Midli Medley - a Brony custom

 Meet Midli Medley - a custom commissioned by friend, fellow Pony enthusiast, and Brony, DJ Midli.

Midli Medley was created using a Twilight Sparkle base.  The face, hair on hooves, chest, and back legs were all carefully sculpted with Apoxie Clay.  This is not the most elaborate sculpt I've done, but it is probably the one I'm most proud of since the join on the face is very smooth and nearly undetectible.

He was fully repainted, including eyes and symbol, and his hair is a blend of Dollyhair Golden Delicious and Mango Tango (I also added a third line of plugs to give him a thicker mane.

 His headphones were custom made from Sculpey Bake & Bend, so it's not only removeable, but flexible and he can wear them on his neck or his ears.  The rainbow lightening bolt on the headphones was also painted.

Unusually for commissions, I was lucky enough to be able to hand-deliver this custom to his new owner, so I got to see DJ Midli's initial reaction when he saw him for the first time.  It definitely made the work done on this custom well worth the while!

Elf

MLP Fair prep! Pony Cleaning 101

OK, it's only April, and the Fair is still three months away, but some of us just aren't that organized and need to start preparing early.  :P

Today, being the first day in about a month where I've had a whole weekend without work, and having the house to myself, I decided to clean the last wave of sales/trade ponies.  I thought this would also be a good time to do a post about the techniques I use to clean ponies.

Grungy Ponies

Most of these are thrift store finds, so they're not exactly pristine.  The first thing I do is to clean each pony with shampoo and an old toothbrush to get the light surface dirt off  (I usually clean several ponies at a time.)  Then I condition the hair.  I'll leave them sitting with the conditioner in for at least five minutes, assuming someone isn't really tangled and frizzy.  Then I'll comb the hair carefully, starting at the ends and working my way toward the pony, to get the tangles out.

Bath time!

No more frizzy Ponies

At this point, I'll look the Pony over to see if there are any marks or more ingrained dirt (there usually is.)  If the Pony is a G1 or G2, I'll use a Magic Eraser to remove these marks and dirt.  I've never had any problem with the Magic Eraser removing symbols or other paint from a G1 or G2, but I have seen it happen on a G3, so I try to avoid using one on G3s.  If there are still marks, it's time to bring out the big guns...

Acetone is a serious chemical (it has two danger symbols on the can!) so it should always be handled carefully.  It can remove factory paint in a second, but it can also remove some paint, scuffs, and other tough marks that second-hand Ponies are prone to.

Big black mark on leg

No more big black mark on leg.  Thank you, Acetone!

That's about where things end up for the sales/trade ponies.  Now it's just time to dry, then packed away into a box to await the trip to Florida.

Of course, there are a lot of other cleaning techniques.  Bleach for mold inside, whitening toothpaste for rust, sunfading for ink marks and some discolourations.  But these have a hightened risk of damaging the pony as well, so they're not something I'm going to try on ponies that will be leaving my hands.  That's something for a Pony's owner to try, if they feel it's warranted.
 

Elf

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Pony Fans!

 For those of you unable to get the MLP Easter egg, here are some pics.

Mmmm...chocolate Ponies...

Elf

The great Pony Room Reorg - volume 13

 Clearly, I still haven't tackled the pile of backcards and boxes that need organizing.  I think there's actually a playset in there, somewhere.

 I have been putting some of my other Ikea purchases to good use, though.  I've been organizing my G1 accessories and Pony Wear.  G2s are next on the list, but you can see them creeping in a bit here.

I've finally got all the G1 Pony Wear organized and in one place.  It's about time, for the last year I've been finding random Pony Wear bits and pieces everywhere in the Ponyroom.  Now I finally know what I have (and what I need.)  I'll be on the lookout for more Pony Wear at the Fair this year.

Elf

MLP Fair 2012!

It's my favourite time of year - Fair prep time!  :D

The 2012 MLP Fair will be in Orlando this year, in July.  Roomy and I have our tickets to the Fair, and our hotel booked.  July seems ages away, but it'll come up fast, as always.  I think I could start prepping the day after the Fair and still not be ready for the next one.

 Last year's Fair prep involved hours and hours of cleaning sales/trades ponies that had been sitting around gathering dust since the year before.  I vowed that I would get a box big enough to hold all my sales/trades stuff so that it would be clean and ready to go at a moment's notice!

...We're going to need a bigger box.

Our booth display from 2010 - the Fair in Kentucky

Half the fun of Fair prep (at least according to Roomy) is creating the booth display.  Roomy is a master builder, she designed and built the main parts of our display for the last two years.  She is looking forward to this year too.  Normally we build something that links with where we're going, but this year we're thinking of bringing a little piece of Canada with us.

Of course, I'll also be bringing some customs to sell.  Some are older customs looking for a new home, some are still in the works.  You'll be seeing them soon, right here.

Elf

The great Pony Room Reorg - volume 12

Yes, I'm still avoiding actually cleaning in the Pony Room by cataloguing my collection.  Plus, it gives me a chance to show off some of my new(er) Ponies.

 First, there are the Ponies that I got at last year's MLP Fair.  They've been here since last July and they haven't been catalogued yet.  I admit to Pony procrastination.

 Then there are the Ponies I got in last year's MLP Arena Advent Swap.  Lots of Ponies.  Lots and lots of Ponies.  Gyspsy here was part of my December 25th gift.  At least that was only two months ago.

Finally, there's the latest addition to my collection, Brazil Heart Throb.  I've been saving for her for awhile, she is just so stunning.  She was my gift to me when I started a new job a little while ago.

Progress is progress, but sooner or later I'm going to address the stuff that's piling up in one corner of the Pony room, including G3 backcards, shipping supplies, sales stuff, and other odds and ends that I haven't quite figured out what to do with.

Elf

The great Pony Room Reorg - volume 11

It's not fun spending your weekend cleaning, even if it's cleaning in your hobby room.

But spending the afternoon dressing up Ponies...now THAT's fun!

 I've had an ongoing project for about 4 years now to catalogue my entire collection.  It's been one step forward and twelve steps back for a lot of that time, but progress is being made.

 In the MLP Arena Advent swap this year I received a tonne of Pony Wear (yay!)  And as I was organizing Pony stuff I kept finding bits and bobs of Pony Wear around the Pony Room.  I really didn't know what all I had.

 I decided to model the Pony Wear on Ponies for the purpose of cataloguing.  It doesn't always show off the outfits as well as just laying them out might, but it does make it a bit easier to see what every piece is (those fuzzy slippers aren't so easy to identify when they're not on a Pony.)

 Also, the purpose of the catalogue isn't entirely to show all the little flaws, but more as a visual aid, at least where it comes to Pony Wear.  I have a spreadsheet that I'm keeping in conjunction with the pictures, so the flaws can be listed there.

This dress and mask from the "Lights, Camera, Action" set are some of the few pieces of my childhood collection that I still have.

Elf