I had a two headed Monster High mermaid (Peri Serpentine) and I was really struggling to think of how to customise her for a long time. I originally did a face repaint and I hated it, so I wiped it all off again. I also didn’t want a mermaid so I removed chunks of her tail and a lot of her features.
There I sat for a while, wondering what to do with her. I didn’t take many photos at any point; I never got inspired.
One day it occurred to me I could make her into a centaur; as she already had no legs, I “just” had to get a horse.
I initially thought of putting her in with a my little pony body (yes i beheaded a my little pony) – but the scale was wrong.
Since covid, I’ve mostly avoided going to shops that are not mandatory (supermarket and food places) but I have been buying things on line. I spent weeks looking for a suitable horse to behead. I wanted something that was not TOO expensive, so not a top end toy, but also that was not too cheap as it needed to kind of look ok. I bought one online (a disney horse I am assuming) but it was too big. I finally caved and went to K-mart, where I found the perfect horse.
Preparation work began!
If you’ve ever customised anything, you’ll know that there is no hard and fast rules about this stuff. You have to make it up as you go and you have to make decisions constantly about what might look good. Unless you’re one of those people who “plans” things.
AHAHAHAAHH.
I am not that person.
All I knew was I needed a solid foundation to work from and so there would in my future be be a lot of cutting, wiping (wiping factory paint), and gluing and a hard attachment. In the end I drilled holes in the horse and used wire fed through the body of the doll and tightened that up nicely. Made a very solid join.
original horse 
hair removed and ominous neck guide 
after the dremel 
trimming down lady’s body to fit the hole 
needed more cutting to shape 
yep that looks about right 
hole and sire drilled and body packed with paper and glue 
going to have to build up body so i wanted a solid foundation, hence glued bit
After the glue dried, I used two part modeller’s epoxy to cover the join. I didn’t bother tying to make it seamless – that was way beyond my skills, because I know I’m going to be adding things to it to hide the join anyway. I have IDEAS on how to turn this into a really cool thing.
Then I coated everything with a number of coats of white acrylic paint. This was the point I started really wishing I had an air gun. Perhaps I will buy myself one for Xmas. It’s a big expense for a whim.
After the paint, a coat of Mr Superclear ready to take pastels and watercolour…. this is ready to start the actual painting and customising.
It’s been many months since I started this doll on and off. Now I’m daunted at the idea of getting into her again and doing her faceups. I will need to figure out how to get her all integrated and looking magnificent. I have some ideas.
So watch this space for the next exciting installment!
Want to know how this turned out? The conclusion is here!
