An 'MLP' modelling thread for your Daughter - Curious??

[Army_Air_Force]

The silicone moulds had two days to fully cure, but the frog mould could have done with a bit more catalyst, as it still felt very soft and sticky. Starting with the aircraft part moulds for another project, I peeled the styrene boxes apart, and then pulled the rubber mould off the master patterns. One had been a mix of the first soft batch, and a second batch with more catalyst. This pulled off the master without damage, so I felt a bit more confident about the frog mould.

While it was very soft, I slowly peeled the styrene sides off, and then eased the mould off the frog. It came away undamaged!

Some polyester resin was mixed up and poured, then left to cure. I hate sticky fingers when working with resin, and always seem to get in a mess. I can't get away with latex gloves, as they always rip within about 30 seconds of putting them on! So my back up plan is baby powder. After mixing and pouring the resin, I wipe off excess from my fingers with a tissue and then have a wipe with baby powder. This instantly stops the sticky feeling.

 

 

Here's a close up of the frog/lily pad mould soon after pouring.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

After it cured, the new frog was pulled from the mould and looked great. It needed some cleaning up and flash removal where I'd webbed between the front and rear legs to stop the gap trapping the rubber. Frog number one, mould and master together!

 

 

By school pick up time, I had three frogs made, and one cleaned up. Two will probably remain on the lily pads for the bog, while one wll have the pad sanded off and be left as a loose character to play with.

 

😊

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 18th 2016 - Several of the more recent parts of the project were too complicated for my daughter to assist, but she got back involved with the painting of the frogs.

 

 

She painted the basic colour on the frogs and once dry, I finished off the details.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

She also started the painting the boutique. While it has a very complicated colour scheme, with intricate details and diamond checker patterns, she was at least able to do the base colour coats.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Several of the other ponies had additional remodelling and painting work done. However, the ponies that I had to work with, weren't all completely suitable. Fluttershy's mane covered one ear, meaning that trimming it to the correct style, would leave the pony one eared! There was only one action to take - sacrifice one Pinkie Pie to make a mould, as Pinkie Pie's mane was central, leaving both ears uncovered. This would give more flexibility in adapting the pony for other characters. 

 

 

So, brutal though it seemed, Pinkie's sacrifice to the pot of silicone would open up further adaptions to be made. So, off with her head!!! to enable the body and head to be moulded separately. Pinkie's fringe was also cut and turned upward, as this suited "Mrs Cake" and further pony adaptations, most of which have more upward pointing fringes. The nylon thread tail was removed and an alternative tail would need to be made from a mouldable material or fine fibres which could be dyed.
 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Extensions were added to the neck or the body and head to form the runner for the resin to be poured. A thin web of styrene was also added to aid the pouring and bubble ventilation. The runners and web were then trimmed and the pony parts glued down into the mould box. The silicone was poured late in the day. 

 

My wife thinks I'm a monster. A friend thinks it is early warning signs of psychotic tendencies, but my daughter understands it was a necessary sacrifice for all of ponykind!

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Gorby]

7 hours ago, Army_Air_Force said:

Hammer horror comes to Cbeebies.

 

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 19th 2016 - I spent quite some time painting diamonds on the boutique. Both the pink and lilac were fairly translucent, so took around three coats to cover up the pencil guidelines.

 

 

I was seriously cross-eyed by the time I was done.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 20th 2016 - The first first job of the day was adding the trim above the windows. The trim was cut from 0.5mm fibre glass sheet, which was strong enough for the fine details to survive accidental knocking. The GRP sheet was primed in model enamels, before being given a top coat of the pink to match the rest of the building.

The vertical metal rod detail was also made from pieces of welding rod, and fitted on the lower and upper levels.

 

 

Above the doorway is a sign for the boutique. This was cut from 1/16 inch plywood, primed and the art added with a combination of paint and gel pens. This would glue over the join in the fibre glass trim, both reinforcing and hiding the joint.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Here's the completed sign temporarily attached over the doorway for a picture.

 

 

The boutique, while not finished, was adding lots of colour to the Ponyville side of the layout.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Here's the boutique in place in Ponyville. There were only a few more things to do before it could be glued down and the ground completed around it.

 

 

After a day and a half to cure, the silicone mould of the pony was opened and I began to cast some test ponies. Rather than pure resin, I mixed in some fibre glass milled fibres to hopefully strengthen the mix. These would be cleaned up, assembled, with a metal pin in the neck to strengthen the glue joint and then have some alterations into new characters.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Bigdave22014]

I don't know which is worse...

The fact that I'm sitting here reading a thread about a My Little Pony train set, or..

The fact that I find this thread brilliant!

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 22nd 2016 - By the 22nd,  the boutique was virtually complete. It was time for the finishing touches to be done. The flag on the top. Paper around a 2mm steel rod.

 

 

Detail painting around the windows....

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Two pony outlines were made from 0.5mm GRP sheet. I printed the pony outline and used double sided tape to attach it to the back of one piece of GRP. Then a second piece of GRP was taped onto the back of the print out. As it is translucent, I could see the pony shape and was able to use a small dentists diamond drill bit to grind the pony outline out of the sheet. They were cleaned up with needle files then separated.

 

 

The two ponies were then dunked in some cellulose thinners to remove the glue from the double sided tape, cleaned up and epoxied in place and painted.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The sign was glued over the doorway and a few doorway details painted, and it was time to glue the lower windows in. The clear plastic was warmed with a hot air paint stripper and formed over a cardboard tube to make it hold a curved shape to match the walls. Thin strips of masking tape formed the frames on the glazing.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

The boutique looks like it dominates the scene, but it is balanced up once the top of the Oak Tree Library is fitted.

 

 

Rarity, who isn't quite finished yet, approves of her home and business.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 23rd 2016 - After a matt coat, the boutique was glued down, wired up and sand added around the base. The sand was glued down in the usual way, but force dried with a hair dryer so I could get on with painting.

 

 

The grass around all the buildings was painted, along with the road to the station and between the boutique and library.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Rarity and Minty had their painting finished, and Muffin was also painted.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

As dusk falls over Ponyville, the lights come on and the ponies chat about the adventures the next day. For several ponies, that will involve several matt varnish top coats to protect the paint from wear. I may have a look at working on some resin ponies. My wife and daughter were going away for the weekend, so there wouldn't be any interruptions.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[JPuente54]

In the final stretch, and it is looking very good, indeed! Can hardly wait to see it when it is completed.

Joe

[Army_Air_Force]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through this story up to now.

[Army_Air_Force]

Sept 24th 2016 - The day was spent on pony painting. To start with, here's the group photo!

 

 

Following on from the previous day's work, the four ponies were matt coated and additional ponies were painted. I painted a fast drying two part matt coat after painting the bodies, to protect that during handling while painting the other details. When all the details were done, they received further matt coats.

So, here's "Open Skies" and "Muffin".

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

"Amethyst Star" and "Sun Shower"....

 

 

"Minty" and "Applejack"

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

"Applejack" and "Open Skies" both began as a "Rainbow Dash", so all three had one foot off the ground. Due to the weight of the head, they didn't stand up very well. They originally came with bases, but didn't clip in very well and those bases didn't fit in the rail wagons. As a result I made clear acrylic bases for these three ponies, pegged up through the base and into the ponies legs for strength at the joint.

 

 

I also added further 1/32 ply skins to the cottage ready to inset the windows, and gave it a first coat of white.

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force

[Army_Air_Force]

Here's the start of the first resin pony, which started life as a bought "Pinkie Pie", and after moulding a resin copy, is being converted to "Zecora".

 

 

All the ponies have had their tails shortened as they were far too long and stopped the ponies standing up properly, so one of the offcuts went to make Zecora's tail.
 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Army_Air_Force