can I get some advice from the pros?

Lydia

Lydia

Teeny Tiny Baby Pony
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Messages
29
I am making a custom for my 7 year old cousin. It's a Rapunzel pony made from what used to be a cutie mark crusader from the cantorlot wedding play set, so it's smaller than a regular G4 pony. I want to style the hair like Rapunzel from Tangled when it was in that gorgeous braid!
Here's where you lovely experienced people come in:
I will be using polymer clay for the hair and flowers. Have any of you used polymer clay for hair? If so, are there any particular mixes of clay that you have used that prove to be stronger (she's going to play with this no matter how high of a shelf it gets put on. I don't blame her)? Also, I already painted the body. Have any of you had experience with putting a painted pony in the oven?
If it were my pony I would just experiment with it. But this one belongs to my adorable cousin and I would feel very guilty if I wrecked her toy :surprisepony:
 
I haven't used polymer clay for hair though I have worked with Super Sculpey. It's quite nice to work with and decently strong but ony comes in flesh color. I am getting into polymer clay for other stuff though and have seen the praises of Premo. It's supposed to be quite strong and durable if cured correctly.

As far as paint in the oven...... I would say that's a no go. It likely to not only release fumes but bubble up and get ruined as well. Depending on how you're going to sculpt the hair could you sculpt it on another unpainted bait, bake it and then transfer the hair to your custom. Sounds weird but I've done it before. But it greatly depends on how you plan for the hair to sit on her head.
 
I can't use another bait because that's the only pony I got in that size. What sort of hair would you use for Rapunzel? I won't do the braid from brushable hair. Kids + toys with an updo...yeah I'm not gonna mess with that.
By the way, I took a look at some of your customs and you are very talented! Thanks for your advice :satisfied:
 
I've used Fimo, Sculpey III, Super Sculpey and Apoxy Sculpt on various custom ponies.

Sculpy varieties are easy to find. They hold detail well and need to be baked (which you can do with ponies apparently, but I've never risked it). However, they are quite fragile and I wouldn't suggest using them for a custom that will be played with. If you get sculpey III or Sculpey original try and find grey, it's the easiest colour to see flaws and details with.

It's not a polymer clay but I really can't recommend Apoxy Sculpt highly enough. It's a bit annoying to get your hands on it since you generally need to order from the website, and it can be a pain to have to blend the two compounds, but it comes out very smooth, is very strong and waterproof. You have about 3 hours to work it until it air dries, and when it dries you can drill and sand it without worrying about it breaking. It's ideal for making customs that are going to be played with and I've used it myself for that exact purpose.

I think the idea for the custom itself is lovely. You'd want a really strong clay though, since there were lots of leaves and flowers in that braid and they would be easy for a child to break off in play if it's not a strong clay.
 
How much does apoxy sculpt cost? Can color be added to it while it's still soft or would I have to paint it? Yes, ponies can go in the oven. She will be soft and squishy until she cools, but then she's back to normal.
I'm doing an experiment Monday with a painted plastic milkshake that came with a Pinkie Pie I bought. I painted it with the same stuff I painted Rapunzel with and I'm going to stick it in the oven at either 260° or 275° for 15 to 20 minutes and see what happens. I'll post the results.

I may have to resort to the apoxy sculpt if my experiment fails and if my clay fails the tests I'm going to put it thru. I'll post how that goes, too. The only thing that worries me about the apoxy is that it will harden in a few hours and it's not like my air dry clay (I use Premier) which I can just spray water on to keep moist.

I should also note that these are the polymer clay brands I currently have on hand:
Sculpey III
Fimo Puppen
Fimo Soft
Premo
Kato Polyclay <-- this is the strongest clay I've tried. Premo being the second-strongest
 
I agree that I would be afraid of the polymer clay breaking depending on level of play and how fragile the hairstyle. If you were going to wrap the braid around the body of the pony somehow, keep it closer to the body, as opposed to a long braid just sitting out there then it may be a little more durable.

Apoxie sculpt is great and it does air dry. You have a much smaller work time but it is much stronger in the end. I don't think you can color it in its wet form. It would need to be painted.

Here's a link to the website: Apoxie® Sculpt
 
I've only ever used modelling clay and I know details I've done have been broken very easily.
Meanwhile, my friend made me a couple of custom ponies using Apoxy Sculpt and they are a completely different level. It's amazing. it feels more like it's part of the pony rather than a flimsy add on. So while I haven't had experience with using it myself, I can tell you that it's a lot more stable than clay and if you want it to be more stable absolutely go with apoxy.
 
From the Aves Studio website (which is where I ordered mine) the Apoxy Sculpt costs 9.00 for a 1/4 pound, $16 for a pound, and $37 for 2 pounds. I believe there are some selected retail stores that stock it such as Hobby Lobby, I don't know their prices.

You can extend the life of the apoxy but putting the blended clay pieces in water while you wait to work with them if you don't want to blend more as you go. That's what I did recently and it worked quite well.
The apoxy has a unique texture when it dries too, it's extremely smooth, it works especially well for hair. It's very easy to sculpt onto a pony and blend with it, even moreso because you can sand it all you want when it's dry.

Personally, based on my experience, I would pay for the apoxy because it's just all-round superior to those other clays. Sculpey just isn't strong enough to survive being played with by kids. I did some wings on a pony at the request of one of my cousin's kids and after a few weeks they were destroyed. I redid them in apoxy and they're still on the pony months later.

I don't mean to sound like an ad for the stuff, but it really is worth every cent and it elevates customs to another level.
 
Thanks everypony

Thanks you guys :)

I don't think I'm going to do the flowers and braid for this one. I'm bidding on a couple g4 fashion style baits and I'm gonna do the braid and flowers on one of them. That way little Sophia can play with this one no worries. As much as I reeaaallly want to make this little thing epic, a 6in pony has more room for details and will have better strength.
Definitely gonna get some epoxy clay. The more I research it, the more I want it! It's durability and strength are really what I'll be needing if I'm going to get serious about customizing (and I'm getting pretty serious!).
Thanks all of you for the advice and the tips. I'll see if I can put them to good use :satisfied:
 
Oh I will! As soon as I can get ahold of my camera and a computer. I use my phone to get on here most of the time.
 
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