Fixing vinyl on 50cm body

Hello everyone!

 

I just received an Obitsu body today and this is my first one, so let me know if I'm wrong! It looks to me like, because it was shipped with its legs bent as far up as it could, the area below the stomach was pushed in and now it's staying like that...

 

 

(let me know if you would like more photos?)

 

Is there a way to fix it so it stays how it's supposed to be? I know that with some resins, if you boil hands for example to reposition fingers, you can boil the hands again so they can go back to shape they originally were. Is something like that possible with vinyl as well, or will I need a new piece?

 

Thank you for your time, and sorry if this has been answered before and I'm blind >_<

I think you've got the right idea with using boiling water. Heat can coax soft vinyl into going back into the shape it was originally molded. When I see indentations or scratches on my dolls that I think are caused by prolonged applied pressure, I try using a hair dryer instead of boiling to fix it and it usually works after the vinyl is heated enough. Obitsu stomach vinyl is pretty thin on purpose so it can deform for more poseability. Unfortunately that can result in that 'sunken stomach' look if kept in the same position for a while.

 

If you use a hair dryer on the doll body without completely taking it apart, you should probably leave it alone to cool completely before trying to pose it at all after getting the vinyl back to normal though. The frame parts inside may become more fragile after being heated.

 

Congrats on your first obitsu body btw! They're pretty fun.

Thank you so much! Maybe it's just my eyes, playing tricks on me, but I tried what you said (in the lowest setting of the hairdryer cause I'm a chicken), and it seems to have worked, at least to some extend? I did feel some part of her leg joint having been heated a bit more than I'd like (probably where the screws are?), so I stopped, but maybe someday I will be braver ahaha!

 

DSC_0149 by Shailara UvU~, on Flickr

 

Ai-chan thanks you for your help!

 

(also was brave enough to heat up the hands and put them on). And I thought I was brave enough for the neck, but holy moly, my fingers hurt so much and I still think I didn't do something right? XD I followed the instructions in some other thread, but for some reason the part that is from the inside and goes outside the head, the peg won't stay in the ball joint? And it keeps pushing it out... and I also can't seem to be able to screw it all the way, cause the spring isn't squeezed at all :V (what's the point of the spring besides making my life miserable?). But the head stays on for now, so maybe some other day I will be brave enough to find out what the hecky is wrong with this thing XD

To reinforce what elianti said, heat can be your best friend.

I had one of my 50cms sitting on my desk for several months like this:

 

This left her with a caved in abdomen. But several minutes with the hair dryer on high (1875 watts) brought the abdomen back into shape without any damage. I did remove her clothes but didn't disassemble her.

 

Don't worry too much about over heating your vinyls. You would have to heat them to many hundreds of degrees (Fahrenheit) to melt them. Possibly touching the vinyl to a heating element could do damage, but not from the air coming out. Remember boiling water is 212 degrees (Fahrenheit) and that does no damage whatsoever. I've used my hair dryer on many vinyl parts (lots of hands!) with the dryer on high, at about 2" from the vinyl. The vinyl will get too hot to hold long before it melts. It will get soft and pliable making swapping parts a breeze.

 

If you're having trouble keeping a head on the neck piece correctly due to the slot in the head deforming (spreading), remove the head from the neck piece and heat the area around the neck hole. When it is nice and hot, remove the heat source and squeeze the sides of the head under the ears so the neck hole almost closes. Allow the head to cool this way and the neck hole can be narrowed to its "original" oblong slot shape. With the neck hole reshaped it will be easier to keep the sides of the neck hole in place on the neck piece.

Thank you K-2! Next time I might not be such a chicken with the hairdryer

 

I don't know how to explain the neck problem. There is a little ball thing inside a tube with a square indication that you put the peg in right? And then you put a screw from below the ball joint and screw the peg in place. But the peg won't be screwed all the way and it won't stay in place. The head seems to stay on for now, and my thumb still hurts from trying to screw that screw, so I won't be attempting much at this time to fix the neck... But yeah, there's something wrong, I just don't know what it is and how to fix it in the future...

Ai is looking better! You really don’t need to worry about using too much heat. Blast away until it looks right, lol.

 

And about your neck problem.. juuust making sure, Ai is a DD head(Millhiore?), and not a Parabox/Obitsu right? In that case, installing the Obitsu neckpiece really IS a pain! It’s really hard to juggle holding down the spring inside the head and positioning the neckpiece outside just right so it somehow fits in the end. 2/3 of the time I end up rage-quitting with sore fingers too. If you can get a second person to help keep things stable it’ll be a lot easier(this mod really requires three hands to make life easier ) but if not.. then good luck, it’ll line up eventually..

 

From your original comment it sounded like you didn’t push down on the spring that goes inside the head though so definitely do that next time. It’ll make it easier to see where and how the peg should be connected and screwed together, and it makes it possible to screw it in all the way. Alternatively, if you’re still having problems screwing it in you can try using a bigger screw instead of the small one that is originally there, though I never needed to do that in the end.. so far.

 

It sounds like you got it working for now but just be warned if it’s not properly and completely screwed in, the neckpiece could come apart while you’re posing her head! It happened with my DDH-09 before.. ><" Of course, when I took the neckpiece I used for her and used it on my Miku head, I had no problems at all. >__>

I did push the spring down, which is why I have a numb thumb since yesterday Woe is me ahaha! (well, tbf, I didn't realize one side of the ball joint was square, I'm stupid like that).

 

Yes, she is a DD Millhiore!

 

So I took a better look today, since yesterday I was too tired to care. The peg seems to stay in the ball joint after all, but the spring inside the head is not pushed down. Is it meant to be pushed down? Right now I can pull Ai's head up and it swivels around easily. Is this how it's supposed to be? Maybe the screw isn't long enough, hm...

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me out, trully! I'm quite happy with the body and even if the spring is supposed to be pushed down, the head stays on safely, so there's that! Ai is now dressed and posing beautifully~

 

DSC_0151 by Shailara UvU~, on Flickr

I don't know how to explain the neck problem. There is a little ball thing inside a tube with a square indication that you put the peg in right? And then you put a screw from below the ball joint and screw the peg in place. But the peg won't be screwed all the way and it won't stay in place. The head seems to stay on for now, and my thumb still hurts from trying to screw that screw, so I won't be attempting much at this time to fix the neck... But yeah, there's something wrong, I just don't know what it is and how to fix it in the future...

Okay, so you are using a DD head and using the neck piece as a clamp (I guess). Kind of like this:

http://blog.livedoor.jp/mimiwoo/archives/51569280.html

 

If that's the case you can remove the spring and just use the screw to tighten down the top of the neck piece inside of the head or cut the spring in half (cut a few turns off) so there's less pressure while installing.

So there's no need for the spring, besides making my life miserable? Then why does everyone who put a DD head on the obitsu body still use the spring? I will note this for the next DD head I put on an Obitsu body!

So there's no need for the spring, besides making my life miserable? Then why does everyone who put a DD head on the obitsu body still use the spring? I will note this for the next DD head I put on an Obitsu body!

Normally the spring clamps the top down on the sides of the vinyl in the head hole. The firm but not locked in one place situation allows some tilting of the Obitsu head as the neck piece can be moved front to back in the oblong Obitsu head hole. But if you aren't using an Obitsu head you're probably using the neck piece as a simple screw tightened clamp. Removing the spring is probably not mentioned as they may assume you may want to use the neck piece on an Obitsu head at some point in the future where you'll need it again.

I'm a proponent of getting multiple neck pieces, one for each head and keeping the head and neck piece together. Neck pieces are cheap. If you need to remove the head, remove the head and neck piece as one. It's far easier to remove and reinsert the neck piece into the neck/body than it is to remove and reinsert the neck piece onto the head.

Yeah, tbh I don't think I'll ever remove the neck from the head, it was such a pain putting it on, they might as well as be glued together at this point

Thank you for the information though!

Here's another reference, a Japanese blog for doing a DD head on the Obitsu 50cm. They kept the spring but didn't use one plastic piece:

https://ameblo.jp/ibn/entry-10301663389.html

 

(I don't know anything about Obitsu bodies...)

Thank you The plastic piece wasn't included so I didn't use it either haha! I don't know if it makes any difference when it comes to it being easier or harder. But still, thank you! Photos make it looks so much easier than it actually is

This thread helped me a lot!