How do I get superglue off Dollfie Dream legs?

Hello!
I recently came into possession of a Dollfie Dream that my professor's wife stopped someone from throwing out because they're both collectors. I asked him if I could have it and he said it was in very rough shape, so I thought it might be an interesting repair project. He wasn't kidding! The legs are superglued to stand straight on the hip joints and so is one of the knee joints. I have no idea why or what kind of person does this because there is also superglue to keep her holsters on her thighs and even a staple. These accessories look like real leather and look expensive, so I have no idea why someone would buy an expensive doll and just superglue stuff to her. I was able to get the staple out, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as how to safely remove the superglue from the legs without damaging them further. I would like to at least take these holsters off without ripping them off. Even though she's super damaged, she's growing on me and I want to give her a chance! I've owned resin BJD in the past, but this is my first time ever handling a vinyl doll, so I'm not sure which route to take. I just moved to Japan for school a while back, so I might not have access to American/Western products, but I'm still open to suggestions if I can find those things! I was also wondering if acetone would be too harsh?
Thank you!

You can try putting the doll in your freezer, because that will make everything more brittle including the super glue. Then it's brute force. Getting super glue out of mesh is close to impossible, so the clothes will get damaged.

Before that, you could check whether it's really super glue, and not some other glue that dries rock hard (some dissolve in water).

5 hours ago, Joopis said:

I have no idea why or what kind of person does this because there is also superglue to keep her holsters on her thighs and even a staple.

Someone who just wants a static display piece and might have had spare bodies for this kind of thing. Also older DD bodies dont have spare part support these days so if the body developed a crack in the hips like the older DD3's especially suffered from, the quick and easy fix for a display body would be to glue the hips solid.

As to why the straps are glued, they probably just never stayed in place, and again glue was the solution since the body was already made static.

Getting superglue off will be challenging, trying to freeze it might help, but might also make everything else brittle as well. Alcohol works quite well for hot glue, but I dont know if that would help with superglue, trying to wick it into the glued area and trying to wiggle the joints loose.

Hot water might be also a solution. one youtube video was using salt and water, but as wild as that sounds, there is little to lose from trying.

Since the doll was free there is room for experimantation, but you might be looking at frame replacement bits, im not sure if Asachanchi (あさちゃんち) has full hip replacements (and/or do they only do MDD sized stuff), but that might be a source to research, but just keep the budget in mind, that things dont end up costing more than a current new body from volks.

As a route to the problem, id suggest after getting the stockings off, by dismantling the shins, gently heat and pull off the outer vinyl thigh piece off the frame to better see how much glue was used.

Edited Thursday at 07:05 PM by finnleo

I would use one of these products shown here on Amazon:

Amazon.com : super glue dissolver

I have personally used the first and fourth ones listed on that page.  Both were used on a DD frame to get old super glue off of broken joints and foot vinyl.  I just followed the instructions and had no issues cleaning things up.  Since this super glue you have has probably been on there a while, it may come off a bit easier if you apply some heat with a heat gun on a lower setting or a hair dryer to kind of loosen it up before using one of the dissolvers I showed above.  With some time and some patience you should be able to get things fixed up!  Just take your time and go slow, I'm not sure how the fabric will react with the solvent... you may get some staining on the vinyl due to that.  If so you can just use Oxy10 to remove the stains.  

Good luck!

 

Billy

7 hours ago, baldylox said:

I would use one of these products shown here on Amazon:

Amazon.com : super glue dissolver

I have personally used the first and fourth ones listed on that page.  Both were used on a DD frame to get old super glue off of broken joints and foot vinyl.  I just followed the instructions and had no issues cleaning things up.  Since this super glue you have has probably been on there a while, it may come off a bit easier if you apply some heat with a heat gun on a lower setting or a hair dryer to kind of loosen it up before using one of the dissolvers I showed above.  With some time and some patience you should be able to get things fixed up!  Just take your time and go slow, I'm not sure how the fabric will react with the solvent... you may get some staining on the vinyl due to that.  If so you can just use Oxy10 to remove the stains.  

Good luck!

 

Billy

Bolding mine. Very important! Also, do not use directly on the debonder. The chemicals used in debonders may ignite very easily (e.g. due to a spark) if they are heated too much.

 

The BSI "UN-CURE" CA Debonder shown there also works wonders on removing Factory Paintwork.

i've used it to Great Effect on some of my older 1/6 Girls... cleanly whisking away sloppy Factory Lip Detail and the like... 

Edited Friday at 03:25 PM by Tasuke