Finally I got around to getting some high quality images of this custom together.

Here we have Princess Celestia! By far, this has been the most time consuming and difficult custom I've done. I got the original toy when I decided to do Luna. They came in a package, and I only got it because, as opposed to the cloth wings I've seen on other Celestia toys, this one had plastic wings.

So, she originally came pink.. and with molded hair. Needless to say, the hair was poorly painted and looked like garbage.. not to mention her body was pink.. Always this has been a tragedy. Thus began the project..

I started by removing the crappy molded hair.. This was a project in itself. Very strong glue and multiple plastic tabs (both projecting from the hair itself, and from Celestia's body.. and INTO her body =.. This process inevitably left some visible scarring on her legs.. I did my best to cover them up, but I can only do so much >.<

Next came the daunting task of sculpting her hair.. I had to use at least 5 times as much Sculpey for the mane and tail as I have for normal size ponies. Her mane and tail are flowing and wavy, and I tried to capture this feeling in the mold.

Hours of sanding and touch ups later, I moved on to the necklace and her crown. I probably could have done both of these better, but I still believe they turned out rather well. I haven't really worked with sculpts this thin, and I'm amazed I didn't tear them apart with how much handling they went though.

Now that her main, tail, and jewelry were complete, I began the long process of painting. I started with a primer coat on everything, including her entire body. Then the real painting.. her body uses approximately 5 full coats of white acrylic paint to ensure I covered every last bit of pink. Her mane and tail used a similar amount of their respective colors.

The crown, necklace, and the gilded shoes(?) on her feet used gold metallic paint.. This paint color was relatively thin, and used quite a few coats to cover the white primer coats underneath. The inlay on the jewelry pin striped with gold mixed with brown, so that it still has the shiny feel, but is darker to stand out from the undercoat. The gems on each are a metallic amethyst.

The eyes are cutie mark were the last to be painted. Even though you can't see one of her eyes, they are both there. Each eye (and everything else for that matter) was meticulously painted by hand to match as closely as possible to her design in the show.

Final assembly was fairly painless.

Anyway, there you have it! Celestia is complete!

Please feel free to leave comments (these are very welcome as a matter of fact)