How drastically can ponies be bleached?

[Glistening Rainlight]

Just as the title asks.

Basically I got a bunch of HQG1C Tradewinds blanks from the 2022 convention, before I knew what they would look like. Daniel had dodged my questions about it too, so I ended up buying a bunch of dark blue winged unicorn "Pretty Butterflies" pose ponies that are mostly just useless to me. I have an idea or two on how to customize them in a way I would like using their existing colors, but...

I had originally bought these hoping they were white, so I could use them to make some of my winged unicorn characters, so the title question has kept repeating in my mind. Can I bleach them? How much bleaching could I reasonably achieve? Would it destroy or harm them to try and bleach them to some white-ish color? Would they end up uneven? Also what method would work best for this- peroxide sun-bleaching? And although it hurts me a little to say it... There's no way I could save the hair in this process outside of just removing it.

I have my guesses, but I wanted to ask around, to see if anybody knew anything about this, before really considering trying anything.

Edit: To be fair, I guess she's not the only one... I have a pretty wrecked G3 Wind Drifter that I was also thinking about trying to fade. Does anyone know how her mark would fare?

 

[cowbrain]

@Sassarazzmadazzles was doing an experiment with actual bleach fairly recently. It seemed to have a very faint lightening effect. Maybe they'd have more insight!

 

[Sassarazzmadazzles]

Pinkie turned rock hard xD I do not advise

 

[ChocolateStarfire]

I'm not sure about the chemical reactivity between standard bleach and plastic vinyl in pony toys. I know that HQG1C plastic is different than vintage pony plastic. I don't know how the porosity would fare. And I don't think it's a good idea to work with bleach for extended periods of time without ventilation/knowing the reactivity. It's probably better to repaint these to go from dark blue to white. Gesso works great as a base coat and then acrylics work the best for the layers. For a nice solid coat without brushstrokes, an airbrush or even spray paint (use outdoors and in a well ventilated area!) works best. I'm sorry that your original purchase didn't meet expectations.

 

[LadyMoondancer]

I don't think you could bleach a blue pony to white. The pigment is mixed in with the plastic. I would put the ponies you don't need on eBay or something.

 

[Lackadaisy]

I think painting with acrylic paint would be your best bet. Use a brush with very fine bristles with thin paint and multiple layers. That will minimize brush strokes. Afterwards put on a layer of matte varnish.

 

[Glistening Rainlight]

I definitely wasn't planning on using bleach lol. I was planning to stick to things that are known to work without causing damage.

And doesn't painting a pony with acrylic end up giving it a gammy look, though? Like even in photos, you can tell when a pony has been painted, and my experience with acrylic leads me to feel like it could end up causing trouble later on. Namely issues like getting sticky, or just coming off completely.

Can airbrushing really take a dark blue all the way to white? :O

 

[peepersponies]

Can airbrushing really take a dark blue all the way to white? :O

Yeah absolutely, it'll just take a few more layers. Anything you can do with acrylic paint and a brush you can do with an airbrush, it's just a different method of application that leaves a smoother finish.

And it's possible that if you use crummy paints or work in high humidity you could have trouble with your paint, but overall if you do it correctly... Nah it's fine.