Preservation
Project
The
- Accessories: Replacement, Repainting, Repair, Yellowing -
- Packaging -
- Playsets: Repair, Stickers, Yellowing -
- Ribbons & Pony Wear: Cleaning, Repair, Replacement -
Lady Twilight's website has excellent close up images of tons of accessories. You can use these when trying to replicate various accessories, for color matches, and to see what the stickers on them look like. My Little Wiki is also a good place to find pictures of accessories as they have a lot of MIB photos.
Need an accessory and don't want to/can't buy a replacement? If you can borrow one from someone else, you can try making your own using a casting kit. You can also sculpt them yourself using products such as Sculpey or Apoxie Sculpt.
There are collectors that make and sell reproduction accessories and sell them on sites such as Etsy. Ask on the MLP Restoration Tips & Tricks group on Facebook to find out who is currently producing them.
Emery at the MLP Arena shows the process of whitening a baby buggy by painting it with hair cream containing hydrogen peroxide and letting it sit. These images show the progression over an eight day time period. More information is available in the playsets - yellowing section.
Super glue or model glue will hold little pieces that have broken off your playsets in place. You can sculpt missing parts with Apoxie Sculpt. This product looks promising for playset repairs: Sugru Mouldable Glue
Hasbro has all of the instruction manuals from all MLP ittems all the way back to G1 listed HERE. Thanks Cezsaria Cezsaria for sending me the link!
Here's some information on Dream Castle restoration: Dava's Dream Castle Repair Kit and Restoring a Dream Castle. These techniques should work on any playset.
Perm Shoppe
Courtesy Chrissytree
courtesy me!
courtesy me!
You can find a template at littleponyheaven for making replacement Dream Castle
capes, banners, baby diapers, and baby brother bandannas
You can make the pals from the Baby Pony Wear with Pocket Pals line using craft
supplies like pom poms, googley eyes, and felt.
ValeofSpring created a really gorgeous (and colorful!) tutorial for identifying original
G1 ribbons with leads on possible replacement ribbons: Let's Talk G1 Original Ribbons!
Photo courtesy ValeofSpring.
Yellowed and discolored accessories, both white and colored, can be brightened using hydrogen peroxide. Small accessories can be placed inside a clear jar filled with liquid hydrogen peroxide found at pharmacies. Place a lid on the jar and set it in the sun until the accessory is fixed. Larger accessories can be painted with 40 volume creme developer which is used for hair bleaching. Paint this on with a brush and reapply daily until the item is back to it's original color. Leaving the item in the sun or under a UV bulb makes the process go faster.
Acrylic craft paint works well for painting many accessories. Some restorers choose to use higher quality paints, but these will be more expensive. You can seal them with Mod Podge which comes in different sheens, or a glaze for a shinier effect, or Testors Dullcote if you'd like a flat finish. Craft glazes come in a variety of sheens so you should be able to find one that comes close to the original look of the accessory you're repairing.
Photos courtesy Vampasaurus.
Photos courtesy Breyer600.
Perfume Puff Palace
Petite Ponies
courtesy Cezsaria Cezsaria
courtesy Cezsaria Cezsaria
Pretty Parlor
Back courtesy NovaPony
Show Stable
courtesky Anna-Lenna K.
Satin Slipper Sweet Shoppe
courtesy Sophia Melisa C.
UK Kitchen
UK Schoolhouse
Need to remove stickers from a playset? Try applying heat with a hair dryer, this will sometimes loosen the glue and cause them too fall off.
Lighter fluid will loosen the glue on old stickers. Wiggle a needle between the sticker and wall of the playset. Drip the lighter fluid behind the sticker with an eye dropper. Massage the sticker to help spread the fluid and add more at the edges as needed. Let the lighter fluid evaporate and then use a flat object such as a credit card to pry the glue away from the playset. Information courtesy Hatorcat.
Stickers can be replaced using Rubber Cement, Elmer's Glue, gluesticks, or acid free double sided tape.
Painting playsets can also yield great results without the side effect of becoming brittle. I use craft acrylics and seal with mod podge spray and then a coat of testors. It usually takes multiple coats of paint, but the finish ends up quite nice.
For minor repairs to accessories there are many options for glues. You can also sculpt small bits that have broken off using Sculpey or Apoxie Sculpt. Apoxie Sculpt is likely the best choice in this scenario since Sculpey has to be baked to harden and some types of plastic don't do well in the oven.
A tip to strengthen your repairs when gluing accessories back together is to drill a small hole on both ends, then connect them with a wire insert. Courtesy Tiara546
- Home - Restoration - Body - Hair - Symbols - Accessories - Miscellaneous - Materials - My Collection - FarDreamer -
To remove stains and marks from packaging, try using an art gum eraser. A document cleaning pad or Absorene may also work. Coated cardboard can be gently wiped with a moist cloth and Dawn or very gently rubbed with a magic eraser.
The same products that brighten plastic accessories will work on playsets. Paint on a H2O2 hair cream with a brush and reapply daily until you get the desired results. Or, wrap the playset with Saran wrap and you won't need to continuously reapply. Wipe away with a most soft cloth. Some collectors choose to wipe away the old application before applying a new layer. Exposure to the sun or a UV bulb isn't necessary, but quickens the process. This can make the playset more brittle and they will sometimes discolor again with time. Breyer 600 reported that her playsets (pictured below) yellowed again after approximately a year.
Sign holder photos courtesy Kristen B. Petite photos courtesy Cristina R.
Here are stickers for various playsets. Several of them are the European versions. Print these off on sticker paper (available at most craft and office supply stores) and cut them out to use as replacements when your playsets are missing stickers, or they are beyond repair. You'll likely need to do some re-sizing and color adjustment to get them just right.
E-mail me at MLPpreservation @ gmail.com if you have scans of stickers you would like to donate!
Unless otherwise noted, sticker scans are courtesy The Playset Sticker Palace. More stickers are available
at the My Little Pony Sticker Gallery.
This is a product that looks promising for accessory repairs: Sugru Mouldable Glue
