seeing tutorials on customizing ponies with nail polishhas me 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬
i cannot think of a good reason to do nail polish over acrylic paint. nail polish is sticky and flaky and i hear it can ruin the plastic of the ponies
nail polish is pretty expensive too, like $5+ for a tiny itty bitty bottle?
if you’re on a budget/starting out (bc art supplies suck) target has a set of brushes for $6, or you can even use the crayola ones that are $3 (thats what i used in highschool art class lmao)
michaels has a set of paint for $10 and the bottles are a decent size
target also sells individual bottles of paint for like $3-5 each
even if you argue “polish has a built in brush!”, you only have one size brush… maybe that can be enough for you to paint the body but what about tiny details like the eyes and cutie mark? you’d have to buy a small brush just for that
note ive never customized a pony in my life but i Do know that nail polish is an absolute sin
As Poppy there will demonstrate, I have extensiveexperience customizing ponies. Over 50 ponies’ worth at this point. I know my materials, I know what works.
Do not use nail polish.
Do not use it to paint.
Do not use it to seal.
It flakes, it can remain sticky, it can discolor the vinyl. It’s hard to control. It’s expensive. It’s smelly (I like the smell but not everyone does). It yellows like crazy.
Use acrylic paint. Artist grade is best, but craft paint is good enough. For a sealer, I use Liquitex gloss medium for anything shiny, and Testors Dullcote, a flat finish spray on topcoat found with the enamel model paints like you would use on model cars. It is the best easily-available spray coat. Mister Super Clear is also good hut harder to find. Mod Podge gets recommended a lot, but it often remains sticky or has a grabby surface that attracts dust like crazy. Please invest in a high quality topcoat! Coupons are your BFF.
Use the best brushes you can afford.
It doesn’t HAVE to be an expensive hobby. Craft paint is cheap, way cheaper than nail polish, you can find packs of brushes for reasonable prices, a can of Dullcote or bottle of gloss sealer isn’t that expensive with a 40% off coupon.
If you have questions, ask someone who knows what they are doing. There are active forums for pony collecting with sections for customizers. Sites with advice on repainting dolls are also good because the materials and techniques are similar.
Or you can ask me. I will answer questions about this anytime. If I don’t know the answer, I will say so.
I am not here to put down anyone’s work or technique, I am here to make sure beginners make choices that are best for the future of their pieces. This is a wonderful hobby, I am passionate about it, and I want everyone who wants to try it (and you should!) to get the best results.
And here my dumb ass thought y'all were just full on painting/polishing full sized horses hooves til there was a picture to clarify…
Damn, I gotta get off this site more.
still seems pretty inefficient
According to Hasbro, it be like …
Those elephant toes are what happens when you have non-horse people working on an equine product. Just, research a bit, people! Like, look at a photo. That’s literally all that would have taken.
I use Liquatex heavy body acrylics for customs because I am a mad woman who must water everything down. But the colors stay bright and they never get tacky in humidity!
Secretly, ponies have hands. Not real ponies. Just the sentient rainbow kind.
