Ami has had problems virtually from the start, I consider that the quality of the TPE that she was made from is not the best. I have a sample piece that I use tor test and repair that is, in my opinion, far superior. She is nearly two now, her birthday is next Thursday. She has shared my bed virtually all of that time, without mishap. Last Wednesday, we woke to find to our horror, that two of the fingers on her left hand were virtually severed, the little finger especially was in danger of coming off! Ami, like many of the dolls here has suffered from the bad joke that is considered acceptable as a skeleton for hands, cotton wrapped copper wire. Her left hand only has the thumb intact and that will have to go soon. She used to have a ring on her ring finger too which may have been a partial cause.
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The tears are visible. Also note the finger pokes, which have not responded to any treatment, be it TPE 'glue' or soldering. Things have been made worse due to personal circumstances over the past year, where Ami has had to take a few breaks in her carry case. I will still not be in a position to attend to her properly for a few months.
I did purchase the repair kit that Indigo20 has available, so here is the first use of the kit on Ami and not on my test piece, which is far superior, as I have said.
Start of the op...
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she's under...
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The proper use of the repair kit requires a deal of patience as there is a lot of waiting between stages. Three applications of white oil, four and a half hours. Apply preparer be very careful and do not apply too much as it does react with the TPE. Apply paste, and allow to cure. I repaired the finger pokes at the same time. The biggest problem here was that without wires, Ami's fingers would not stay in place so I had to hold them for a time as well as apply the paste, I could have done with a third hand. Three days work here.
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I also found this hole,
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and repaired that too,
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In conclusion, She's not out of the woods yet, but no longer in immediate danger of losing her fingers. Indigo's kit is the most successful that I have used so far, although I think it takes a steady hand and a bit of practice too. I struggled with the TPE mix that I used, it was homemade. I'll try to tidy her up with some heat treatment too but at the moment she is recovering, her hand is so soft after this treatment, I don't want to push my luck.
It is also clear that Ami at least, need some kind of structure to her hands, I had hoped that removing the wires would be the end of her problems, but it seems I will have to follow the trail blazed by others and re-wire her. Damn.
Tyr
“We’ve always been vulnerable. Every day you go out the house, you’re vulnerable. You’re inches from diving under a bus or somebody hitting you over the head for your money. Nothing is safe. Everybody seems to be obsessed with safety. Well, nothing is safe, okay? Nothing! Make the most of it while you’re safe now. You won’t be tomorrow, maybe.”
The Late, Great, Ian Fraser Kilminster.
My 'e' key is getting sticky, so now and thn words may look a bit odd.
