Snap, Crackle, Pop, Teddy-Babe? (Wire Skeleton Concerns)

[digitalcavebear]

I am a new owner of a TBD as of last Friday and am already head over heels in love with my Rhonda (Lisa Deluxe). However I already have some fabrication concerns regarding the wire skeleton as flexing her legs at the hip recently has already produced unexpected popping noises. I've skimmed the repair, mod, and fabrication threads which have already shown me a lot of the internal construction. And while I am tuning and tweaking joints for the sake of posing and what not, it seems a little early in the functional life of the doll for wire fatigue to be an issue, especially in the hip region.

Can someone with more experience with the internals share some insight as to what could be popping so early? So far I feel I've been really good about minding the stress on her skeleton while posing her. It's too damn early in the life of doll to have to pull stitches and stuffing.

[Juncharted2]

I too have had a few "pops"... I have also had issues with the wire skeleton.. would be cool to see a picture of what the wire skeleton actually looks like....

[Hagen of Tronje]

If the area of concern is on the height of the belly button and you feel that something is wrong there then maybe the duct tape that is used to hold the ends of the wire skeleton together has failed. If you have the feeling that wires are pushing against the skin of your babe in this area then do not hesitate to open the back of your babe to fix things before the wires pierce the skin of your babe. My advice in this situation is to open the babe at the back, pull some polyfill out, realign the wires, wrap them with bubble plastic foil, wrap two cable ties around the bubble plastic and wrap it with with a lot of duct tape. This should fix the problem for decades to come.

This happened to a Deluxe of mine, I used the opportunity to give her "bones" in the form of PVC tubing in the legs. Be sure that you learn the ladder stitch and to learn how to handle this devilish device to cut seams, it is sharp as hell so be very careful when using it.

Hagen

[Sate]

I posted a set of video a while back of me removing the skeleton from a Teddy Babe Deluxe after they switch to the softer fabric. Assuming the design hasn't changed, the videos should have some relevant information.

You can find them here: viewtopic.php?f=187&t=71987

If all you see is a black screen when trying to view them it's something with your browser, you can right click the black screen and go to Properties, then copy and paste the embed link into your address bar to go to the video that way.

- Sate

[digitalcavebear]

Yeah, sewing doesn't bother me at all. But I think the ladder stitch leaves something to be desired even though it does a great job of trying to hide the stitches.

Actually Sate, your video that involves pulling out the standard skeleton is most of what I was referencing regarding internals. I'm amused that the skeleton is that simple, but I can see why it works.

If I feel up to it, I may try to pull the skeleton and see if I can improve upon 8W's wire wrapping technique, though I don't think I want to go so hardcore as to building her a new skeleton. But I could probably do that as well as fabricating in PVC and similar materials is something I have been doing for years.

Hrmmmm, wrapping the wires in padded insulation tape to soften up the "bone structure" just become an idea.

[digitalcavebear]

And Rhonda's right thumb just snapped.

And as little as I do with her hands, that just screams to me piss poor fabrication or materials. I've only had her just over 3 months.

While I don't want my girl to be a limp noodle of a plushie, I'm starting to lean towards just pulling the skeleton entirely.

Damnit.