tips for sculpting/painting on customs?

[shintoji]

hello!! i really want to get into customizing ponies, and i have a general idea of where to start, but any tips would be nice! i know i should start off small and work up to the fancy things like sculpting, but ive tried it in the past and honestly im unsure what kind of clay to use and what paints i should be using! all of the clay ive ever used has flaked off and been pretty bad, but im unsure how to use clay that you need to bake because im afraid of melting the pony! as for paints, ive always used acrylics. i heard you can use watercolor pencils as well, and i might try that because ive got a set. generally any information you talented people can provide would be just lovely
EDIT: yes, ive read the pinned post and almost all of the links within it! im mainly just asking for anyone who might have any tips not mentioned already

[Roogna]

many of us use Apoxie Sculpt (order online from Aves Studio) - an air drying clay (no bake). I use water to smooth it on while I'm working with it.
acrylic paint is a yes. use Extender to help it go on smoother.
if you have watercolor pencils you should be able to use them on the ponies...just not to color the whole body.
also recommend Testors Dullcoat to seal, especially if you're using pencils and not paint

basically, just start experimenting
painting itself takes practice.
also, good brushes
and a link to my tutorial on full body repaints http://mlparena.com/index.php?topic=340080.0

[shintoji]

many of us use Apoxie Sculpt (order online from Aves Studio) - an air drying clay (no bake). I use water to smooth it on while I'm working with it.
acrylic paint is a yes. use Extender to help it go on smoother.
if you have watercolor pencils you should be able to use them on the ponies...just not to color the whole body.
also recommend Testors Dullcoat to seal, especially if you're using pencils and not paint

basically, just start experimenting
painting itself takes practice.
also, good brushes
and a link to my tutorial on full body repaints http://mlparena.com/index.php?topic=340080.0

thank you for the tips! i only planned on using the pencils for the symbols and eyes, theyre much too expensive to cover a whole pony with haha!! your tutorial was very helpful as well, ive always admired your customs! i watch you on da and often check your etsy store.

[Griffin]

I second acrylic paints, they are pretty much the only type of paint suitable for vinyl. The Folk Art brand is my personal favourite, they are inexpensive and easy to work with. I've tried artist grade acrylics as well but I like the smooth, slightly chalky finish of Folk Art. You can sand them with fine sand paper, for example, to get rid of any extra bumps or brush strokes, whereas artist paints (at least the ones I've tried) don't respond too well to sanding. But I recommend trying out different brands and finding your favourite, I still buy whatever I can find and use a jolly mixture of different brands.

Roogna's FBR tutorial is great! My best tips for FBRs are priming (I use gesso) and a large, fan shaped brush. The primer gives the paint something to adhere to so you won't need as many layers and the paint will go on smoother. But of course it's possible to skip priming. The fan brush is a must for me, it's so easy to reach difficult spots and I like being able to paint small and large areas alike using a single brush.   

[shintoji]

I second acrylic paints, they are pretty much the only type of paint suitable for vinyl. The Folk Art brand is my personal favourite, they are inexpensive and easy to work with. I've tried artist grade acrylics as well but I like the smooth, slightly chalky finish of Folk Art. You can sand them with fine sand paper, for example, to get rid of any extra bumps or brush strokes, whereas artist paints (at least the ones I've tried) don't respond too well to sanding. But I recommend trying out different brands and finding your favourite, I still buy whatever I can find and use a jolly mixture of different brands.

Roogna's FBR tutorial is great! My best tips for FBRs are priming (I use gesso) and a large, fan shaped brush. The primer gives the paint something to adhere to so you won't need as many layers and the paint will go on smoother. But of course it's possible to skip priming. The fan brush is a must for me, it's so easy to reach difficult spots and I like being able to paint small and large areas alike using a single brush.

thank you for all these tips!! i have a full set of folk art acrylics actually! ill look into getting more brushes as well. i think im going to start off small with kust simple eye and symbol repaints and work my way up from there.
(also, is mod podge suitable sealant for ponies? i had sealed my first ever custom using it a long time ago but the paint ended up peeling off! it was a fbr so i just assumed it was the acrylics, but im starting to doubt that)

[Diamond]

I actually prefer using rubbing alcohol to smooth with it on apoxy, you can also use Magic Sculpt which I have switched over too.  The rubbing alcohol will actually smooth out finger prints and can even be used to thin the apoxy to make a good pin hole filler.

You can also use pastels to paint with, many, many model horse artist use that method and it works well with ponies to get smooth blended colors.  The few folks I know who have done it are not on pony boards so sadly no links to share of what it looks like but if I ever get some free time I do have one or two planned and will be sure to post some in progress shots.