Ankles and repairs

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Mon May 13, 2019 4:10 pm

@Mandos - for me, it feels as though it is rotating where that orange blob is just above the foot - or maybe where those 2 hex bolts are.

If you look at Tors 3rd picture, you can see where the TPE is bunching up during the rotation. If I squeeze her shins, I dont feel any rotation there.

I think this is what Jeff is saying he did.

So I have some of Indigo's cold weld glue, so will see if I can find these bolts by touch, and then see if I can make a neat surgical cut.

Something for the weekend though!

Cubiko · Post by **Cubiko** » Mon May 13, 2019 4:16 pm

The photo is of a 2019 model skeleton, so should be the same, The foot and lower leg from below the joint I have highlighted turns with the ankle. I suppose the bolts, or one of them, can be tightened. It does not seem to be welded like many of the bolts so I can try to tighten or loosen it tomorrow. If that is the case then only a small cut is necessary in the back of the lower leg, with some glue it should be impossible to see once closed. But I would have to check tomorrow if that bolt (or bolts) can be manipulated.

scooter_ca · Post by **scooter_ca** » Mon May 13, 2019 4:19 pm

Masai wrote:Since I'm afraid to do surgery, I'll have to live with her spinning ankle. That's a bummer because I love putting her legs and feet in the air for photo shoots

Hi Masai.
If you don't plan on doing surgery. there is one simple solution to stabilise her ankle. She wont be able to stand, but at least she can hold poses.
Daria also has a loose ankle. I treat it just like a sprained ankle.
She always wears socks so the bandage is not an issue.
https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... e&start=20

Thanks,
scooter

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Mon May 13, 2019 4:22 pm

Mandos, maybe that is what should happen - and those bolts are what secure the foot plate to the tube.

If they are loose, then the foot plate can rotate that much lower down?

If you could check Mandos that would be great!

Post by **Booty Call Dolls** » Mon May 13, 2019 4:49 pm

ALCON,
Please see attached.
Best,
Jeff

Cubiko · Post by **Cubiko** » Tue May 14, 2019 3:02 am

I´ll take a look later today and see if I can loosen and re-tighten one or more of those bolts.

Cubiko · Post by **Cubiko** » Tue May 14, 2019 11:08 am

Well, I can confirm that Jeff is right (not that I doubted him, but I like to try things myself). When loosened, the top M16 nut made the ankle flop around. And of course when tightened it makes the ankle normal again.
The lower of the two nuts has no apparent function as far as I can see so it is is probably there as extra help to keep the other nut tight and in place. Both were insanely hard to loosen on my skeleton and I had to use two heavy duty wrenches - then POP! it went. I also suspect these nuts are used to adjust and lock the height of the skeleton before it is mounted in the mould. A lot of the other nuts on a skeleton is welded, not sure why these are not. There are both ups and downs with welding a nut so I guess there is a reason.

Anyway, I would rate this repair as a very easy one and with minimal risk of leaving a scar. Clean the area, and use clean gloves, in a clean environment - not your garage. Make a small incision with a sharp scissor (a knife would need several cuts and will make the closing of the wound harder IMO) on the back of the leg where you feel the nuts, stretch it aside so you see the nuts then tighten. Some sort of glue/loctite or something would most likely prevent it from happening again. I am not sure if these nuts are protected by fabric covering the metal parts - I do not remember from when I cleaned the skeleton - but I think not. But if there is you should be able to feel it through the TPE and it will require some more cutting once the TPE is stretched aside. This sort of clean incision is perfect for TPE glue, do it in several stages and starting by glueing the part of the cut closest to the skeleton, then moving outwards after it has bonded. I have never tried the Indigo cold weld thing so can´t really comment on it.

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Tue May 14, 2019 11:20 am

Thanks for the extra confirmation Mandos! Always good to know a problem can be replicated and then fixed.

And for the information that it is an M16 - I will get my M16 spanners into some degreaser and cleaning fluid before the weekend!

avante · Post by **avante** » Tue May 14, 2019 12:30 pm

Well this is both shitty and interesting! Bad too read this has happend to quite a few people, esp. since it seems rather easy to prevent and good to read of all the tips and thought + skeleton! Really helpfull, might I ever run into this. Good luck adelea!

BWheeler1 · Post by **BWheeler1** » Tue May 14, 2019 12:35 pm

You are correct, Mandos. That second nut would be a backup nut that is tightened against the adjustment nut to keep it from turning. Only a couple of things I would do different. One, I wouldn't use loctite, as I've read it doesn't cure correctly around TPE and it will eventually stain the TPE from the inside. Never tried it myself, but it doesn't seem worth it. Also, instead of scissors to cut it and TPE glue to close it, in my experience there is no cleaner way to cut open TPE or close a wound that with a hot knife. It cuts the TPE perfectly clean, then you simply heat the knife again, insert it into the cut, and push the TPE closed while pulling the knife out across the cut. You want the hot knife in contact with both sides of the cut so it melts a thin layer of TPE on either side, then when you pull out the knife and push it closed the melted TPE fuses back together. If you do it right, it takes a few seconds and leaves nothing but a thin line. That TPE glue can be catastrophic if you use too much.

Tor · Post by **Tor** » Tue May 14, 2019 2:22 pm

All fine and dandy. Lot's of good advise. Maybe simple to do. But having owned the doll for less than a week, I don't feel like doing doll surgery. I haven't even gone to doll medical school.

And: I don't think I should need to repair a $2000 product straight out of the box from the factory...

Cubiko · Post by **Cubiko** » Tue May 14, 2019 3:56 pm

I agree on both points with you, Tor. As we can see from the skeleton it will not get any worse so you have nothing to fear in that department, but if you ever do decide to give it a go you will have Adelea´s and other´s experience to rely upon.

Dutch Dance Maniac · Post by **Dutch Dance Maniac** » Tue May 14, 2019 4:00 pm

Tor wrote:
And: I don't think I should need to repair a $2000 product straight out of the box from the factory...

I have already removed the WM dolls that I had on the purchase list, I don't trust them anymore because I only see bad things on photos come by and it gets worse and worse every week and every post.

If now it would be neatly solved with the buyer.......
Instead, you can go cut in your brand new doll yourself and carry out repairs on a product for which you have paid 2000 dollars / euros. Ridiculous !!!!!

Guarantee up to the Chinese border and then you can figure it out yourself....... Ridiculous !!!!!

Too ridiculous for words all this !!!!! And most of us seem to accept it all unfortunately.

Nope no WM doll for me comming period........ Will save my money for better brand doll........

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Sun May 19, 2019 6:24 am

Whilst I agree we shouldn't have to - it is what it is.

Today I took the plunge, and make the cut to get access to the bolts:

: ankle1.jpg (161.15 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

Spreading the TPE, I could see the 2 bolts:

: ankle2.jpg (167.6 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

Both were loose and rotating freely. Interestingly, the bottom was a 16mm bolt, but one above was 17mm.

I wiped both sides with an alcohol swap to clean, then applied some of Indigo's cold weld adhesive and pushed the two parts together: