affect the texture.

-Tabby
the princess with claws

[starfish]

Drawing with pencil would fine, but I can't stop my hands from shaking for the sake of my life when holding the brush, so in the end the symbol will always end up deviating from these lines, so I just roughly sketch the place and shape, the rest will be free hand painting most days
I was just working on my Rasperry Pi Pony (will post in another thread in a few minutes), and in the end the green lines ended up twice as thick as planned because of these freaking hand tremors getting worse by the minute ... luckily no FBR, so I'll just clean it up with acetone tomorrow or so!
Thanks for the feedback on the pros and cons of sealing inbetween!