WhiteWindy

Helloes pony fans!

I am no longer in need of bait. I've spent a stupid amount of sterling pounds and dollars on ponies recently! WHEEEE! I also have new concepts which are only in writing so far. Along with about 30 x g3 bait from the lovely Deborah of Denver, I also picked up a very sorry looking big brother, Tracks. I think someone tried to make a merpony out of him because he has a gigantic hack mark on his rump :( poor lad! He'll be a tauren shaman in a few weeks or months, I hope. I have a tub of apoxie sculpt so I can make whatever comes into my tiny head! yey! I also need metallic paints, nylon hair and a nail file. That's right, I'm a girl and I don't even own a nail file. How sad is that?

But... the best news I have at the moment... *gigglepants* I have all but two MOUNTAIN BOYS! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! *excitered*

Thankyou, Rachael :)

I only need Sunburst and Icecrystal. I think I'll have to be patient with them with the whole money thing.

So, here are my new concepts:

Sushi pony: “Itadakimasu”

A Japanese cuisine pony

White body

Dark green (nori) hair

Painted apoxie sculpt makzushi and onigiri glued on her butt

Trim points off toothpicks and paint black or red. Use as chopstick hair decorations

Kanji symbols [和食] (washoku)

 

"Gruftahl"

A World of Warcraft themed pony

BB bait (Tracks)

Apoxie and wire secured Cowtail with epoxied fluff

Apoxie and wire secured Horns

Painted matte brown

Blended brown scruffy mane

Extra plugs behind ears for braids

Wire nose piercing

Apoxie beard OR make extra plugs and nylon beard

Apoxie shaman decorations to cover score across butt

Batmask

 

"Fraelow"

A World of Warcraft themed pony

G1 pale bait (need to find a pose)

Apoxie and wire secured Cowtail with epoxied fluff

Small Apoxie Horns

Painted matte white with grey spots

Blended silver mane

Apoxie druid decorations

 

"Sakura"

An anime themed pony, based on the Card Captor Sakura series

G3 white bait

White pony

Brown hair, possible pink streaks or sections, styled to match sakura.

Extra plugs on head for fringe

Red cherry hair ties for mane and tail

Remove hoof magnet, glue magnet on inside of lower leg to attach staff or book.

Make the key from apoxie and plastic, allow for metal staff screw attachment.

Tomoeda school logo symbol or clow reed magic circle

Fabric neckpiece from school uniform

Apoxie book of clow, painted and with a magnet inside

 

"Kero"

An anime themed pony, based on the Card Captor Sakura series

Mini pony bait

Painted yellow

Apoxie and fluff tail

Short fluffy cream mane, possibly made from synthetic fur

Apoxie chibi wings

Ok, sorry for the awful job I did on these. My concepts tend to be very rough so I don't feel bad about re-jigging details and to be more time-effective. I'd like to do both of these concepts with G3 bait... of which I have none! Bum! I need to buy some hanks of nylon hair and paints for these too... so they won't be finished for some time I guess.





This is Euphoria. She probably should be a unipeg. Her hair is red, pink, purple, blue and turquoise. No special background here, I just like the colours and the idea of a silly-happy pony :)




This is the Abalone Pony! xD awesome concept and name, nee? Abalone is one of my favourite materials, especially in jewellery. I would like to imitate the texture of abalone with metallic acryllics and match the colours of her body into her hair which would be arranged to compliment the pattern.

Oh yeah!  I also want to get a big brother bait (must be in REALLY bad condition!) and a G1 ladybait to make them into a Taurens from World of Warcraft. Imina make a pony version of mine and my other half's characters :D Moo!

I just joined MLP arena tonight :)

I'm usually pretty shy when I join a new community and don't tend to feel welcome (issues much? lol)... but...! I'm loving MLP arena so far, everyone seems very friendly and helpful. I got some new LJ buddies and I even got a comment on my customised Barnacle from a customiser I really admire (she's definitely in the top 3 of all time that I know of)!

So, thanks MLP community for this feelgood vibe from the very bottom of my lil neon plastic heart! I am really, very grateful!

<3

Here's Barnacle's blog with every step of his customisation: including prepping, dye, concept and design etc.

Barnacle came to me from Denver with some of his friends in quite bad state - his other friends were in excellent condition from a very nice e-bay seller, I hasten to add! He is my first ever custom.


Here's how he first looked:

Oh my GOD! The poor thing! It's hard to tell from this photo, but his tail was also half cut off.




Barnacle's prep:

Hair came out with minimal effort with tweezers. Acetone (nail varnish remover) got off any remaining dirt and removed most of his symbols and pen marks. Barnacle's symbols were impossible to completely remove with acetone.



I made a BIG mistake at this stage by trying to repair his broken hoof.



Mistake one was using superglue. NEVER use superglue on a pony: it does not stick well, it goes crusty and repels dye. Again, BAD.
Mistake two was using glue before the dye bath. Glue repels dye! You might think that repairing the body during the prep stage would make sense... nuh-uh! Give it some thought, if it requires glue, do it after the dye/paint.




Barcle's Reconceptualisation:

Barnacle couldn't be restored to his former glory as his body was indelibly marked. He needed to be painted/dyed a darker colour to hide these. A sensible choice would be dark blue, a darker shade of his current colour would be easy to achieve.
I noticed that mylittlecustoms.com was selling glow in the dark nylon hair! I just had to get some for this and experiment with it!
Already I have a blue pony with white, glowing hair. This inspired Barnacle's whole new look as a "slumbertime", "nightlight buddy" sort of pony. My overall concept then became to create a pony that would glow as it sits on your bedside table and just generally being a comforting thing to have in the bedroom. Barnacle will obviously need new symbols such as stars and a moon... preferably ones that also glow in the dark!
This concept lead to this design:



The design was made with Adobe Photoshop using a template from Hasbro (from their design a pony competition).


Materials:

Once I had a concrete design for Barnacle, I committed myself to buying the materials to customise him.
I bought pretty much all the materials and tools I needed (except the ones I had already) online from various places such as craft stores and ebay. I got fine sable brushes, Rit dye, pliers, beading wire, acrylic paints, pva glue and all that jazz. At this stage it's a good idea to make a list to ensure you get everything.


Time to Dye!:

I used "Denim Blue" Rit dye for Barnacle. I used a bucket in my tub for the dyebath and added a little salt. Again, I made a few mistakes with this... but I also came up with what I believe to be a new technique for saving pony eyes from dye!
First of all, no matter what the hell you do to prepare for the mess that is dye... you will get it somewhere you don't want it! My fingers and bathroom are blue at this very moment.
If you spill somewhere, clean it up IMMEDIATELY!! If you don't know what to clean it up with, call someone who does! If you get it on your hands or clothes, dismiss it as an occupational hazard, hehe! It stained my tub a little as I poured out the dyebath, but I immediately poured cream cleaner in, scrubbed, left it to soak in for 2 mins and it rinsed away.
Secondly, I followed the packet's advice and left Barnacle soaking in dye for nearly half an hour. These instructions were for FABRIC, not ponies!  According to Lady Minty, (whom I implicitly trust with my ponies!) sometimes you only need dye a pony for a minute or two. Keep checking the colour, it won't lighten all that much when it's dry. As a result, Barnacle came out veeeeery dark, darker than I wanted/expected... but still the same colour as indicated on the Rit box.
Lastly, I didn't fish him out after 30 seconds to check for dye repelling spots. I figured he'd be fine because he's not G3... not so. Always check every pony's neck and body, regardless, after 30 seconds in a dyebath. If you find repel spots, rinse and dry off the pony, lightly and carefully sand the glue off.
And now for my little technique in development! Most people who dye their bait want to avoid dying the eyes of the pony, particularly the white parts... I have heard of people using wax, but I didn't want to melt a candle into Barnacle's eye because it sounds awful and I imagine candle + lighter is not a very precise tool. So, I got my PVA glue with its fine applicator nozzle and masked off the eyes. It worked almost perfectly! If I had put the PVA on more thickly, it would have been 100% effective. I peeled the dried PVA off Barnacle's eyes after his dyejob with my hands and a toothbrush for the more tricky areas.



I rerooted Barnacle's tail and mane using Aikarin's tutorials. Nothing new or interesting there with how I did it, Aikarin's tutorials are better than anything I could ever tell you! I bought white glow in the dark hair from mylittlecustoms.com ... and, as stated on her site, 2 hanks will hair a pony, even a big brother or mountain boy. I also painted his stars in an opalesque paint called "liquid pearls". I can't guarantee this is permanent on a pony (it's made for paper and fabric), but it does seem to be so far. I then painted over all the stars with a glow in the dark acrylic paint. Fini? Non! I also made some jewellery out of beading wire and liquid pearls. Time for a photoshoot!

The last thing he needs is a name... He's temporarily known as "Slumber dude" :)



Photo album of "Slumberdude"

Alright, in all seriousness :)

I was fabricated in the early 80's, I'm now 20something. I love Hasbro's My Little Pony and I'm not 100% sure why. I suppose, in retrospect... and I mean this... My Little Pony reminds me of only the good things in my childhood.

I purchased a job lot of vintage ponies from e-bay for a laugh... and I opened a big can of pony! Soon I had my favourite Thundercloud back with a big chunk of happy childhood memories. Then, family and friends brought me more lovely vintage ponies. Then I brought another job lot... Most of my old ponies are in fairly good to mint condition ... I'd toyed with the idea of customising and restoring after seeing some wonderful custom creation sites... but I had no pony I was brave enough to alter beyond a funky hairstyle. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, eh?

Then I discovered poor Barnacle!

I'm always on the lookout for "boy-ponies", they're my favourite. If I see a lot with two or more boys, I usually jump on it. I want them all! I found an ebay lot with a Wigwam and Barnacle among some girls... "BUY IT NOW!!" I clicked with glee, without investigating the image with much thoroughness... after paying the seller, I noticed Barnacle's dapper crew cut. Yes, short back and sides o_O

Well, put off I was certainly not :) I decided there and then that Barnacle would be restored or customised, depending on his state on arrival. The lady who sold them to me was eager to see what I would do with him, since she had sold her ponies from her overcrowded stables. The ponies had come all the way from Denver, Colorado to the West Midlands, England for a well deserved retirement. On opening the ponybox, I realised that Barnacle had not been a Barnacle for some years: a horrific hair cut, smudged markings, scuffs, a hole in a hoof, pen marks... He was in dire need of some help.

And so, Barnacle became my first subject for customisation and I started my pony blog. I chose the name WhiteWindy after one of my favourite ponygirls that I own: Windy, the rainbow pony in her white European variation.

And now for a little disclaimer of sorts:
I'd like to thank all the pony website owners and customisers who have inspired me.
I am posting a blog, not a "how to", so please don't expect me to be an expert!
I'm a student and designer by trade, this is a hobby that I reserve for my own amusement.
I'd love to befriend any My Little Pony appreciator :)

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Katie.

Katie loved anything that had eyelashes, fur or was made of plastic. She hated dolls with a righteous fury; animals and their likenesses were her real game... and she had hundreds, thousands, countless numbers of them! She even liked slimy frogs, newts and fish.

However, tragedy was on the way: Katie's family vanished through a messy divorce and she almost disappeared completely with it. All of her toys and posessions were burned by an angry bear... including a mysterious purple pony with feathered hooves, some carebears and a little blue Summerwing pony.

Over a decade later, a Kat emerged from the ashes, not wanting anyone or anything else to suffer a similar fate. Kat's childhood had ended too soon, if only she could cast a resurrection. One day, Kat recalled a purple pony with magenta hair and wondered why this plastic object was stirring a happy nostalgia from a time long forgotten. This legendary, epic pony was soon identified as "Thundercloud" and Kat made it her mission to find him again.

Thundercloud wasn't enough, Kat became obsessed with and addicted to Ponies, collecting as many as she could and vowing to restore any abused pony to its former glory or better. One day, a sickly Barnacle with a buzzcut, half a tail and smudged symbols arrived on her doorstep.

"It is time" she said to the sorry little pony as she found a temporary resting place for him among his fellow pony brothers. Kat began to muster up the materials to make Barnacle something even better than the moment he left the Hasbro factory. An idea formed in Kat's head as she carefully removed the remains of the mane with tweasers...

to be continued!