I got lots done this week, so this is a long post...
Disassembling:Taking her apart was easy. I marked each piece this time to show which side is which and which direction they go, since she might be disassembled for a while as I work on her.
You can see the entire tension system here. Except the springs in her upper thighs are still inside the thighs, and the same with her upper arm elastic. Elastic loops are for lower arm, lower leg, neck.
Metal hook goes in the head, elastic loop goes down through torso. Elastic loop attached to arm goes through shoulders to other arm.
One of the few areas in her body with springs and they are horribly tuned. I have learned from my Paperwhite Dolls that the spring should be almost fully extended, so there isn't much more "give" to it. These springs were cut to be relaxed when the joint is not extended, which means they have WAY too much give and her legs flop around. I might use the same springs but cut off about 70% of them.
Most of her body is strung with this thin elastic. Perhaps it has been loosened by time, but from my experience with elastic-strung resin dolls I think this elastic is just too thin to give good tension. I will be using springs and swivels, which I think work very well if properly tuned.
Removing old leather:Some parts of the leather were ok, but most were loose or worn down from lots of posing and fun. Also it was hard to diagnose her joint problems with the leather in the way. So I decided to remove it all. I used a craft blade to cut out most of it, then I used Volks faceup remover (paint solvent) to break down the rest and wipe it out. It worked pretty well. I didn't bother to remove all the hardened epoxy glue residue. It is thin, clear, hard, and not in the way. I will just apply the new leather on top of it.
Both pictures are of the old leather. I haven't put in the new leather yet.
Repairing Broken Knee!Disaster! by
TinyJewelsShop, on Flickr
Yes...I dropped her knee! I was so upset, I didn't take any pictures until after I had already started the repair with two part epoxy clay and plastic cement. It was definitely my fault, I fumbled and dropped her knee to the foor. But I was horrified to see how THIN the porcelain was, in some places as thin as a sheet of printer paper (really).
Repair (before sanding) by
TinyJewelsShop, on Flickr
I used two part epoxy clay to reattach part of the porcelain that had cracked off, and to recreate parts of the joint that had shattered into pieces too tiny to reassemble. I checked it against the other knee and the socket to make sure it was the right size. The epoxy clay didn't want to adhere to the porcelain too well, so I used some plastic cement in between the layers. It seems solid now that it has dried. There was probably a better way to do this, but I was too upset about the break to wait for advice. I just wanted her fixed right away! Probably not too wise of me, but oh well. We shall see how my repair holds up.
Repair (after sanding) by
TinyJewelsShop, on Flickr
After inserting the pin and sanding down the hardened epoxy clay. I am pretty satisfied with the repair. The white clay shouldn't shouldn't show too much since it is inside a joint.
Reinforcing thin areas of porcelain with epoxy clay: After the disaster with her knee, I checked the rest of her body for thin spots. I held the pieces up to the light, and wherever it shone through I added more epoxy clay. There were some places that were so thin, I just couldn't believe it. The thickness is not consistent throughout her body. The thighs, chest, and arms are all nice and thick and solid. The rest is thin as a very delicate teacup and in some places much thinner than that. There were places as see-through as tissue paper. I think it's a miracle she survived this long without breaking.
Hard to see, but I have put clay on the inside of her head, behind her lips. This part was so thin that from the back I thought there must actually be a hole through the porcelain. But I couldn't see anything from the front. Anyways, hopefully it is stronger now.
Clay applied inside the knee. This is the spot where the other one broke.
Inside left and right lower legs.
An example of the thin porcelain. You can see what I mean by the light shining through the porcelain. This is actually not that bad compared to the ones I reinforced. I have decided to leave this one, since it is almost her whole torso. And it's not as bad as the ones I fixed, this was acceptable thinness to me.
Diagnosing Posing & Joint Problems:I spent several minutes with each joint, moving it around and trying to figure out if there were things to improve. The problem I was trying to solve was not with tension, which I believe will be solved with springs and swivels, but the resistance to smooth movement. I examined the joints with the assumption that I could dremel them slightly to improve them, as recommended by Sutton in my box opening thread. This is a big assumption since I've never done it before, but I have a dremel and a courageous attitude, so I'm going to try it!
In general, I discovered three kinds of problems. No pictures, sorry. Most of these problems were too subtle to catch on camera, you can only feel them.
1. slits too narrow for pins- in many places the slits that are supposed to allow movement for the pins are too thin. This means that the pins either rub, get stuck, or can't go into the slit at all. This should be easy to fix with a dremel I hope. About 4 joints have this problem.
2. leather was just too thick or getting in the way- should be solved with newer/thinner leather. I think the artist designed the joints to fit perfectly and didn't take the bulk of leather into account, because many of the joints work very well once the leather is removed. About 10 joints have this problem.
3. too much porcelain- there are a few places where the socket is covering up the ball just a bit too much. I think I can solve this by dremeling down the porcelain just a bit. This will hopefully allow for a greater range of motion. I might not be able to do this without it showing since it will have to be on the socket, not the ball. I will experiment in an unobtrusive area. About 6 joints have this problem, including the head.
I'll try to take before/after pictures of my modifications if it shows up on camera.
To Do Next:
-Dremel joints for better posing
-Apply new leather to joints
-Buy springs and swivels
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have suggestions! <3