1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
    Dismiss Notice

Volks pureskin SD, SD13 leg break

Jan 12, 2006

    1. I am not sure where this should go so I'm going to post it here for now and I'm sorry if this is the wrong place.
      This morning, I picked up my doll (SD10 Megu) and realized that the side of her knee joint had snapped completely off! I don't have any pictures so I can only try to describe what it looks like.
      On the outer side of the joint (new joints), upper leg piece, the joint section has snapped completely off (one piece, about the size of a nickel). I don't know what to do. She won't stand with that piece missing and her leg refuses to stay in the socket now. I dont know if any sort of glue would be strong enough considering the stress on that particular spot when standing.
      Should I try a glue? if so, what kind? Or should I just try to find a replacement leg? I'd appreciate any help.
       
    2. Hi!
      If you choose to glue it, you'll want to use 2-part epoxy... for the strongest hold. Be careful to mix it exactly right or it will never harden all the way...!

      But do call or email VolksUSA and see what they say!
      Good luck!!
      Raven
       
    3. Superglue should be enough to hold it in place, I think. I'd think it would be strong enough to hold up to a fair amount of stress, though it is possible you may have to reglue it at some point in time. In any case, regluing will allow her to be in one piece while you contact the company about possibly getting a replacement for it.
       
    4. I know the Los Angeles Store had extra body parts available for sale, not sure what is left, or what resin color you have, but they did have pairs of legs for sale. Maybe you can try contacting them through the US Website, they might be able to help if you want to buy a replacement.
       
    5. Unfortunately, that knee joint seems to be a weak spot in the SD-10 girls -- my own doll had her leg break in exactly the same spot as yours. :( I wasn't able to get a replacement part from Volks at the time, because they didn't offer that service for overseas customers. (I ended up buying her an SD-13 girl body instead.) But now that they have the Los Angeles store, you should contact them and see what they say!
       
    6. You can glue it yourself, with epoxy; you can send her leg to a customizer to fix so that you wouldn't even notice; or if you bought her directly from Volks, you can contact them, ship the damaged part back (would require you to un-string her completely) and receive a replacement leg in return.
       
    7. WHY does volks persist in using their current puresking leg mold!? ::aggravated::

      This is actually a common break on the pureskin 10 dolls. If a doll is going to break, that's where it's going to happen. I'd email volks about it before doing anything to fix it. This is rarely the fault of the owner and really is because of the mechanics of the knee joints.
       
    8. The pureskin version is better then the crazy legs of the last one. I personally prefer it, to each their own.

      The exact thing happened to me, with the first version of knee though. The knotched one, not the ones that lock. It's pretty common I guess.

      I tried to glue it, it wouldn't work. Maybe I was being stupid though. If you try to glue it, you could glue it and also reinforce the back of the joint.

      I'm sorry your girl is hurt. T___T It really sucks to have them like that.
       
    9. I bought a body that I knew had that same part of her leg cracked off. I needed an excuse to try my hand at apoxie sculpt, and I saved a bit of money buying her damaged. lol I love fixing stuff.

      Now I just need to get some apoxie sculpt and get her fixed up. lol If Volks doesn't do anything about it, assuming I've fixed my girl first (mine are such guinea pigs!), I'd be willing to fix her for you.
       
    10. gluing should be fine. Riddel had a break in her ummm for lack of a better term butt/thigh joint and glue fixed it right up. No problems. Just follow the instructions that people have metioned and I'm sure your girl will be right as pie in no time :)
       
    11. I have 3 SD10s and I never knew this was a problem. All of them are pure skin, and I know I'd be upset if part of the leg broke.

      I'd contact Volks first, and see what they say, first.

      I believe you can use a super glue to fix it. When I got a Myu kit that's how I glued the parts together....in the old days you had to glue some of the leg and arm parts together before you could string the doll.

      I'm also glad that you can buy the needed part at the LA shop. A good excuse to treck across the desert, and see the LA store for yourself.....^^ (A stop in Las Vegas...over night isn't a bad thing either.)
       
    12. Yeah, the old bodies were floppy and hard to pose with limited motion and had trouble sitting and had OOOGY sticky outie ball joints, but at least you didn't pay a few hundred dollars for a doll that BREAKS, and whose mold seems to consistantly break in the same place!

      I love volks, a lot. Don't get me wrong, I will probably only ever buy volks dolls, but I will never ever buy a pureskin 10 doll just because I know that even if I am incredibly careful and aware of the breakage problem it still could snap off. (I had this happen to two friends!) And since the piece is so small and thin, gluing or epoxying may or may not work. I'm hoping Volks is just unaware of the problem or maybe developing new legs that don't crack this way.

      I didn't mean to hijack, but this really does upset me. ^^;; I'm sorry for your girl and I hope you can get a replacement part or at least fix her. Maybe make her a pretty, long skirt while you're waiting to make her feel better and cover up her injury.
       
    13. I'd post a pic if I had a digital cam but I don't. The pureskin knee joint has an inverted U at the end of the upper piece where it connects to the lower leg section. One of the legs of the U broke off (the outer one) on one of her legs.
      She CAN stand, but not as sturdily as before. The piece that broke is about the size of a Nickel, so not tiny, but not huge. the break was clean (no jagged edges) and the broken edge is sorta beveled..not a 90 degree angle, so glue might work as there appears to be enough surface area to make it stick.
      I'm picking up some glue tomorrow hopefully, and if that works, I'll let everyone know. Otherwise, I'm calling Volks or the US store, or purchasing a body.
      Does anyone know if oldskin legs are compatible with the pureskin bodies?
       
    14. I doubt oldskin legs would be compatible with pureksin bodies as the older bodies are a bit larger. mel made a great post that explains the differences: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39768

      If you are going to glue the broken piece back on, make sure you let the glue set for 24 house before you put her back together. I'm not sure how much pressure is put on the area in question, but it might be worth drilling some tiny holes in the part and the spot it attaches to and using some thin wire as a reinforcement.
       
    15. ARRRRGGH!!!!!!

      This JUST happened to me!!! >.< I got my SD Megu 4 days ago, and I woke up this morning, picked her up, and felt a crack in her leg; it had broken in that exact spot, on her left leg!!!! I'm so mad!! How could this happen?! I've only had her for a few days!!

      I had read this thread before I got her so I knew about this problem, and I inspected the joint when I got her(before it broke) and noticed that there is alot of pressure on that side of the leg, expecially when she sits. But it's not like I was treating her roughly or anything! ;_;

      The piece hasn't broken off completely yet, but it is only held on by a small piece. It could break anytime now.

      Should I unstring the leg to relieve the tension? I took some pictures of it, I'll post them when I get back from school.

      I'm so dissappointed... why hasn't Volks fixed that?? They must know about it! I didn't buy her straight from Volks, so I can't send her back... My poor sweet honey, and she had JUST chosen a name last night too... is her name bad luck?! :O

      Sorry for the long post, but it's very dissappointing... T_T
       
    16. Out of curiosity, does this happen to SD13's as well, or do they have a different leg sculpt?
       
    17. i've heard of it happening to two 13's to date, though i can't remember whose... anyone else think we should write to volks as a group or something and make a (polite) complaint? this is happening to DOZENS of people, it's an epidemic; it's threatening to happen to MY doll too even though i'm careful and the crack hasn't gotten worse.

      i love volks too, i completely adore their dolls, and have discovered that i too really only prefer them for (IMHO) their superior quality and sculpts. but spending so much money only to have the thing break? not my idea of a good time.


       
    18. Gah! :shock: Not the SD body I sold you!? That body (doll) was ordered 10/22/05 and didn't even make it to the US until November. She was mint, and at this point is barely three months old! If a crack occurs please PM me, and I'll contact Volks on your behalf to see if anything can be done.

       
    19. Studying my Kun, who, knock on wood, does not have any kind of crack on her knee...
      The outer left knee "flap" is noticably thinner than the right, so it figures that that's where the breaks are.
      I also notice that the locking knees give the joint a tendency to bend out of the socket when you bend her knee. The "teeth" of the locking mechanism grips at the back of the knee joint, so it will bend at the back of the socket instead of swivelling in the middle like it would if the joint was just a round ball. And since the middle of the knee joint ball is wider than the flaps on the side it causes the flaps to be pushed outwards. I suspect this might be contributing to the breaking.
      I think it would help If you carefully move the teeth out of the grip before bending the knee and hold the joint in place so it actually swivels in the socket while bending it. This way the flaps on the side does not get pushed outwards.

      Does anyone know of a brand apoxie/epoxy that's similar in color to the pureskin resin? I'm considering trying to put a layer of epoxy on the inside of the left flap to fortify it, and then sanding down the joint slightly to try to aleviate the pressure on the flaps.

      BTW, Dirtywings has a FS post with a very clear shot of a knee crack.
      http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42695
      I hope she doesn't mind me linking it from this thread.
       
    20. Here are some pictures of the break:
      [​IMG]
      Laying down. The break is not as visible in this position, however.....


      [​IMG]
      When the knee is even a little bit bent, the piece sticks out drastically. I didn't bend her knee any farther than that, for fear of breaking the piece off completely!


      [​IMG]
      Another view of the break when the leg is straight.


      I am not going to glue it back just yet. First I will email Volks and see what can be done about it. Even though I didn't buy her directly from them, it's worth a shot to ask them.

      I advise anyone who this has happened to, to email Volks about it. Also, if your doll is currently broken, do not fix the part until you sort things out with Volks! Keep the doll exactly as it was when you found the break(so as not to contaminate the evidence :wink ). If you fix the break, they may not give you a replacement(because it wouldn't be broken anymore if you fix it!).

      It really stinks... I can't even pick her up because she is unstrung, and I can't play with her because she might break more! ;_; I really hope this is resolved soon. I am going to write an email to Volks right now...