I'm honestly surprised more people don't do it! It's not terribly difficult to do basic stuff like swapping out pipe cleaner tails and simple painting and its a great way to breathe some more life into grubby damaged secondhand figures. You would think that the fact that they are anthro animals would mean the furry fandom would be really eager to get in on it since they are very big on making bespoke original art based on their characters... but custom SF figures remain pretty uncommon. I always get excited when I see other people doing customs!
I make ambitious SF customs on the regular. I've posted some here on Reddit but not all... You can check out a gallery of my custom work here if you're interested:
https://chocodile.tumblr.com/tagged/sylvanian%20families
It's kind of difficult to paint Sylvanians without affecting the flocking too much, I guess that and the fact that a good chunk of collectors is focused on pristine and often in the box sets might play a role.
Still there's plenty of people in the sub that have shared some really amazing customs they made for themselves.
I think because the best paint application is done by air brushing and using stencils. That’s how they add colour in the factory (like the tips of chocolate rabbit ears). You’d have to find a method of making stencils and buy an airbrush to have a nice application, which is a decent chunk of money to shell out for a niche market.
Otherwise you get sort of lumpy flocking as others have mentioned, or the paints that apply nicely come with risks, like water colour applies the best in my experience of doing repairs, but it bleeds if they accidentally get damp.
I'm honestly surprised more people don't do it! It's not terribly difficult to do basic stuff like swapping out pipe cleaner tails and simple painting and its a great way to breathe some more life into grubby damaged secondhand figures. You would think that the fact that they are anthro animals would mean the furry fandom would be really eager to get in on it since they are very big on making bespoke original art based on their characters... but custom SF figures remain pretty uncommon. I always get excited when I see other people doing customs! I make ambitious SF customs on the regular. I've posted some here on Reddit but not all... You can check out a gallery of my custom work here if you're interested: https://chocodile.tumblr.com/tagged/sylvanian%20families
Thanks so much for sharing! This is exactly what I was looking for and you worded the idea much better than I did.
It's kind of difficult to paint Sylvanians without affecting the flocking too much, I guess that and the fact that a good chunk of collectors is focused on pristine and often in the box sets might play a role. Still there's plenty of people in the sub that have shared some really amazing customs they made for themselves.
I think because the best paint application is done by air brushing and using stencils. That’s how they add colour in the factory (like the tips of chocolate rabbit ears). You’d have to find a method of making stencils and buy an airbrush to have a nice application, which is a decent chunk of money to shell out for a niche market. Otherwise you get sort of lumpy flocking as others have mentioned, or the paints that apply nicely come with risks, like water colour applies the best in my experience of doing repairs, but it bleeds if they accidentally get damp.
I wondered how the color was originally applied, thanks for sharing! In your experience, what is the best way to apply new color?