Advice on taking apart talking Celestia

[RedWildFlower]

I'd like to do a custom with a talking Celestia and my sister told me some of you have done it but she can not find any info on getting her apart. Has anyone created a tutorial or can just give me advice on what to do? Thanks ahead of time!

[Kitkumi]

I have taken apart two of them so far. They aren't easy, but I can give you a basic tutorial of what I did (I'll try to get some pictures tonight too if you would like )

1. Cut out the mane and the tail first. This will keep them from getting in the way later. Also snip those wings off. They can be cut off along the seams to retain their shape if you want to reuse them, or you can use a seam ripper to get them off. There is a stiff plastic in there that will need to get cut off once you remove the fabric.

2. You have to remove the screws that hold her body together. I used a small drill to remove the hard plastic covering from the screws. You don't want to drill too far down and hit the screws, so keep a close eye on how far you've drilled.

3. Use an exacto knife to clear out any plastic that you didn't get with the drill, and use a screwdriver to remove the screws. They may be in there pretty tight but don't force them as that can break the plastic. Slow and steady and apply pressure steadily if they stick.

4. The body is the hardest part to get apart, as it is actually sealed along the seam APART from the screws. This is tricky if you are trying to preserve the mechanical workings inside, since you don't want to cut any wires. Start at the tail and push the tuft of remaining tail into the body with a screwdriver or other tool. Then, use your exacto knife and start at the tail opening. Slide the blade gently into the body seam to split it. Basically, you have to break the glue holding the pieces together. It is very slow going (at least on the ones I've done) since this is part where you can really break her or crack the plastic. Remember, don't force anything. You can also do this part with a small, flat head screwdriver and a hammer.

5. Once you get to the head try to pry the plastic apart as best to can. The head is more in the style of G3 toys I think, and the body is not hollow under it. Pop the head out if you can, and you find a solid plastic 'shelf' under it that is part of the body. Continue breaking the seam of the plastic.

I think that about covers it (I think; been awhile since I've pried one part lol) If you don't care about the electronics inside the body you can dig the exacto knife in deeper while trying to get the body halves apart. It is a lot of slice-pry-slice-pry, so on and so forth with the body, and when you go to put it back together the plastic will not fit as nicely because there is just no way to keep from warping it it tiny bit. But that can be smoothed out with sculpting tools and materials.

[hannaliten]

There is no need to take the body apart if you don't care about the mechanics staying in it. Just sculpt over any open holes and you should be good to go.

[NinaMarie]

Yeah I guess we are mostly concerned with getting her head off. (I'm the sister)

[RedWildFlower]

I have taken apart two of them so far. They aren't easy, but I can give you a basic tutorial of what I did (I'll try to get some pictures tonight too if you would like )

1. Cut out the mane and the tail first. This will keep them from getting in the way later. Also snip those wings off. They can be cut off along the seams to retain their shape if you want to reuse them, or you can use a seam ripper to get them off. There is a stiff plastic in there that will need to get cut off once you remove the fabric.

2. You have to remove the screws that hold her body together. I used a small drill to remove the hard plastic covering from the screws. You don't want to drill too far down and hit the screws, so keep a close eye on how far you've drilled.

3. Use an exacto knife to clear out any plastic that you didn't get with the drill, and use a screwdriver to remove the screws. They may be in there pretty tight but don't force them as that can break the plastic. Slow and steady and apply pressure steadily if they stick.

4. The body is the hardest part to get apart, as it is actually sealed along the seam APART from the screws. This is tricky if you are trying to preserve the mechanical workings inside, since you don't want to cut any wires. Start at the tail and push the tuft of remaining tail into the body with a screwdriver or other tool. Then, use your exacto knife and start at the tail opening. Slide the blade gently into the body seam to split it. Basically, you have to break the glue holding the pieces together. It is very slow going (at least on the ones I've done) since this is part where you can really break her or crack the plastic. Remember, don't force anything. You can also do this part with a small, flat head screwdriver and a hammer.

5. Once you get to the head try to pry the plastic apart as best to can. The head is more in the style of G3 toys I think, and the body is not hollow under it. Pop the head out if you can, and you find a solid plastic 'shelf' under it that is part of the body. Continue breaking the seam of the plastic.

I think that about covers it (I think; been awhile since I've pried one part lol) If you don't care about the electronics inside the body you can dig the exacto knife in deeper while trying to get the body halves apart. It is a lot of slice-pry-slice-pry, so on and so forth with the body, and when you go to put it back together the plastic will not fit as nicely because there is just no way to keep from warping it it tiny bit. But that can be smoothed out with sculpting tools and materials.

So do i need to take the body apart to take the head off? or can i just pop it off?

[hannaliten]

Just pop it off.

[Alatariel-Silimaure]

I fully customized this one without taking her apart aside from popping the head off:

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if you want to kill the voice box in it, just cut out the speaker grill, and slice the plastic disk on the speaker, no more sound, but you still have lights to light up the wings :3 then I just sculpted over where the speaker grill was

I've also got a couple that I have fully taken apart and plan to rewire

[RedWildFlower]

Thanks all for your advice. I wanted to know how to take it apart because i plan on making it into a princess celestia centaur. Thankfully I have a father who indulges my pony madness and was able to pop it off for me. He even got really into it and was figuring how to put the MH cam onto the celestia pony body lol.