IronTech 166 - Need advice on broken pelvis

[Johnbuhr]

Hello,

Unfortunately, my Irontech 166 silicone doll broke down after only three months. At some point, both legs felt partially detached from the pelvis and I heard metal parts rubbing against each other... The doll cannot stand anymore. I am quite experienced in using dolls and this is a first. The doll broke down on her own wait while standing, even if there probably was quite some fatigue introduced before. In any case, nothing that I did should result in this.

After 'some time', I decided to open her up to see what can be done. The pelvis seems to be some kind of metal foil assembly with minor welding at the corners. The base sheet is about 1mm thick, the side walls look as thin as paper sheets. Both corners have indeed (partially) broken loose and the entire assembly is distorted.
I am not familiar with Irontech's skeleton design and this is the first time I see such a pelvis. Does anyone know if this is supposed to be stronger than the usual tubes or is this to introduce some level of flexibility?
Also, the joints are not protected in cloth but the core appears to have been sprayed with expansion foam similar to the package filling material that is being used lately. This is probably how 'weight reduction' is achieved.

Here is a close up picture of the damaged pelvis. You can see both broken corner welds at the bottom left and the top right.
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to repair this? If this is impossible to fix, I was thinking to fill the assembly with something (low viscosity), maybe construction silicone or even concrete Any ideas?
I should be able to fold the front panel upwards.

IT166_pelvis1.jpg (2.3 MiB) Viewed 664 times

I opened up the doll from the back:

IT166_pelvis2.jpg (1.86 MiB) Viewed 664 times

I hope I get her back on her feet:

IT166_pelvis3.jpg (2.62 MiB) Viewed 664 times

Thank you for your help!

[Bunnyboybob]

Call out to Rev Jack or Wheezer. That's a real shame. I have a heavy tpe Iron tech. Hope this don't happen to her just from standing.
Is she silicone, or tpe?

[Johnbuhr]

Call out to Rev Jack or Wheezer. That's a real shame. I have a heavy tpe Iron tech. Hope this don't happen to her just from standing.
Is she silicone, or tpe?

It's a silicone doll. I have another one from Irontech and I do hope she won't fail the same way either.

[seagull]

Square section tubing not quite as straightforward as round tubing but a couple of angle brackets fixed to the broken tube with screws and Stainless hose clamps is one thought

[RevJack]

Damn, I really expected better from iron tech, and especially sicone.
That whole hip section is just as fucked as the hips on Bubbles.
(search Bubbles broken back at Reverend Jack's)
You are correct that the foam is both adhered to the frame and is for weight reduction. It's a two part expanding urethane foam.
Those pelvis square tubes look like garbage, so I wouldn't pull and reweld them. What I would initially think about is using the existing hollow tubes as guides for sliding in a solid replacement. The bent-up front cross piece looks thin enough to open up the front, and I would seriously consider sliding a carefully measured and pre-configured "square U" down into the existing hollow legs of the broken hip and snap it into the horizontal opened pelvis.
Yeah, it would have to be properly sized and carefully measured, and welded, but all that can be done outside the body.
Cut open the tinfoil thin front of the pelvic crossbar, and snap the new-thicker-steel pelvic crossbar inside it. Now, I would consider heeping the back hinge right where it is, and clamp that tinfoil pipe to the now-inner more solid pipe as tightly as possible.
You will need to make a decision on the strength of the back hinge to tinfoil weld, and be willing to continue to depend on it. If you can, then the fix is (relatively) straight forward.

I hope this made sense, it's all perfectly clear in my mind. You slide a solid 3 sided square inside the existing hollow 3 sided square. Don't worry about the legs, they will be fine. Clamp the hell out of the new-solid pelvic crossbar to he old-hollow pelvic crossbar so that the spine stays connected. Fill every crevice in the hollow pipes with JB Weld, close up her back and call it a day.
Given the problems inherent in excavating steel skeletons from the weight-reduction foam, I want to leave the pelvic/leg foam attached to the old skeleton and not fuck with it. I've fixed the foam in sicone dolls before. It can be done carefully using LocTite spray foam. No other spray foam works worth a shit, only LocTite has a well made, dense formulation that is dependable and control able. All that other spray foam shit is a yellow sticky cluster fuck blob of regret.
Sorry, but your mileage will not vary on this point.

Alright, I'm done yapping, let me know if this makes any sense.

Reverend Jack

[Johnbuhr]

Thank you Seagull and RevJack for the suggestions.

I now removed the front plate with pliers. It looks this was designed to fail...
I think I should be able to slide something in there as you suggested RevJack, but I will first have to find a way to get rid of those welded lips I found inside the pelvis.
Now that I have a better angle, it is mostly the left leg (left side of the picture) that is loose. When I move the right leg, the opened pelvis moves along.

IT166_pelvis4.jpg (1.58 MiB) Viewed 448 times

IT166_pelvis5.jpg (1.76 MiB) Viewed 448 times

I can salvage the pelvis of old skeletons I have lying around. I found one that might fit in tightly. It's an old and cheap Rifrano one (but at least it held up with 0 issue).
Or I can (try to) make a square one.

IT166_pelvis6.jpg (1.34 MiB) Viewed 448 times

I will order some of that JBWeld which looks promising.

[RevJack]

Johnbuhr,
Any updates?

Reverend Jack

[Synthian]

I now removed the front plate with pliers. It looks this was designed to fail...
I think I should be able to slide something in there as you suggested RevJack, but I will first have to find a way to get rid of those welded lips I found inside the pelvis.
Now that I have a better angle, it is mostly the left leg (left side of the picture) that is loose. When I move the right leg, the opened pelvis moves along.
I will order some of that JBWeld which looks promising.

Hi Johnbuhr, well wishes for your surgery. BTW how old is your Irontech girl?

[Johnbuhr]

Hi Johnbuhr, well wishes for your surgery. BTW how old is your Irontech girl?

Hi Synthian,

The doll was about 6 months old when it broke. It should have been about a year old now.

Unfortunately the surgery totally failed, I gave up and trashed it.

I filled the entire pelvis assembly with J-B SteelStick and reinforced it with steel rods going down, I believe far enough.
I let it harden for a few days just to be sure.

IT166_pelvis7.jpg (630.7 KiB) Viewed 234 times

IT166_pelvis8.jpg (643.2 KiB) Viewed 234 times

It felt rigid and strong on the workbench. I decided to close it up. At the very first attempt to lift up the doll from the workbench, it immediately broke.
This time, the entire upper body broke off from the pelvis.

IT166_pelvis9.jpg (711.12 KiB) Viewed 234 times

You can see below how the upper body was welded in only 4 tiny spots to the pelvis sheet walls. Reinforcing the pelvis just made this part even weaker.
I really don't understand the purpose of this design other than willing it fail quickly. I have another IrontechDoll, a 166 minus this time that broke during the surgery of this one... That one failed a little higher, again due to bad welding. Fortunately, I was able to repair it and it appears to hold on...

IT166_pelvis10.jpg (469 KiB) Viewed 234 times

IT166_pelvis11.jpg (929.03 KiB) Viewed 234 times

[Synthian]

Hi Synthian,

The doll was about 6 months old when it broke. It should have been about a year old now.

Unfortunately the surgery totally failed, I gave up and trashed it.

I filled the entire pelvis assembly with J-B SteelStick and reinforced it with steel rods going down, I believe far enough.
I let it harden for a few days just to be sure.

It felt rigid and strong on the workbench. I decided to close it up. At the very first attempt to lift up the doll from the workbench, it immediately broke.
This time, the entire upper body broke off from the pelvis.

You can see below how the upper body was welded in only 4 tiny spots to the pelvis sheet walls. Reinforcing the pelvis just made this part even weaker.
I really don't understand the purpose of this design other than willing it fail quickly. I have another IrontechDoll, a 166 minus this time that broke during the surgery of this one... That one failed a little higher, again due to bad welding. Fortunately, I was able to repair it and it appears to hold on...

Hi Johnbuhr, oh no! Wish you posted this and waited; I had a similar failure after the first surgery attempt. My third and final fix was to attach the separated (like yours) back-to-hip joint with a captive shackle (at #2), but this SYDoll 166 had a tubular hip inverted U bone. Do you know if all the Irontech Silicone models have the flimsy hip bone construction yours has? Maybe this is the weight reducing measure all the manufacturers are heading towards which, of course, is a free option on Irontech.

I purposely get the motorized hip which completely replaces this weak weld area and flimsy inverted U hip bone. But I was thinking of not getting any robotics in our next body for photographic posing (the robotics are not as realistically poseable). I like the Zelex mold, but Starpery seems to have the best skeleton and as you have show us, that is what determines longevity.

Thank you for sharing the results of your surgery and autopsy. I know it must have been painful to perform. "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Ours broke at #2

Evie Skeleton Leverage.png (138.95 KiB) Viewed 225 times

I used the Captive U Shackle through the back-to-hip joint and around the broken hip bone.

Captive U Shackle.PNG (164.24 KiB) Viewed 225 times

Electric Hip completely replaces the inverted U hip bone and weak back to hip weld. Irontech sent me this.

微信图片_20231007101426.jpg (1.14 MiB) Viewed 225 times

[Johnbuhr]

Hi Johnbuhr, oh no! Wish you posted this and waited; I had a similar failure after the first surgery attempt. My third and final fix was to attach the separated (like yours) back-to-hip joint with a captive shackle (at #2), but this SYDoll 166 had a tubular hip inverted U bone. Do you know if all the Irontech Silicone models have the flimsy hip bone construction yours has? Maybe this is the weight reducing measure all the manufacturers are heading towards which, of course, is a free option on Irontech.

I purposely get the motorized hip which completely replaces this weak weld area and flimsy inverted U hip bone. But I was thinking of not getting any robotics in our next body for photographic posing (the robotics are not as realistically poseable). I like the Zelex mold, but Starpery seems to have the best skeleton and as you have show us, that is what determines longevity.

Thank you for sharing the results of your surgery and autopsy. I know it must have been painful to perform. "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

Ours broke at #2
I used the Captive U Shackle through the back-to-hip joint and around the broken hip bone.
Electric Hip completely replaces the inverted U hip bone and weak back to hip weld. Irontech sent me this.

Thank you for this interesting info.
No worries, I wasn't really willing to go this far for repairing the doll anyway. There would have way too much scars for my taste and I am not convinced a repair would last on that skeleton. I had another IT Doll that failed when I was trying to repair this one and it failed at yet another weak spot...

I don't know if this skeleton is their standard type, but I did repair de second failed doll and it does have the same skeleton. It is an IT166 Minus doll, which is totally different from the 166 in terms of shape and weight.
The back tube came off from the back arch joint in this case (see my last picture in my previous post, it is the tube on top of the pelvis). So, the upper body was again completely detached.
You can see on the below picture the first bolt I removed from the back arch joint, then the large ring next to it is the top side of the tube that came loose. Again very bad welding...
I found a large 17mm socket that fitted the remaining bolt perfectly and the tube also fitted perfectly on the socket. So, I glued everything together with J-B Weld epoxy and it holds on so far.

IT166m_back1.jpg (538.55 KiB) Viewed 199 times