My Little Pony - Tail Rust and Body Stink.

Another tutorial on fixing up those manky ponies!

Tail rust is a common sight and it looks fairly nasty, sometimes it can stain the tail all the way down and washing it only makes it worse and spreads it further. You need to get to the source of the issue and remove it. This tutorial will also cover what i do to remove stink as well, its fairly basic and i use it to get rid of that "old smoke" smell they get from being in a home where they have been around smokers.

This is by no means the "right" way to do things, its just how ive gone about it. Please keep that in mind before you comment. The pony im using is a G3 Fluttershy Bait pony* (She was baited due to a dog chewing her foot.) But this works for ponys in great condition too, dont be afraid to fix them!

*Bait Pony = This is a pony that is beyond repair, or not worth repairing due to repairs being very noticable. People use Bait Ponys to make customs :D

Everything you will need is pictured, and even some extras as a just in case. Scissors aren't always needed, but i like to trim off any stretched hair because it bugs me.

Okay so basically you are gonna want to wash your pony, i have a tutorial on that already, just do all the way up to the part before boiling. Dry her just roughly with a towel and get ready for the operation!

There are a few different ways to remove a head. Some are the "New turning head" variety. They just require a little brute force to pop the head right out. The one i had was glued, so basically you are going to need to get your scalpel and carefully run it around the join line on the ponies neck, be careful not to slip and scar the pony or cut yourself. Try to always keep your hands out of the way of the blade, so always behind the blade not infront. Most of all TAKE YOUR TIME.

Removing the tail is easy. You just grab your pliers or tweezers and reach right inside the body and grab the plug and give it a pull. Go easy on it though as you may stretch and break the hair. Once you have pulled the tail out you will see some very gross pony hair a plug and a washer. Since the ponies arent used for play anymore (mine are just display) i actually remove the washer.

So you can see inside that its not the nicest looking, and it smells pretty horrible as well. The best thing ive found for this is a mixture of shampoo and toothpaste, i just shove a whole bunch in there and scrub it making sure i pay attention to the hole where the tail goes as well because they are generally stained. You may need to do it a few times, i then rinse it out thoroughly and leave it to dry with the head off and tail still out.

Cleaning the tail is easy, i just use some toothpaste on my toothbrush and i put it in a disposable bowl and scrub at it, you may need to rinse it and go over it a few times as sometimes it can be really bad. You should notice your pony smelling a bit fresher now. Once you have the tail as clean as you want it, shampoo and condition it and dry it thoroughly. Dont forget to give it a light brush!

Okay so you can see it looks a heck of a lot better. Replacing the tail is easy, you just insert the plug back in as shown in the picture. It may take a bit of grunt but its generally not that hard. Then once its back together you can take a look at my other tutorial on Defrizzing and styling hair, and start from the point where i say to boil it. Its that easy. Now there is no reason to throw out those old stinky ponies!

You dont need to glue the head back on if its just for display, i dont generally. If you do glue it back on, please be careful you only need a very very small amount of glue.

Thanks for reading.