Teddy's Restoration Hub ♪

cowbrain

cowbrain

buried in the bait bin
MLPTP Supporter
Joined
Feb 14, 2023
Messages
171
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Future projects ahoy!
Any custom work will be detailed here!
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Hello all! Welcome to the Hub!
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This is a thread for progress shots of my restorations. I collect quite a variety of toys, but most of my ponies come to me in not the best shape. Some are custom bait, but others I like to clean up for fun, even if they aren't going into my collection! Feel free to ask questions about my process. I'm still just a beginner, but I'll try to share insight where I can : )

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Current projects;


Finished;
- Twilight Twinkle (G3) WIP | Done!
- Parasol and Sunbeam (G1) Done!
 
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Starting the thread off with tonight's project! I've posted my beloved Twilight Twinkle around before, but conveniently cropped out her tail... Here's why!
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I do wonder if someone just wanted her tail blue, but didn't realize how much they'd have to pull? I'm using 'Water-Nixie', 'Kitten', and 'Mulberry Crush' from dollyhair for this project! The pink and purple aren't 100% perfect and I'm worried about the color discrepancy, so I'm going to try and blend them together with more blue to hide it a bit. I'm heavily referencing her friends Juniper Jade and Periwinkle for this technique. I don't want her to look to out of place among them!

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Either way, she seems like she's been very loved throughout the years and I'm so happy to be able to give her a new tail after all this time ♥

Here she is after getting her tail back! She's still in need of a style, but she just couldn't wait to see her friends again ♥♥ She's keen on another photoshoot after she dries, so check back for updates!
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Working on a couple of ladies tonight! Rosedust and Cloud Dreamer! This Rosedust seems to have decided to trim her locks at some point, and honestly I'm in love with the length! It's a surprisingly even cut for somepony without fingers. She's missing her wings, and a peg is stuck in one of the slots. Poor Cloud Dreamer has had her symbols mauled. It's left some pretty severe pits in her flanks. She's going to become a very cute custom one day, but for now she's just going to get a good hose down. These two are absolutely coated in surface dirt. Luckily their neck glue is already coming apart, though!

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Rosedust's head was harder to take off than expected and it tore a little, but I wanted to make sure she wasn't moldy inside. Not even rust! And then I promptly dropped her in water by accident :shock: Oh, well. I don't even want to try to remove her tail right now. Her plastic is so hard and the hole is so tiny. Do people manage?

Cloud Dreamer on the other hand looks great! The weird raised parts of her symbols must've been a thick, weird glue or something. It seems like it discolored with age and came right off with acetone. The clouds associated with it, though, were water-soluble.

They've both got some obvious staining, so I think I'll be customizing them both. I'm kind of in love with Rosedust's mold. She's my first flutter pony and up until now I was lukewarm on them. Their hair looks so stringy because I didn't condition it. I'm going to spray them both with MSC (Mr. Super Clear) to prime them for customization, but until then, consider them restored! At least, as best of a restoration as I can manage, I think.
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( P.S. CD's tail is sitting off to the side. She's not gonna need it for a while, and I just do not want to attempt to take the tail clasp out right now. I hate that part.)​
 
I love Cloud Dreamer :D it's unfortunate that its symbol is so delicate!
 
I have not seen many magic message ponies with symbols intact- majority of them are worn off. Shame, but I can’t wait to see what kind customs you will do! They look so clean now too
 
I wonder if there is a way to fix the Magic Message pony symbols? :MM:
 
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Draco said:
I believe there's color changing paints- not quite the same but could be cool close restoration
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I wonder if anyone has already used similar paints to restore Magic Message ponies symbols?
 
A couple ladies for tonight ♥ Spoiler: they turned out so gorgeous!

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Sunbeam and Parasol! Their hair definitely needed some attention, but I had originally purchased these two (and a carrying case, which is so cute) on the cheap- they were listed as bait! I deal almost exclusively in bait ponies, so I expected them to be awful. I was pleasantly surprised! Their condition is very good, and Sunbeam is basically mint! No paint rub, stray marks, the glitter on her symbol is intact... She originally had a couple dashes of red paint on her, but it hadn't seeped into the vinyl at all. Parasol has a couple light blue marks on her rear, one missing plug of hair at the back of her mane, and the tiniest chip on one of her eyes, but her symbols are perfect as well! I'm very surprised by Sunbeam's mold, though. It's really weird. Tiny eyes and nostrils, and a really fat head. Is that just normal for her pose? She's the first Glory pose pony I have! Side note: Parasol's head is probably never coming back off. I foolishly sliced the vinyl up and feel very silly about it. Good thing she's metal-free, now!

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I told you they turned out gorgeous! Sunbeam's rockin' a my-little-ponytail and I adore how Parasol's mane just does that. That streaky thing. Perfection!

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Ponybigfan said:
I wonder if anyone has already used similar paints to restore Magic Message ponies symbols?
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Probably! If I understand, their symbols use thermochromic or UV-reactive paint to make an image appear in certain circumstances, and you can buy paint that does that. It'd be fun to play around with, certainly! Maybe I'll fiddle with it in the future if I ever come across a magic message pony whos symbol is still intact and functional.
 
cowbrain said:
A couple ladies for tonight ♥ Spoiler: they turned out so gorgeous!


Sunbeam and Parasol! Their hair definitely needed some attention, but I had originally purchased these two (and a carrying case, which is so cute) on the cheap- they were listed as bait! I deal almost exclusively in bait ponies, so I expected them to be awful. I was pleasantly surprised! Their condition is very good, and Sunbeam is basically mint! No paint rub, stray marks, the glitter on her symbol is intact... She originally had a couple dashes of red paint on her, but it hadn't seeped into the vinyl at all. Parasol has a couple light blue marks on her rear, one missing plug of hair at the back of her mane, and the tiniest chip on one of her eyes, but her symbols are perfect as well! I'm very surprised by Sunbeam's mold, though. It's really weird. Tiny eyes and nostrils, and a really fat head. Is that just normal for her pose? She's the first Glory pose pony I have! Side note: Parasol's head is probably never coming back off. I foolishly sliced the vinyl up and feel very silly about it. Good thing she's metal-free, now!

I told you they turned out gorgeous! Sunbeam's rockin' a my-little-ponytail and I adore how Parasol's mane just does that. That streaky thing. Perfection!

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Probably! If I understand, their symbols use thermochromic or UV-reactive paint to make an image appear in certain circumstances, and you can buy paint that does that. It'd be fun to play around with, certainly! Maybe I'll fiddle with it in the future if I ever come across a magic message pony whos symbol is still intact and functional.
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I was thinking about buying a Magic Message pony with a damaged outer layer (the one that reveals the pattern underneath) and paint over the whole pattern. But I don't know if it will work. I hope that I have explained everything clearly.
 
cowbrain said:
Is that just normal for her pose? She's the first Glory pose pony I have!
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That's Moondancer's pose, Glory's is a nicer sculpt IMO. I find Moondancer's pose to be very.. elephant-like. It just didn't hit the right proportions to be appealing to me. You cleaned them up nicely, though!
 
Ponybigfan said:
I was thinking about buying a Magic Message pony with a damaged outer layer (the one that reveals the pattern underneath) and paint over the whole pattern. But I don't know if it will work. I hope that I have explained everything clearly.
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In my (limited) experience, once the outer layer of the symbol is compromised, the drawing thats revealed underneath crumbles away with just water. Cloudy here had the little white clouds that accompanied her symbols intact, but once I stripped the outer sealant/paint, they just washed right away. Very sad! If the drawing layer isn't damaged, there's a chance this could work, I imagine!

Jellybean said:
That's Moondancer's pose, Glory's is a nicer sculpt IMO. I find Moondancer's pose to be very.. elephant-like. It just didn't hit the right proportions to be appealing to me. You cleaned them up nicely, though!
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Oh, right you are! I was looking her up pretty late. I find the face appealing in a way, but the body is so.. potato-y. Very lumpy and blobular.
 
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