Repairing Tears of Stand Up TPE Feet

Typhon · Post by **Typhon** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:10 am

So I've had my doll for less than a week, and have had a lot of fun moving her around my house. She doesn't weigh that much, but I underestimated how much her weight would become a pain and how difficult it would be to navigate her though doors and into the bathtub, etc. She already had pretty rough feet when I got her brand new, but they have gotten a lot rougher, and I think they will get a lot rougher in the future. I've come to the conclusion that she will only wear shoes or socks rarely, her feet will never touch the ground again if I can manage that, and when posing her I will never grab her by the ankles. Hopefully that will impede future damage.

However I would also like to repair this and if possible cover over her screw holes. Am I correct in understanding that I should buy a block of TPE from my seller and mix TPE at a 60/40 ratio with a solvent (either xylene or benzene) and let it combine for roughly 2 days before applying to the damaged area? And with what should I apply it? Would a brush or sponge be appropriate? I'm still new and trying to find this sort of information on the forum. How would you guys handle this problem?

samara78 · Post by **samara78** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 1:15 am

I would justvput her in socks and shoes/rollerskates. Her feet will be well protected while standing this way. As for repairing. Why bother if you have to keep socks and shoes on for standing anyhow?

Fantastic Plastic · Post by **Fantastic Plastic** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 1:23 am

Your seller may have some kind of input as to what to do.
Im not sure I am following you correctly, but it sounds as if you want to cover the screw holes completely?
I wouldn't know how to advise that.
Personally I would use some TPE glue and fix any tearing to the bottom of the foot, smoothing it off as best you can.
MannequinFan has some feet that go on the screw heads that are still in development that may be the answer.

Typhon · Post by **Typhon** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 2:14 am

samara78 wrote:I would justvput her in socks and shoes/rollerskates. Her feet will be well protected while standing this way. As for repairing. Why bother if you have to keep socks and shoes on for standing anyhow?

The thing is, I was keeping socks on her, but when I took them off to give her a cleaning I noticed that they were much worse than when I put her socks on. So somehow they got damaged. And mostly I'm just thinking of upkeep and preventative care. Because if they are getting shredded by friction within the socks and shoes or whatever, then I need to monitor their status and take steps before they get so shredded that huge chunks are missing.

Fantastic Plastic wrote:Your seller may have some kind of input as to what to do.
Im not sure I am following you correctly, but it sounds as if you want to cover the screw holes completely?
I wouldn't know how to advise that.
Personally I would use some TPE glue and fix any tearing to the bottom of the foot, smoothing it off as best you can.
MannequinFan has some feet that go on the screw heads that are still in development that may be the answer.

When I bought her I thought the stand up option would help her pose better, but I'm doubtful of that now. I don't have an experience with the basic foot to compare with, but at the moment they appear to be just exposed bone that tear their wound open more with each touch. I obviously greatly underestimated the fragility of her flesh.

Does the glue do smoothing? The videos I saw looked more like it was geared towards bonding clean cuts and tears back together, not adding TPE that had been shredded or peeled away. I have some, but don't want to use it up if that's not the proper response.

I don't need to cover the holes if there is a purpose to them like you say MannquinFan is making for them. If he is making an addon I would be interested to hear about it. Does he have a thread about it somewhere?

The Doll Laboratory · Post by **The Doll Laboratory** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 3:57 am

Hello Typhon,

There are pro and cons on the standing feet option. My first doll doesn't have those metal screws. She has still very nice and sexy looking feet after one year... but she can't stand.

I have a second doll now and she has the standing feet option. It is just better for overall handling and photography.

The marks on the sole of the feet come from the following: when you Doll is standing the metal screws AND the TPE touch the ground at the same time. When you move her a little, the metal slides on the ground but not the TPE which adheres to the floor (whatever it is made of). Let's say you put your doll on her feet and make her lay on a couch or on a table, bent forward, legs slightly spread and you take her from behind. The screws will constantly move forward and backward during sex but not the TPE feet in itself. This hundred of times. Result: tears!

One solution is to prevent the TPE to touch the ground and to move with the screws. For this you can purchase Mannequin Fan's product:
- 3D printed screw covers

But even with these covers, be careful! The other solution is to avoid the Doll to stand on her feet. But this would be a shame since the Standing feet option was made for this.

The damage on your Doll is pretty much what one has to expect after some time with this feature. To repair it, maybe the best solution is to use the method explained by George from XSDolls:
- How to repair TPE cuts/bruises without glue

Otherwise, how is it going with your Doll? I follow your story with her. Is the situation easy to manage for you? I mean, such a helpless girl to take care of. It must be a lot of work!

Von Rubber

symmes · Post by **symmes** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:27 am

I have no suggestions, but just as an addition, my own doll is less than a month old, and her right foot has a gash in the heel just behind the rear bolt. The soles are also quite dirty from the one or two times I've stood her without socks on, and the dirt doesn't want to come off.

A forum member who makes various doll accessories has recently come out with caps for the metal bolts:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=81347

This may not prevent damage to the doll, though; it seems like the idea is to minimize damage to shoes and socks. Still, they might help keep the feet just enough off the floor to minimize dirt problems.

Starquake · Post by **Starquake** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:11 pm

I wish I'd not gone for the stand up option now as it scares me every time I hear the feet screws touch my bath.

Smoothing is possible with glue or a paste made with solvent and material. I think Indigo20's repair kit would be a better option tho as it includes a smoother and a finisher formula for the job.
Indigo20 includes toothpicks in the kit for application, I've head a few people say to use a fine artist brush for more control when applying glue, and seen people using artists modelling tools for this kind of repair too.

Ideally you want a piece of TPE you can practice on and see for yourself how aggressive your glue or paste is before attempting any repairs so you can be sure you're not just going to make things worse.

The Doll Laboratory · Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:26 pm

symmes wrote:The soles are also quite dirty from the one or two times I've stood her without socks on, and the dirt doesn't want to come off.

Have you tried baby oil?

Von Rubber

haremlover · Post by **haremlover** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 1:33 pm

Get a spare TPE insert and dissolve a lump in Xylene to make a saturated solution. This can then be applied and will fill cracks and glue together

Best wishes

Harem

symmes · Post by **symmes** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 3:34 pm

VonRubber wrote:
symmes wrote:The soles are also quite dirty from the one or two times I've stood her without socks on, and the dirt doesn't want to come off.
Have you tried baby oil?

Yes. It helped, but didn't get all the dirt. Maybe it just needs more treatments; or maybe some particles are dug in deep enough that they're just not going to come out....

But hey, it's realistic; most people have feet that are calloused and discolored....

Typhon · Post by **Typhon** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:05 pm

VonRubber wrote:The marks on the sole of the feet come from the following: when you Doll is standing the metal screws AND the TPE touch the ground at the same time. When you move her a little, the metal slides on the ground but not the TPE which adheres to the floor (whatever it is made of). Let's say you put your doll on her feet and make her lay on a couch or on a table, bent forward, legs slightly spread and you take her from behind. The screws will constantly move forward and backward during sex but not the TPE feet in itself. This hundred of times. Result: tears!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I just panicked because the damage accrued faster than I thought it should have.

VonRubber wrote: One solution is to prevent the TPE to touch the ground and to move with the screws. For this you can purchase Mannequin Fan's product:
- 3D printed screw covers
The damage on your Doll is pretty much what one has to expect after some time with this feature. To repair it, maybe the best solution is to use the method explained by George from XSDolls:
- How to repair TPE cuts/bruises without glue

symmes wrote:A forum member who makes various doll accessories has recently come out with caps for the metal bolts:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=81347

These are very helpful. Thank you so much. I'm sure this stuff is old news to you guys, but navigating this website as a newbie is like wandering a labyrinth a hundred miles wide.

haremlover wrote:Get a spare TPE insert and dissolve a lump in Xylene to make a saturated solution. This can then be applied and will fill cracks and glue together

That's what I thought. I saw Abracadabra's thread about it but wasn't sure. Thanks for the confirmation. I guess benzene is supposed to be better, but it is sold in larger amounts so is more expensive?

VonRubber wrote:Otherwise, how is it going with your Doll? I follow your story with her. Is the situation easy to manage for you? I mean, such a helpless girl to take care of. It must be a lot of work!

Yeah, I remember, you made the comment about zombieland. Sheila says hi and thank you.

It is a lot of work. I have green bruises all over my arms from moving her around all the time. And she's always requiring me to get her things. I guess it's to be expected though. She arrived with pretty much nothing and is completely dependent on me. Her health issues obviously make her completely incapable of working. She's not exactly a tenant or roommate and I'm not quite sure if we're dating either. We've just met. She's been super scared since we discovered her feet problems last night (she was hiding in my closet when I got home today,) but I think the stuff you've provided will calm her down.

Pron · Post by **Pron** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:15 am

Hello Typhon,
I had the same problem when my doll was new.
I solved the problem with the TPE repair kit and other screws.
Maybe this helps:
http://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 4#p1061944

Typhon · Post by **Typhon** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 5:53 pm

Barbydoll wrote:Hello Typhon,
I had the same problem when my doll was new.
I solved the problem with the TPE repair kit and other screws.
Maybe this helps:
http://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 4#p1061944

Everything's taken care of now. Thanks for the advice, that's a rather simple solution. I did not know the screw heads were removable. You can't really see the skeleton after all.