Has anybody here worked on tightening shoulders on an Inspiration 170?

[Oscar DeBarataria]

I know the new skeleton has a ball joint to it and supposedly it can be tightened, but I think I'm going to want a primer on that before I start cutting...

[Oscar DeBarataria]

Well, I went in, and Amber's shoulders are back in working order.

The problem for us was adduction and abduction, which is out and up, like this...

adduction abduction.jpg (48.81 KiB) Viewed 334 times

That was loose.

To fix it, and I didn't take pictures because you wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway, here are the steps.

1. I use a medical scalpel, and I cut along the seam in the armpit, with the doll laying on her back and her arm resting at a 90 degree angle (pointing directly out from the torso). My cut was about an inch long, and I went all the way into the metal.

2. You've got to cut away the webbing around the joint, and that takes some work. You've got to expose the nut. It's on the anterior side, meaning the top side as your girl is lying on her back.

3. Use a No. 13 ratchet wrench. Don't use the fixed end; it's a tight workspace, and you need to be able to tighten with short movements. You're going to need to get the wrench angling slightly downward from your hand into the doll's armpit to get the wrench over the nut.

4. It doesn't take a whole lot of turning to get that joint from loose to tight. The wrench will tell you when you're done. But remember - Lefty loosey, righty tighty doesn't work here because you're turning from the bottom - so to tighten, you're turning that wrench to the left.

5. When you've got the joint nice and tight, meaning it takes a bit of effort to move it, wipe the cut and the area around it down with alcohol. Let that dry, and then smear your Sil-Poxy all along the inside of the cut. Press the two sides of the cut together for about 30 seconds, trying to line them up exactly so as to minimize the scar.

6. Finally, bring that arm down so it's at about a 30 degree angle from the torso. That will close the cut and let the glue cure inside it. Leave the doll alone for an hour or more.

If the cut isn't closed, repeat steps 5 and 6 until it is. You might need to use a nail clipper to snip away dried excess glue that squeezed out of the cut if you want the cleanest recovery. Done very well, which I'll admit isn't my greatest strength, these cuts can be almost invisible unless you look closely.

[anonymousdfuser]

Well, I went in, and Amber's shoulders are back in working order.

The problem for us was adduction and abduction, which is out and up, like this...

adduction abduction.jpg

That was loose.

To fix it, and I didn't take pictures because you wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway, here are the steps.

1. I use a medical scalpel, and I cut along the seam in the armpit, with the doll laying on her back and her arm resting at a 90 degree angle (pointing directly out from the torso). My cut was about an inch long, and I went all the way into the metal.

2. You've got to cut away the webbing around the joint, and that takes some work. You've got to expose the nut. It's on the anterior side, meaning the top side as your girl is lying on her back.

3. Use a No. 13 ratchet wrench. Don't use the fixed end; it's a tight workspace, and you need to be able to tighten with short movements. You're going to need to get the wrench angling slightly downward from your hand into the doll's armpit to get the wrench over the nut.

4. It doesn't take a whole lot of turning to get that joint from loose to tight. The wrench will tell you when you're done. But remember - Lefty loosey, righty tighty doesn't work here because you're turning from the bottom - so to tighten, you're turning that wrench to the left.

5. When you've got the joint nice and tight, meaning it takes a bit of effort to move it, wipe the cut and the area around it down with alcohol. Let that dry, and then smear your Sil-Poxy all along the inside of the cut. Press the two sides of the cut together for about 30 seconds, trying to line them up exactly so as to minimize the scar.

6. Finally, bring that arm down so it's at about a 30 degree angle from the torso. That will close the cut and let the glue cure inside it. Leave the doll alone for an hour or more.

If the cut isn't closed, repeat steps 5 and 6 until it is. You might need to use a nail clipper to snip away dried excess glue that squeezed out of the cut if you want the cleanest recovery. Done very well, which I'll admit isn't my greatest strength, these cuts can be almost invisible unless you look closely.

Thanks, this is very helpful.