We can rebuild her. New MF hand plates and wires.

Panther68 · Post by **Panther68** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 8:40 pm

Yep, we are thinking the same. I have thick rubberbands that will easily clamp her TPE together.
I purchased Anna, my Racyme 100cm for this purpose to practice TPE repair, so she already has a split on her elbow. She will be my practice doll, before trying it on Anastasia.

Anung Un Rama · Post by **Anung Un Rama** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:22 pm

I think Panther's gal has got bionic hands now, so watch out for that fastball!

Anung

algaeholics · Post by **algaeholics** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:56 am

MannequinFan wrote:...This is where having a junk doll hand to work with would come in really handy.

Hehe, yeah, I'm with you there! I've been toying with the idea of making a printed hand mold and pouring in some Xylene/TPE mix to make one!

EasWesNJess · Post by **EasWesNJess** » Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:09 am

Excellent treat!! I’m watching this and I’m very interested for the final product!!

Take my money!!!

Grubhed · Post by **Grubhed** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:18 pm

A while back there was some questions about a green gunk found when removing the first test bones. I took it upon myself to supply the answer to at least one possibility. Namely, is the brass reacting with the TPE? I believe my conclusion is no. I have a sample piece of TPE that I wrapped tightly around the brass tubing that is exactly as MF recommended using. I left it like this for two full weeks. This is the result.

Grubhed

Mr Franz · Post by **Mr Franz** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 1:34 pm

Thanks, Grubhed. I was wondering about that too.

Boobman · Post by **Boobman** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:19 pm

Grubhed wrote:A while back there was some questions about a green gunk found when removing the first test bones. I took it upon myself to supply the answer to at least one possibility. Namely, is the brass reacting with the TPE? I believe my conclusion is no. I have a sample piece of TPE that I wrapped tightly around the brass tubing that is exactly as MF recommended using. I left it like this for two full weeks. This is the result.

Grubhed

Do the same thing with the TPE, brass & the copper wire. The green happened in the doll with copper finger wires.

Panther68 · Post by **Panther68** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 9:43 pm

Thanks Boobman, the issue with the green gunk was not the brass tubing, but it occured at wear the edge of the tubing and the wires met, so I am assuming that it was the adhesive used. MF thinks not, as he has not had any past issues. The TPE was clean when I pulled her factory wires as can be seen in my past photos. I have not sealed her hand, so I can detach one of her wires and pull it out. Then we shall see it has occurred again. Everything else has been great. The plate and the wires have held up well. MF is still tinkering with the design, so the final design has yet to happen. The weather here has been wind and rain for the last week, so no opportunities for a reseal till a sunny day with good ventilation. Will take a wire out tomorrow. Cross our fingers. Pun intended.

Boobman · Post by **Boobman** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:34 pm

Panther68 wrote:Thanks Boobman, the issue with the green gunk was not the brass tubing, but it occured at wear the edge of the tubing and the wires met, so I am assuming that it was the adhesive used. MF thinks not, as he has not had any past issues. The TPE was clean when I pulled her factory wires as can be seen in my past photos. I have not sealed her hand, so I can detach one of her wires and pull it out. Then we shall see it has occurred again. Everything else has been great. The plate and the wires have held up well. MF is still tinkering with the design, so the final design has yet to happen. The weather here has been wind and rain for the last week, so no opportunities for a reseal till a sunny day with good ventilation. Will take a wire out tomorrow. Cross our fingers. Pun intended.

It's great we have folks here willing to do R & D, because it seems the doll makers have been avoiding this known flaw for some time. If it works great for a much longer time you can bet they'll use it once it adds no cost to them.

Fantastic Plastic · Post by **Fantastic Plastic** » Sat Feb 16, 2019 10:42 pm

The green is from moisture contacting the copper. Water will make its way through the TPE to a degree I believe.

Dutch_Husband · Post by **Dutch_Husband** » Sun Feb 17, 2019 1:50 am

Fantastic thread. I love the work you are doing!
And Panther, Anastasia is adorable!
Good job all. I will be following this thread.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Mon Feb 18, 2019 3:44 pm

Hey Grubhed, thanks for doing that test! IMO, I think we can cross the TPE/brass reaction off the list of issues.
Regarding the moisture/copper reaction, the copper wire is completely encapsulated by the insulation and end caps so I don't see how that can be causing an issue. If the brass is tarnishing, that really won't hurt anything as it is just a patina.

As far as tinkering with the design, I think the brass tube version for the 6.5" hands is good to go with maybe the exception of the adhesive used for the finger wires. If the Pematex is causing the green gook then we'll need to find another adhesive. I think the Loctite vinyl adhesive will also work.

For the 5.5" hands I'll need to resize everything so that will take a little more time.
I'm not sure the printed finger bones will work for the smaller dolls due to the larger size. The fingers may get pretty fat looking.

Erith · Post by **Erith** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 11:10 am

MannequinFan wrote:Hey Panther, I think I need to get liquored up as well (I'm a bit squeamish).
This is completely untested, so I hope this works. (can't watch, lol!)

BTW Panther, I would highly recommend using extra time epoxy when/if you get to that point.

For the design, I used an x-ray image of a typical 6-3/4" long female hand to locate all the joint locations. As long as the doll hand is normally proportioned, I'm hoping this will be close enough.
joint layout.jpg
Here's a prototype model I put together...
IMG_4627-2.JPG

Is this going on sale anytime soon? I need new hands!

ildanach · Post by **ildanach** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 8:49 pm

MannequinFan wrote: For the 5.5" hands I'll need to resize everything so that will take a little more time.
I'm not sure the printed finger bones will work for the smaller dolls due to the larger size. The fingers may get pretty fat looking.

Well, While I was eagerly following this topic because I knew the time would arrive - rather sooner than later - that my 4,59 ft (1.40 cm) doll would break her fingers or wrist, it happened. She broke the wires close to her right wrist.
Because of the size of that what MF was doing - and what I love to pay attention to because the idea with real bones is marvellous - I already feared it would not directly fit my doll ( her name is Cameron, by the way) and would make her fingers probably to fat and or too long.
And I didn't want to wait of course, neither did Cameron.
So I decided to contribute something myself too to this topic about repairing hands. Perhaps not the most professional way as MF for example is doing, but one can see it as an operation while on the battlefield (MASH ?)
Today I have started the operation of the right hand of my (WM) Doll.
Thanks to all the good ideas I got by reading all the experiments one has been doing here ( and watching some others - Crazy Cajun too - on YouTube) I got some ideas by how I could realize that. Preferably with as simple and everywhere to get ( with low prices) materials as possible and I think I succeeded in that. Most of those materials I already had in my possession for what they are originally intended for.
When I am finished I will put the reportage here.