Softer Skin

Post by **Bill** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:16 pm

I got the right wrist to move a little but the left hand shattered and now is useless. The fingers go in all directions and the hand is very distorted. Matt told me to leave it alone but I just had to give it a try. I'm glad I finished the photo shoot before she broke. What now?
I noticed that the metal plate in Angel's left foot was sticking out but I was able to pull the foot over it and it went back in. I guess I did too many standing poses.

Phyl_T_Mynd · Post by **Phyl_T_Mynd** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 9:06 pm

"Shattered"? "Useless"? [img]modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] How fragile are these things? Did you hit it with a sledge hammer or just look at it too hard?

There are times when I'm sooooo glad that I don't have the extra money [or space] for a RealDoll™. I'm sure that I would have bought one by now, and been overcome at once with buyer's remorse.

Prof_Sakai · Post by **Prof_Sakai** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 2:31 am

These messages are too long to read.
And I didn't read this thread and didn't notice the accident on Angel.
I am very sad to hear.
When I saw the picture "Doggy style", I was afraid of it.
Long time ago I tried my doll to stand. I fixed every joints, for example on her spine, on her pelvis, on her knees. And I know They're no good for her body. Her heavy body of silicon and skeleton have been always pulled down by the gravity of the earth.
Repairing without good information will damege her by yourself. Please look for the best way for her before you judge.

Post by **Bill** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 5:40 am

I'm not going to repair Angel. I'll sell her to someone with those abilities.
I know what not to do with the body seven doll now. I have two other dolls on order and I'll use this experience to better care for the new dolls. I'm not going mess with the hands if they don't rotate or do standing poses with the weight of the doll on her feet. I didn't realize that the metal plate would go through the bottom of the feet. No more standing.
She did last for many weeks and I had fun with her until she became damaged.

Berry · Post by **Berry** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 6:28 am

Bill, I’m sorry to hear that her hand is handicapped now. I liked your photo sessions very much with all the new poses she could/can take. Do you think you'll damage her in these poses? I hope the Thomas skeleton will do better...

Post by **Bill** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 9:36 am

Berry,
The standing poses damaged her foot and I broke her hand attempting to work the wrists free so they would rotate.
Thomas has not been heard from for some time by Matt or myself so I have given up on using the Thomas skeleton and hands. Matt has agreed to give me two dolls with Matt's skeleton for the price of the doll with the Thomas skeleton. I had paid in advance for the Thomas skeleton.
Harley,
Something has to be done to make the feet last for standing poses but I don't know what that would be.

Midas · Post by **Midas** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 12:42 pm

may be some kevlar in between the silicone and the feet. or try out some kind of layers of mesh embeded in the silicone once it's been poured.but thats some thing for production. as for fixing the heel and preventing it happing again well your guess is as good as mine.

Midas

angel · Post by **angel** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 3:07 pm

Midas has a good point, I think there could be some reinforcing done to improve the possibility of standing for sure. But, before reinforcing the heel/foot the overall weight has to be reduced to be able to stand in numerous positions without specific stress relieving angles or leaning posings.

You may not poke through the bottom of the foot with kevlar, but you'd likely move the problem area to the ankles, knees, femur, hip, etc. Adding support would increase the weight or increase the cost for advanced metals/skeleton desings.

Just my guess - I'm no structural engineer, but 100 lbs that could produce a concentrated force along a narrow vector is a nasty problem.

sniper · Post by **sniper** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 5:03 pm

sorry to hear about angels hands and feet bill. the problems i had with angelique are minor ones, so far no problems with her feet but i had several with the hands and wrists ,in my opinion the heavy wire in the fingers totally sucks. i pulled the wires out.as far as the wrist it was my fault i was rolling her over and her wrist had gotten bent the wrong way and the metal broke out leaving a half inch split.all repairs worked with the suppied sillicone.as far as the feet i can feel the metal bar and it does feel like it would bustout if alot of force was placed on it.on the silicone finger nails the color comes off real easy as you can tell from the newer pics of angie.i will be using hard press on nails in different colors for future shoots.
the doll is more durable than i thought it would be.
i just wish the neck seam was done alot nicer than it was..

Post by **Bill** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 6:23 pm

Sniper,
I got lucky with the neck seam on Angel this time. I can't even find it.
I talked with Matt today about Angel's hand. He said that the hand plate is plastic with finger holes for the wire and the wire is held in with epoxy. He said that the holes will fracture or the wire breaks when the hand is rolled over by the doll or the human playing with her.
Matt is going to replace the hand plate with a new metal plate to prevent the finger holes from fracturing and is going to send me some when they are available. Matt said that the wire is easy to replace if you don't mind cutting the palm of the hand and the repair would be difficult to see.
I repaired Angels foot last night and I'm giving the repair a full 24 hours to cure.
I'm not going to have wire in the fingers of my cuddle doll.

Harley Knight · Post by **Harley Knight** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 7:04 pm

Where do we learn more about this Thomas skeleton? I scanned for "Thomas skeleton" and learned that Thomas was developing one and a few people have ordered them. But, what exactly is the difference? It was mentioned that it was $1000 extra. Does it stand without problems? Is it more poseable? Is it more durable? Is there another place to look for more information, does Thomas have a web site?

Also, on the feet, would it be possible to have a much stronger silicon for the bottoms of the feet? Like real soles, it could be harder and more durable to allow for more standing.

Berry · Post by **Berry** » Sun Dec 22, 2002 1:03 am

Harley,

I ordered the Thomas Skeleton ($1000) as I understood from Matt & Bill:

Please note that the skeleton designed by Thomas is different that the standard one mentioned in the news section. It is specifically designed to be rigid for a much longer period of time, and will hold many more poses.

Thomas's skeleton has friction joints that keep the arms and legs where you place them. Matt's new skeleton only has lockable
knees and elbows with some friction, but the arms won't stay up.

Post by **Jerry** » Sun Dec 22, 2002 4:31 am

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

I repaired Angels foot last night and I'm giving the repair a full 24 hours to cure. I'm not going to have wire in the fingers of my cuddle doll.

Bill,

What happened to her foot? Was there a failure on the joint?

Jerry

Post by **Bill** » Sun Dec 22, 2002 6:44 am

Jerry,
It was when I was lowering her into a chair that I noticed the metal plate coming out of the bottom of the foot. The legs and ankles are so stiff and the silicone foot won't slide on the carpet, so all of her weight was on that one foot, while the front of the foot curled up, when I lowered her into the chair that something had to give and it did. If the ankle had been loose, the plate would have simply lifted up with the foot and not poked through, but it still takes all my strength to move the ankles. I could point her toes and stand her on them if they could take it. I hope the joints get loose soon before I destroy her skin. The wrists still won't fully rotate and may require surgery to fix them.
Matt said that if he had been at the factory he would have fixed this stuff before she shipped. His workers thought tight meant unmovable. The next doll will be better.

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Mon Dec 23, 2002 6:19 pm

Bill,

Condolences about Angel. It's such a shame, she's such a pretty Realdoll. Hope Matt resolved some of these problems in your future Realdolls.

Cassie