Custom Help please :D - Can't get her head off

Lollipop

Lollipop

Dollar Store Baby Fakie
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Messages
603
Hello

So I have a pony I want to re-hair - Vanilla Treat - G1

I am completely new to customising - I am good with fiddly hairdo's like tiny plaits & cornrows so thought I would try re-hairing :D & as Vanilla treat's hair has been dramatically cut thought she could be my first one :D (she also has a little bite mark on her ear but no idea what to do about that lol)

I have looked at tutorials on how to re-hair & I think I have it figured out now going to use this tutorial
Aikarin.com - Custom Pony Tutorial - rerooting/rehairing
& this for the tail
My Little Pony Arena » Forums » Creativity » Customs » How to Re-Tail a Custom

So for my questions....

*How do you remove the head?

*What glue is best for putting the head back on?(I am in the UK so if you are in the UK & know a specific brand that would be good :D)

What type of hair do I use? (I am going to buy the hair from retrodolls.co.uk as they have some lovely colours) I don't know what the difference is between these types of hair :unsure:
Featured Products - *Retro Dolls

*How much hair do I actually need? I don't know what colours I want to go for yet I was thinking maybe 2 or 3 colours (maybe 4) tail I might do as a block colour as I am not sure how you do that with different colours yet:p


*Which is better to use Tinsel hair or Tinsel Blend? or Should I steer clear for my first custom? :p

*I have found a tutorial for doing her tail but I was wondering if there was another way? (tutorial I found is above)

*What paints should I use for touching up her Symbol & Eyes? (they aren't really that bad but would be nice to know in case I decide I want to :))


Thank you in advance for any help

:satisfied:
 
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To remove the head first just try to pull it off. If it won't come off then you may need to soften the glue somehow. You can carefully use a heat gun or hot water. I often fill up a cup with water from my coffee pot and just put the pony upside down in it for a few minutes. Then carefully try to pull the head off again.

As for putting the head back on, hopefully you won't need glue. If you can pop the head off without cutting the neck then you should be able to pop it back on ok. Otherwise you can use E6000 or something like that. Super glue might work but can be messy.

Nylon is the same as original MLP hair. So if you want it close to original then go with Nylon. There's also Saran, which I like, it's a nice soft type of hair with great color. There are other types but I'd stick with one of those two for your first.

I have only bought from them once so I'm unsure on how many hanks you need for one pony. The owner of the site is a member here though so you may try messaging her.
http://www.mlptp.net/forums/customs/102480-retro-dolls-uk.html

Those are both great tutorials you listed. The tail tutorial is the easiest I know of.

Tinsel hair blend should be easy enough for you to use if you like.

Acrylic craft paint is what most people use and what work well for all pony painting. Usually can be found at craft stores and other home goods type stores, like Walmart, etc.

Hope this helps!
 
Helloo!
just to let you know all our hair comes in 38" lengths including our special effect hair.
You would need 1-2 hanks for a Pony depending on how thick you wanted the Mane and Tail and also the length.
We sell Large hanks ( equal to 4 standard hanks) and XL hanks ( equal to 8 standard hanks) these are a cheaper way to buy colours you may use alot.
We also do 10 and 20 hank deals as well which save you money.
Our Nylon is made by the supplier to Mattel and Integrity Toys and is easy to curl . Saran is the other fibre mentioned which is lovely and soft but not great at holding a curl as it is a heavy fibre.
The other hair we sell is Poly hair which is a mixture of both, can hold a curl and very versatile. It can feel a bit coarser than the other fibres but when styled etc it is very nice.
The last one is Kanekalon which is the closest fibre to human hair , very light and very shiny, can be curled too.
Tinsel blended hair is the same to use as the other hair and can be curled too :).
Most people work with many fibres and some stick to what they like the best which is a personal thing.
Whatever you choose - have fun and enjoy it's a great way to spend your time and you'll soon get hooked! :: xx
 
Thank you to both of you :D very helpful hehe.

Just tried to pull her head & it won't budge its on tight. I will try the hot water you suggested at the weekend :D hopefully it will come off :p

Really hope I don't have to re-glue her head otherwise I might ask mum to do this she is better with fiddly glue bits lol :p

Hmm I think I might go for the Nylon & maybe some tinsel blend for my first try then :D

I think we have some acrylic paint actually hmm will have a hunt I might wait for an even baitier pony to try that on though :p (I am more of a drawer than a painter)

I will more than likely go for hmm maybe 4 hanks in 4 different colours (well need to decide on colours first)

Does the tail take up 1 hank?


Really can't wait to try re-hairing :D looks like a lot of fun hehe, I am sure I will get hooked on it :p lol

Thank you again to both of you, been a lot of help :D lets hope this head comes off now :p
 
Ok so I have put Vanilla Treat in a Boiling Water along with a so soft Gusty (de-flocking her atm) Gusty's head came off straight away but Vanilla treats head just will not budge lol tried it several times now, so any clue what I can do?

Another question as well... is there a trick to putting the head back on? I tried to put Gusty's back on took me a few tries to actually get it on :p & then when I had it looked like gusty had been sucking on a lemon (aka fish pout) lmao so I am just wondering what I am doing wrong

Sorry for all the questions as you can tell I really am new to this lol

Thank you again in advance :D
 
Some heads are just wretchedly stubborn! I usually try hot water, and might carefully take a craft knife around the edge to go through the glue (you have to be so very careful though to keep it straight along the seam, and not too deep or you cut the neck plug). If I can lever up even a little, I wedge my hemostats down into the body and prise the head off that way with some gentle rolling - sounds weird but I got a poor baity baby pony's head off like that this morning, and I had feared she'd be a reglue job!

Putting the head back... hmm, I doubt you're doing anything wrong, I reckon Gusty's just warm and soft so she pulls faces! I always let the pony dry out first and go cold again, so it's not so squishy. If it really won't go back on, I push part of the neck plug in with those trusty old hemostats, a bit at a time, and then twist to get the last bit in and line it up.

With Retrodolls nylon hanks, I can usually get a pony's mane and tail out of one hank - I cut it into thirds and it's still long enough for the mane to trail on the floor! ^^ I didn't use a full hank of Carnival coloured nylon to give my Sugarberry ultra-long hair. ^^ I generally use a third for the tail, and a third and a bit for the mane. Leftover bits are great for rehairing baby ponies or filling in missing plugs!

Good luck with Vanilla Treats, I bet she's going to look awesome. <3
 
Just had to google what hemostats are hehe I do have some tiny skinny pliers for jewellery making they might work if not I will get a pair of those :D

I will try a knife around the neck line tomorrow hopefully that works she was in boiling water for ages & that didn't work :( I shall try my mini pliers tomorrow too.

Yeah I think her head was still a little warm when I put it on. I managed to get it on properly now though :D used the bottom of the tooth brush I was cleaning her with to push it in hehe but defo think your idea sounds a lot easier :D

Ok :D that is very helpful as I really wasn't sure how much I need for her tail :D think I will pick colours that will suit my baby Bunkie as well then she needs a new do too hehe :D

Thank you so much for your help Hanamadoi :D can't wait to start re-hairing hehe
 
I use an exacto blade to carefully cut the heads off of my ponies.

To glue heads back on, I use Gorilla Glue. I get out a rubber band or two and find the balance of gravity of holding the head down onto the body, I then apply the glue onto the neck ring with a Q-tip after dampening the neck rings. You have to use a controlled amount of glue otherwise it will expand all over the place and coat your pony in strings of foamy sticky difficult hard glue. >_____< I keep a close watch on mine if they start to expand I wipe away any excess glue immediately.
I then walk away from the pony entirely and let it set for 2 hours for the glue to thoroughly dry and expand.

When I first started out, I also used Krazy glue or super glue, and those work fine too. Just press the head and body together for 30 seconds. :satisfied:
 
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