Which is better for customs; blind bags, or brushables?

[Vega 107]

I've been thinking of making some custom ponies, but I'm not sure which scale I want to use because both brushies and blind bags have assorted pros and cons when it comes to customizing. Any thoughts from any experienced customizers out there as to which size I should use?

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I'd Go with Blindbags :3

Well, I got lucky when I got mine, since the coat color was already fine and so was the species, I just had to change mane and cutiemark, even the name was close to my oc's xD

[Bohtty 1,775]

Brushables don't look like they are from the show. Blind bags look more like from the show and you can do anything you want to make them look like anypony.

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

They are both great for customizing. Blind bags are great for painting and can be trimmed if necessary for sculpting. They can also be made into charms or ornaments. Brushables are great for painting, sculpting, rehairing, and wearing custom clothing, so you really have more possibilities with brushables. Plus because they are larger, details are easier to paint. The only downside I can think of with brushables is they are hollow inside so if you're sculpting you probably have to be careful of them melting and collapsing when you bake them.

[Evilshy 5,090]

They are both great for customizing. Blind bags are great for painting and can be trimmed if necessary for sculpting. They can also be made into charms or ornaments. Brushables are great for painting, sculpting, rehairing, and wearing custom clothing, so you really have more possibilities with brushables. Plus because they are larger, details are easier to paint. The only downside I can think of with brushables is they are hollow inside so if you're sculpting you probably have to be careful of them melting and collapsing when you bake them.

 

Also, brushables give a bit less freedom with the tail and mane, which are pretty defining features in a pony.

 

 

2000th post

 

Edited July 20, 2012 by Evilshy

[Critical Hit 69]

Personally, I'd go with brushables.

They may be less 'show-accurate' but they're easier to work with.

Although that means you have do buy doll hair. (unless you're a badass with sculpy.)

[Vega 107]

How difficult is it to make Sculpey hair for brushables anyway?

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

Also, brushables give a bit less freedom with the tail and mane, which are pretty defining features in a pony.

 

 

2000th post

 

 

You can dehair them and sculpt your own tail and mane if you're skilled enough.

How difficult is it to make Sculpey hair for brushables anyway?

 

I wouldn't know as I haven't sculpted anything yet (though I do have some Sculpey and plan on trying it sometime) but if you're not skilled enough, there is a guy who sells show accurate mane and tail pieces.

[Bunny_San 103]

Oh Apple Blooooom, Vega, why you no message me for your customizing needs?

 

I have experience with both. Each have their own pros and cons that you can deal with, honestly the choice in bait you use is dependent upon the project's vision.

 

Brushable:

Pro:

BIGGER! So therefore, easier to work with in terms of fine detail painting.

HAIR! You have SO many options when it comes to hair. Honestly bronies are SO short sighted sometimes when it comes to their ponies all they can think about is "SHOW ACCURATE SHOW ACCURATE!" Good lord folks have a little creativity!

Reference Images: http://ponycustoms.c...uns-and-twists/

 

Image source: http://mlparena.com/...?topic=296328.0

 

So there's TONS of things to do with hair. Not to mention color schemes with hair can mean an entire THEME for a pony!

Or you can even mix and match sculpting with hair!

 

Now cons:

You have to Buy hair. Easy enough though, it's cheap, you can get it for 3.50 or so at dollyhair.com, and they do color blends, and will even keep colors separate for you if you only want half a hank of this and that. THEY ROCK. /endorsement.

 

The G4 heads are a pain in the A$$ to get off. Then you need a very sharp exacto knife to cut out the neck plug so that you can reach in with something narrow (I use surgeons's clenchers) to grab out the tail. This can be both dangerous (you can cut yourself) and frustrating if you don't have someone strong in your house. Easy solution: Run it under HOT OMFG water for five minutes or so. This will heat up the plastic just enough to make it easier to pop off.

 

Some older G1 ponies are worth money. A LOT OF MONEY. And are VERY VERY RARE. Some people who are *mufflestupidmuffle* don't realize this and don't check what pony they have and will customize it. DONT BE THAT PERSON.

 

OK. Blind bags!

Pro:

CHEAP. <-Always a pro.

Easy to find and work with, and don't take up a mess of space. You know...unless you have 50 unfinished customs. *cough*

Absolutely NO worry about "OMG am I customizing a pony that's worth money?!"

 

Cons: Limited creativity. If you WANT hair, tough nuggets. Unless you are obscenely patient and manage to carve off ALL the sculpted hair, smooth off the neck/head carving marks with apoxie clay or sculpey, carve a hair ditch down the neck and glue hair in....Yeah see? LIMITED. You pretty much get Sculpted hair unless you're CRAZY like me. <<

 

Challenging to work with. If you WANT a hair style OTHER than what was originally carved onto the thing, pretty much count on countless hours of painsteaking whittling with your trusty SHARP exacto knife and lots of shavings. And then sculpting

 

TINY. OMFGBBQ. Painting details THAT SMALL makes you realize why the first four letters in the word "Painting" are P-A-I-N! Hope you have super fine detail brushes! You need them! Not only details, but making sure you can get paint in all the little crevices when doing a full body repaint is HARD. ><

 

SO, those are the pros and cons I could think of...I've done extensive work with both, honestly, I could care less which I use. I have equal numbers of both, but really, the choice of bait just depends on the vision for the project. Have fun! Any more questions?

Edited August 9, 2012 by Bunny_San