So.... Here We Go!

[Toilandtrouble123]

Popping my custom cherry.  Tropical Breeze from my errant Ebay seller finally came today, and woe is me, she has a bit of pony cancer (my fault, didn't check the photo's out close enough, it just looked like grime).  But since I should be having a well-looked after Tropical Breeze from a flutter bundle coming soon once I get the updated invoice for the shipping cost, I thought I shall start on the creation on my Storm Fury flutters.

Since Tropical Breeze is already blue, I shall start with Mistral, who is a mid to dark blue flutter, and shall have "Meteorite" nylon hair from Retro Dolls UK.

I nipped into WH Smiths after work and picked up some acrylics, and I will dismantle my flutter tonight, de-hair her and appply her first coating.  Despite it stating on the paint box that the acrylics have a "buttery smooth" consistency, I think I shall water down the paint a little before applying.  Pre-paint wash, I shall hibiscrub the heck out of her before hand, and blow dry her.

I think just for a photographic record, not just for myself but for other noobs, I shall take shots of each stage, much like what I have done for my astrophotography, which I have found useful to go back through to see what did I do to get best/worst results in the past for the present.

So watch this space! And if anyone has any tips along the way, please post them, as I am forver in the need for educating!

Much Love, Toilandtrouble

[The Little White Horse]

Ooooh I'm super interested in following your progress. I read your thread about your custom project and loved the idea of it.

Plus I always love learning more about customising.

P.S. : Is that your horse in your avatar?

[Toilandtrouble123]

Yeah his name's Gunner, Tb ex-polo, although when I first got him, he just looked like an overgrown New Forest pony! Got another dark bay TB who's an ex-racer, the same height at 16.2hh, but they couldn't be more different, he's rather fine, yet my mum's is a great fat tank!

Post Merge: June 29, 2016, 12:20:57 PM

Okay so, just getting her head off has been a right job!  Super hot water, and acetone to try and loosen up the glue, and after using the other half's pocket knife, and accidentally slicing in the knuckle of my left middle finger, and lots of cajoling and gouging a bit of her neck as I slipped by mistake, her head is OFF!! I think it took me a good 20mins.  De-hairing was fine, I chopped it before soaking her for the decapitation anyway, and once she had undergone an Anne Boleyn, I used my eyebrow tweezers to get inside and pluck the plugs out of her mane.

I then dribbled some acetone into her head, and very easily plucked the rest of her mane from the outside once the glue had loosened.

I also used the tweezers to hoick out the washer and tail from the inside quite easily.  However, when contorting my fingers to try and remove her mane from the outside, I have been wondering if it would be possible for me to rehair a flutter in Tropical Breeze's pose, given her head position, but if someone at the factory managed to do it in the first place, then surely there's hope for me!!

Her forehead mark and cutie marks have just been removed using the acetone (plain and simple artificial nail remover btw), so once I've topped up my Sailor Jerry's and lemonade (it's been a tough day, manic a work with stress beyond my eyeballs and no chance to have a lunch break...anyway, this is my "Thursday night"... so no judging )    I shall mix up some acrylic paint and water, giving "Mistral" her first coat of mid-to-dark body colour.  I shall attempt to go around her eyelashes first, as I don't trust myself to replicate them to a sufficient standard, although I suppose if I bugger it up, I shall have to learn!

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Post Merge: June 29, 2016, 02:16:55 PM

So Mistral has had three coats of paint, even when mixed with water, WH Smiths own acrylics don't half dry quick!!  It's also pretty warm in the kitchen, so I guess that helped.  From numerous online walk throughs, I picked up natural paintbrushes, as it seemed most mentioned natural is better than synthetic brushes when it comes to full body paints.  However, I found the Smith's synthetic brushes actually better than the natural brushes, but even still I am getting brush marks.  I am hoping with a couple more thinned down paint layers, they may disappear.

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Post Merge: June 29, 2016, 02:20:54 PM

Oh and here is her FB ad photo

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Post Merge: June 30, 2016, 03:17:50 AM

Bearing in mind I can only really from UK retailers, would mod podge matt be a sufficient sealant, as its impossible to get dullcote for a decent price.

[Roogna]

looks good so far!
yay for customizing!

and yes, Modge Podge will work. However, even MATTE will still look glossy
use water with it to help it go on smoother and not so thick

[Toilandtrouble123]

looks good so far!
yay for customizing!

and yes, Modge Podge will work. However, even MATTE will still look glossy
use water with it to help it go on smoother and not so thick

Thanks for the tips.  I also started on Baby Parasol (a baity Baby Ember) and Mystic (baity Posey), a purple Earth pony from my Fortune Tellers set.  Each of the four Fortune Teller ponies is a master of a different art of divination.  Mystic's asrt of divination premonition through touch.  She also gets prophetic dreams on rare occasions, and is mildly telepathic.

I'm really struggling to get the last of a bait Moonstone's mane out (absolute sh*tloads of glue in there!) but once she's all de-haired, I'll start painting her lilac to become Midnight Dream, of the Night Guardian unicorns.

When I've completed the body paints and cutie marks of my first batch of customs, I'll seal them and then buy a bulk order of hair from Retro Dolls, and start the re-hairing process.

Eeek! Excited!

Post Merge: July 01, 2016, 02:22:02 AM

UPDATE: my old boss, who's really into Warhammer told me of a UK site where they might do Dullcote at a reasonable price, AND THEY DO!! So when applying the Dullcote, does it need cutting and thinning like other varnishes sometimes do?

[pinkkittywinks]

eBay is your friend you can get dullcote for a good price there

I use the spray, so no thinning needed

Love pkw xxx

[Toilandtrouble123]

Right so, after creating a really cool marbled effect on Mistral's body  and head by dry brushing a lighter, more thinned down colour into the still-wet base layer of paint, I only went and screwed up her cutie mark! So I'm going to strip her down and start her again.

However Baby Parasol and Mystic are coming along nicely.  Initially Mystic's body colour dried to such a deep purple, she almost looked black! So yesterday I closed the practice for 45 minutes to nip to Clarke's Stationers and got a brighter purple in the Artiste acrylic brand.  Really impressed with that type of paint, although it did dry even if I thinned it down, so I had to be speedy! Mystic is lovely with a nice matte finish too!

Shall attempt Mystic and Baby Parasol's cutie marks later this afternoon - fingers crossed!!

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[josiekat]

Looking good so far! I can't wait to see them all finished!

[Toilandtrouble123]

UPDATE:

So, I have given Mystic and Baby Parasol a couple more layers of paint, using Artiste acrylic paint, which dries quickly to a lovely matte finish. Also, after deliberating with the pony formerly known as Tropical Breeze, I believe her transformation into Mistral wasn't successful because she is actually meant to be Thunderhead.  So, after repainting her to a slightly cooler and lighter purple than Mystic, she received some indigo flowing, curling breezes all over her body.  I then used greaseproof paper from good old Poundland to trace her cutie mark on either side of the paper. I then used this template to transfer a pencil print of her thunder cloud mark, and mixed some grey paint in with a bit of Daler-Rowney matte varnish, and filled out her clouds with a frayed toothpick, sculpting the drying paint into "fluffs".  I then decided to use a simple gel pen (a throwback from my 14 yr old custom attempts!) to create the lightning bolts, as I feel so much more comfortable with a pen/pencil than I do with a brush.  Once I felt that had all dried sufficiently, I used the Daler-Rowney matte varnish sealant all over Thunderhead's head and body. 

I feel she wanted to be Thunderhead all along when I look at her, and now I just gotta brave it and re-do her eyes (bricking it, to be honest!), and then do Baby Parasol's and Mystic's cutie marks, before ordering the hair next month.

Doing full body paints on these 3, really makes me feel like I want to try airbrushing for my next batch, as getting into the nooks and crannies with a brush, I have found so so tricky, frustrating and not-at-all enjoyable.  My main concern is whether the paints I have already invested in, would be suitable for airbrushing.  I know I will have to use a thinner, but I guess it'll be a matter of trial and error to get the right ratio.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading

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Post Merge: July 14, 2016, 01:32:52 PM

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