an ethics question, reparing a custom?

[Sanadaookami]

So I have a custom someone sent me in hopes I could fix her. This custom is a well known FIM character and according to her owner her sculpted hair was broken in shipping when she was shipped without any padding. The original person who made her apparently will not fix her or make a replacement.

I have no idea who made her to start with but the craftsmanship looks shoddy to me. It looks to me like her hair was originally made with brittle air dry clay- and that is was likely broken and glued back together at least once before being painted (there is a rather notable seam line in the hair where it broke before that has been painted over) There is no way to save the old hair- it crumbles and turns powdery at a touch.

at minimum I need to re-sculpt and paint her hair- but the eyes and cutie mark could really use some touching up as well. How far should I go with this restoration and when is it just considered a whole new custom? Should I sign her hoof when I'm done? (the old artiest did not)
What are your overall feelings about repairing customs?

[saply]

It doesn't sound like the original artist has a lot of emotion invested in their work. If you're up to it, I'd repair it as much as the owner is ok with, then sign it "Repaired by [name], 2013" on the bottom or something :o

[Sarahlacewing]

If it was me I would say do whatever you have to. If I sent someone a custom and it got damaged in the fashion I would fix it.  If that ment completely reworking everything so be it. When you have a custom of a specific character I think you have more wiggle room. After all if I made a custom -insert pony name- its going to look like every other -same pony name- custom out there. That is the point of the custom, to model as closely to the character as you can. But since your skill level is above the original artist I think you should sign it with a modified signature as suggested above. Because on the one hand you don't want people to credit the previous artist with your improvements, but on the other hand you don't have to find yourself credited with the previous artists flaws.  But modding it is not infringing on their artistic rights in my opinion because it was a stock character custom. If it was an oc or if the person did a stylistic take not the custom I'd say to repair but not mod if possible to preserve their original vision. Does that make sense?

Edit: I would say to spare feelings it would be nice to keep the project quiet. But it is kind of stinky that they wouldn't fix it, so I don't know how sensative you wan to be.  Feelings could easily get hurt here though.

[Roogna]

if I were her, I would demand my money back (go through paypal for item received not as described). then use that money to have someone with better skills do it (she obviously found you after the fact, or she would have gone with you before....unless the other person was soooo cheap, and then she got what she paid for I guess)
everyone starts somewhere, which could explain seeminly shoddy quality and/or products (paint, clay, etc) used, BUT throwing a *sculpted* piece in the mail with NO padding is ridiculous! That alone says this person doesn't care about their work, but they are also refusing to fix something that was broken because of their own negligence.

it's up to you, but it might be better to just make her a new custom yourself rather than "fix" this one. If there's no personal or emotional attachment to this custom and it needs more than minor touch-ups, I question the investment of repair. I would say credit where credit is due (and sign it that you repaired it), but do you want to put your name on something with a poor base?

Repairing customs is a touchy topic. Most artists would be happy to repair their work if you are able to find them. Some are happy that someone has "rescued" their customs from a home that didn't take care of them, including if the new owner has to "fix" things. I've had 1 custom arrive damaged to me, and the creator and I worked it out to where I reglued some things and resculpted/painted a very tiny area rather than risk sending the custom back.

The fact that this is "just" a Hasbro replica makes it a little less touchy than if it was an OOAK character, but you have to decide for youself how you feel on the topic, and have an open discussion with the client about the state of the custom and what you would need to do.

[Sanadaookami]

saply- yes I am only doing exactly what repair work the owner is ok with- I have messaged her to ask about the paint details, and the signature idea sounds perfect.

Sarahlacewing- That makes perfect sense- its exactly what I was thinking about with the signature and its some of what I thought about when I was first approached with the project. I decided with it being a stock character (and a commonly made one at that) that I wasn't bothered morally with re sculpting her. Also I knew it was find someone to fix her or she goes in the trash bin, and I've never liked the idea of anypony going in the bin no matter how bad off!

I am trying to be courteous to who ever originally made this custom- I'm being very careful to make sure I don't even say what pony it is so there is no way anyone can point blame. This isn't about shaming whoever made her before, its jut about getting some opinions, and making things right for the girl who bought her I won't even be posting photos of her any place when the project is done- that way there is no chance anyone can recognize her and get upset about it.

Roogna- I agree that it is most likely just someone new to customizing, it takes time to build up your skills, and learn what materials work. I do see the the artiest has potential- The full body paint looks good, hardly a brush stroke in sight, and the basics are there they just need some fine tuning. But the packaging and the lack of customer service is really hard for me to over look. I did just offer to make her a whole new one to start but she didn't want this one to go completely to waist. I don't think I would have agreed to work on this if it had been a more original character without talking to the creator before hand. Or it was for someone I didn't know so well, this one has been buying my work for about a year (about one custom every month) so saying no when she comes to me with something like this would be awfully difficult.

[Sarahlacewing]

Popping back in to say good for you Sanadaookami for several reasons! First, because you are incredibly talented and this custom is going to turn out lovely.  Secondly, because you have a strong devotion to your customers and to ponies in general.  And last, because even though the original artist isn't showing the proper respect for this transaction, you are still showing them every possible courtesy.

I think one of the larger problems is that sometimes newer folks do a few customs and then think... I can do this, I can make money selling these just like everyone else!  But they haven't taken enough time to really get the basics down.  I don't do many commissions myself because even as an intermediate customs artist  there are some things I still struggle with.  What those folks don't realize is that the people who get steady work, like you, are expert class with tons of experience and a willingness to resolve any kind of difficulties that come up.

[LadySatine]

Popping back in to say good for you Sanadaookami for several reasons! First, because you are incredibly talented and this custom is going to turn out lovely.  Secondly, because you have a strong devotion to your customers and to ponies in general.  And last, because even though the original artist isn't showing the proper respect for this transaction, you are still showing them every possible courtesy.

I totally agree.