Creating Customs

Or, 'What Worked for Me.' I can't say how I make customs is the ONLY way to do it. There are thousands of differant ways and subtile tecniques. The key is to figure out what works for you by trying one or two out yourself!

YOU WILL NEED

• One Beat Up Poseable
• Acrylic Paint in the colors you need (Be very careful not to use ENAMEL paint, as it is not water soluable and is very hard to work with) You can buy acrylics in the craft dept. they are usually .99 cents or less.
• An Air Brush - Wal Mart Brushes are best, and come with a can of compressed air, about $17.
• Paint Brushes of various sizes - you will need some fine-tipped ones for the details. About $4.
• Markers in the color you wish to 'dye' the hair.

Finding Your Poseable - As a collector you may recieve a beat-up, paint-rubbed, limb-torn, abused, and otherwise sorry excuse for a toy. These are perfect for making customs and are called 'Custom Bait'

Cleaning Your Poseable - Use soap and water to get off surface grime and dirt. It is now time to decide if you want to paint the entire bodyof your custom, or use the origional color. If there are severe body stains, you will probably have to paint over them. Some Characters you will have to paint the majority of their body (The Pandas, for example), other's have similar body colors to bears that were not made into poseables (i.e. you can use Bedtime for Surprise Bear). The cons of painting the entire body is it can look too thick and have a poor texture if you're not careful, also body paint can chip off.

Stripping Your Poseable's Paint - Some (most) bears will require paint stripping, unless you plan on painting over the origional tummy and face, which can look choppy and less polished. Use paint stripper (not paint thinner, mind you) to do this. Be careful with stripper as it is highly toxic. Make sure you never let the substance come into contact with your skin. Also, work in a ventalated area.

1. Dab an old cloth or Q-Tip into the stripper substance. Just a little will do.
2. Dab the stripper onto the painted part of the bear. Rotate and wipe away paint with cloth. Use a differnat cloth to continually remove the paint & stripper off the bear (you will understand once you do it)
3. After all paint is removed, clean the substance off the bear with water.

WARNING: Be carful not to let any stripper go down the drain, as it causes serious problems inside drains and on other surfaces. Remember it is a corrosive material and can become airborn if left inside a sink disposal. It can also contaminate drinking water if sent to the sewers. This is NASTY stuff people. Discard all cloths you use in stripping into the garbage can, do not try to clean them.

GOOD NEWS: Three Characters: Funshine, Friend and Cheer's symbols ONLYare removed by the stripper, and thus the white part of the tummy does not immediately dissolve with stripper. Thus you will not have to paint in the white part of their tummy in later. Please use stripper lightly on these tummies. Other characters besides these will have to have the entire tummy paint removed.

Painting the White in the Tummy - I have found the best way to do this is to use an airbrush as it gives an even coat, unlike using a simple brush.

1. After stripping, mask off the circle with masking tape. You can do this by cutting the tape into small pieces and pressing them down, then 'rounding' the edges with a sharp point.
2. Cover the rest of the bear. This prevents the white paint from hitting any other part of it's body.
3. Thin your acrylic paint with water and load it into the air brush's tiny canister. All paint must be thinned with water or it will clog your air brush and make the quality 'spotty.'
4. Lay the bear in a ventilated area, on a newspaper.
5. Assemble your air brush (this is not hard, there should be instructions on the actual brush) make sure to tighten the nozzle so that the spray is misty. Test the spray pattern before you paint the bear. Remember that your goal is to lightly coat it, not drench it.
6. Use a back and forth motion over the tummy while spraying it. Make sure you are at least a foot away or you will soak the bear. Remember to take it slow, and back and forth to promote even-ness. Two coats are required, do not try to paint the symbol in one shot, it wont work, trust me. Let the first coat dry for an hour or two (remember to clean your air brush between or the paint with dry inside the brush and it will either ruin it, or dampen it's performance).
7. After you finish the second coat (TAKE IT SLOW, I TELL YOU!) wait for at least 12-24 hours to let everything dry well, then remove the masking tape.
8. If the paint leaked through the tape, use a Q-tip of stripper to remove it (but be very careful and gentle)

Painting the Symbol - This is a caffene free event. Meaning you must have a steady hand. Other than that, use your imagination and have fun! Take extra precautions to centering the symbol, i.e. start painting the item in the center, from the center of the symbol. It may help to drawthe design very lightly with a pencil first.

Painting the Face - Another place to use your imagination! I think it looks way cooler if you customize the eyes and muzzle to fit the poseable. If you use the existing eyes of the bear, it looks exactly the same as the bear used. I paint the muzzle using a brush. Also take special notice of the inner ears, as they can be painted too!

Dying the Hair - IF your custom has hair, an easy way to dye it the color you want is to lay it flat on a piece of paper and 'color' it with a permanent marker (it is VERY important that it's a permanent marker) color both sides and don't touch the hair until it's dried.

There! Now that you've made your custom, make sure to e-mail a picture of it to me!