Hey all - I'm writing up a booklet of advice and tips for beginner customizers for my Give Beginners a Chance Initiative and I'm wondering - what information would you want included in a how-to booklet? Especially if you are a beginner!

The thing I personally found the most useful was when in addition to saying what, tutorials said why. A quick explanation for the reasons behind doing something a certain way means I can judge what I should do just as described and what I can screw around with without killing my pony.

Just my $0.02.

Hey great point!

pictures!!!! theyre especially helpful in my personal opinion and i know all the tuts that really seemed to help me out had tonnnns of pics!

advice on what paints, brushes, etc...to buy and where to find them...also sculpy advice would be good...heck...i'd even be interested in that as sculpy and apoxie sculpt are tempting to me, but also scare me...so i've yet to try them...lol

angie

what to do about chewed off ears, horns, wings, ect. I notice a lot of that in baits but the customizers never really say what they did to make it all better. (I already know personally but I've seen other newbies like myself stare at the nibbled ear with a dumb founded look on thier faces X3 )

Sparky16 wrote:

what to do about chewed off ears, horns, wings, ect. I notice a lot of that in baits but the customizers never really say what they did to make it all better. (I already know personally but I've seen other newbies like myself stare at the nibbled ear with a dumb founded look on thier faces X3 )

i sculpey them...its a pain but if you use Sculpey III i think its called...its in a green box...regardless! if you use that and just keeping adding a smoothing it turns out great...esp you your doing a repaint you can just sand away and paint over it, no one would ever know ^_~

Along with the "why," multiple recommendations on methods. "This is the process I go through, and why it works for me. This is how other people I know do it, and why they prefer that."

Recommendations on where to find supplies/what kind to use, and suggestions for alternative materials.

Frank admissions about difficulty level. If something is likely to take several tries to get even close to right, say so!

Explanations of how to add accessories. I've seen a lot of stuff about sculpting/sewing/crafting clothes and appendages and props, but very little on how to actually attach things!

-Tabby
the princess with claws

AeraCura wrote:

Sparky16 wrote: what to do about chewed off ears, horns, wings, ect. I notice a lot of that in baits but the customizers never really say what they did to make it all better. (I already know personally but I've seen other newbies like myself stare at the nibbled ear with a dumb founded look on thier faces X3 ) i sculpey them...its a pain but if you use Sculpey III i think its called...its in a green box...regardless! if you use that and just keeping adding a smoothing it turns out great...esp you your doing a repaint you can just sand away and paint over it, no one would ever know ^_~

LMAO, I told my friend something similar when she saw the poor pinky pie I had with her ears chewed off (was a dog or cat apparently) and fang marks on her face. My firend picked it up, looked at it and bluntly asked me "What the hell are you going to do with this?" she only repaints and reroots G3's that are literally out of the box.

She thought I was nuts, but pinkie pie is now 'fixed' It's helps to when you have access to a university sculptor studio where you can get any kinda suplies you need. though I never told her that

im really interested in specific brands, and as said.. why. like, a tested and reported type book. i'm even willing to help with things that haven't been tested, once i get set back up.

it'd be cool to have a book to look in when i forget what kind of apoxie is recommended... i know lots about sculpy, but nothing about apoxie sculpt.

maybe even different brands and ratings.


and places to make our own notes... because some things are a matter of liking the textures, and working with textures, like... i like sculpy's texture, but not fimo. for example. but someone else might like the other way around.



and a pdf version... available for a discount, because the printing really marks up the price, so maybe a version for a little less that we can download and print on our own.

What's striking me here is that I need to work on two types of booklets - one for my initiative and then one more complete - for the initiative, I doubt folks will want to work with Apoxie Sculpt, for example.... hmmm... you all totally have me thinking here...

I think for your beginners booklet, a complete step by step journey fron taking the head off, removing the paint, de- and re-hairing and -tailing, painting eyes, and reassembly (putting the head back on can be a killer when you are starting out) complete with pics and tips on how to make life easier for yourself. Ie, how -you- set your work place up when you make hair plugs or what things you have handy when you paint eyes...

You could have a tools starting chapter, so it is easy to gather together the necessary items, and even a few chapters on more specific stuff if you wanted, like different eye styles or the different ways of rehairing... maybe linked to the step by step guide?

As for what products and where to get them, yeah you could recommend some but keeping in mind that the people in Europe won't have access to the same stuff and shops as you do in the States, like ModgePodge of Goof-Off and certain paints etc, so maybe not really necessary?

Also, can I say what a great idea this is Teal, will you be making it available as an online booket too?

Nordic - I think I will! I'll put the Beginners one up on my website as a pdf for download, I think! And then I'll work on the more complex one

Piper did a Customisers Booklet last year and sold it at the UK Convention to raise funds for charity.

Lots of different people contributed to it and it proved to be very popular indeed.
She did a hard copy and a pdf version.

I fact I think it is still for sale on her website www.mylittlecustoms.com

I haven't actually read it so I don't know if it is aimed at beginners or more experienced customisers.

MMS. xxxxxxxxx

Thanks Mummy! That's very true! I have that book at home here somewhere

What I'm making is specifically for the seven women taking part in my Give a Beginner a Chance Initiative - I can't afford to buy Pipers for each of them, but I would if I could! She did a great job