Adventures in Pony Customizing

First thing you'll notice is that this isn't a review.  I've decided to change things up a bit.  I'll still be doing reviews, but I'll also be posting various other things, like my forays into the world of model kits and toy customization. So, for my first non-review blog, I'll be chronicling my attempts at pony customizing.

Let me start off by saying, I'm not that much into the show.  I think it's adorable, and I gave it to my 3-year-old nieces because it's got some valuable lessons as well as being fun and cute, but personally I've seen fewer than 10 episodes. I *do* love the way that the creators allow it to be effected by the fanbase, bringing characters like Derpy Hooves, Vinyl Scratch, and Doctor Whooves from the stuff of memes to actual canon, but as far as knowing specifics and episodes, that's not really me.

What I *am* into (or at least I was 5 years ago, before I moved) is model horse customizing.  I've done a few, and it was a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of time and effort, and base horses could cost a decent chunk of cash.  With the recent MLP craze, though, and noticing that the pony toys started at $5, I thought it might be fun to try my hand at customizing *those.*

Having recently gotten into Doctor Who, I decided I definitely wanted to make a custom Doctor Whooves.  I bought a Pinkie Pie for a base, this one in particular:

The first thing I did was take her eyes and butt stamp off using Goof Off, which is some amazing stuff.  (Yes, I know the technical term is "cutie mark," but I prefer "butt stamp.") Then I cut off her mane and tail. Here she is all creepy and blank!

So then I coated her with white primer.

The paint was still sticky, so I set her up on a shelf next to an AC vent, hoping it would dry.  In the meantime, I did a little looking, and realized that I could turn a Rarity into Vinyl Scratch with very little work!  So a few days later, I went and bought a Rarity:

At this point, I realized that, oh crap, the primer wasn't drying AT ALL on Pinkie Pie.  So I did some research, and long story short, discovered that I have to get a special primer for plastics.  I should have known that.  >_o  So, back to the Goof Off!  I took off the coat of still-sticky primer and removed Rarity's eyes and butt stamp while I was at it. 

And, as of right now, I've covered Rarity's mane stubble and too-low tail hole with Apoxie Sculpt (LOVE that stuff).  I took a trip to Wal-Mart to search for plastic primer, but they didn't carry it.  So for now I'll work on Rarity/Vinyl Scratch, and get back to Pinkie Pie/Doctor Whooves after I've had a chance to get by Home Depot and get that primer.  Honestly, I'm more excited for the Doctor Whooves custom, but going from 

is going to be a much easier project to start with, since there's no re-paint and no face re-sculpt involved.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do about her glasses yet; if I'm going to sculpt them on with Apoxie Sculpt or try to make them out of Foamies or something and make them removable.  I figure I'll tackle the mane and tail first, and then see what looks most likely to work.

More updates as I progress!