Attaching foam legs onto a silicone doll? Thoughts

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 9:48 pm

So some of you know I adopted a real fixer upper from another member of TDF. This doll is a Beautiful Doll "Claire". She has a nice little body for a 51" doll. The boobs could be a little smaller and more spread apart, but that's just me. The doll comes in a floppy version and a simple skeleton version. I do not recommend the simple skeleton version. The skeleton is simply unconnected thin wall PVC tubing and solid pieces that will most likely eventually poke through the silicone. This doll was severely damaged in shipment to the original owner due to the PVC break through's.

The calf and thigh sections of the legs use PVC tubing. The forearm uses a solid bar of plastic. Not sure about the bicep as there are no poke through's, but I assume it is solid plastic bar.

I will tackle the leg issue first.
I have kicked around the idea of trying to put the original legs back on. This would involve making a knee joint between the thigh and calf bones then trying to glue the silicone back together. Both legs have been completely ripped off at the knees.
The bottom of the calf bones end about 1" up from the sole of the heel area and one foot has already had a poke through at the ankle. There is no armature coming off the bone to control or support the foot. I would probably have to run some type of rod through the sole of the foot into the bone to give the foot a little support.

Even after all this repair, I would still have to keep her legs covered tightly to avoid possible new tearing plus this will help hide the damage. I like stocking and boots anyway. The clothing weight plus the weight of the actual silicone calf and foot will also want to pull down from gravity as I carry the doll. The thigh bone is not connected at all to any type of hip bone and can pull right out of the thigh. The silicone and repaired area must support itself. The skeleton is only there for form control, but adds no strength. So, this leads me to making some type of garter belt or waist belt like chaps that I could connect to her leg coverings. This way I could have exterior support for the calf and knee area tied to her waist and hips that seem to be well made.

So now I'm thinking if this is all going to be covered from mid thigh down, why even mess with trying to re-attach the silicone calf and dealing w/ all the extra weight? How about just making a new leg skeleton and covering it w/ foam?

Jimjam · Post by **Jimjam** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:15 am

Wow, she is a mess! I think you should maybe trim those leg stumps off so they're nice and level. You could maybe make some new lower legs out of some pipe lagging:

: $_57.JPG (353.11 KiB) Viewed 1988 times

It's a nice round, firm foam material that come in different diameters and inner thicknesses. Also, it's very light weight. I'm sure there will be a size to match the dolls legs.
You could make a knee joint out of eye bolts and nylon washers, like this:

: Joint 1.jpg (1.45 MiB) Viewed 1988 times

New skeleton sections could be make out of plastic pipe, ect.

Then you could hold the whole lot together with those leather leggings in your picture.

If all else fails, you could splash a little fake blood over her stumps and use her as a halloween prop....poor thing!

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:23 am

Thanks for the input.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:32 am

Wow, me like that photo!
Wish I could help more RK but I just don't have any experience working with silicone.
I think your assumptions so far are correct about it being hard to put her back together as original though.
Having a silicone torso with foam limbs may be the best option - sort of like a Cassi?

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:54 am

Thanks MF

Yes, I was thinking about using pool noodles or foam insulation for pipe for the legs and calves. It may be possible to drill and or puncture holes, etc in the end of the foam them work silicone into and onto the face of the foam making a mechanical attachment. I may then be able to glue the silicone legs stump onto the face of the foam to make it more secure. I have some rolls of thin packing foam that I could use on the legs and calves to give them some contour. Cutting strips and patches to build up where needed and taped down. This would be covered by 1 or 2 pair of black stockings before I even made the leather coverings. The PVC pipe at the ankles will glue into permanent boots so I don't have to mess w/ all that repair either.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 1:25 pm

Have done some further testing of the silicone used for this Claire doll. A sample piece will elongate about twice it's size, but any further it will easily break in half.
My sample piece of Smooth-on Ecoflex 10 which is even thinner than the Claire piece will elongate 4-5 X without breaking. I probably pulled it w/ 20 lbs of force and it never broke!

Jimjam · Post by **Jimjam** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 5:50 am

rubherkitty wrote:Have done some further testing of the silicone used for this Claire doll. A sample piece will elongate about twice it's size, but any further it will easily break in half.
My sample piece of Smooth-on Ecoflex 10 which is even thinner than the Claire piece will elongate 4-5 X without breaking. I probably pulled it w/ 20 lbs of force and it never broke!

That's probably why the legs tore off in the first place. Shoddy silicone. Ecoflex is good stuff alright, do you have her lower legs? Maybe you could make some plaster moulds and recast them in Ecoflex.

That's worth noting about Ecoflex, if you made your own doll and cast it in this stuff, it would surely be a robust doll.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:22 am

Thanks for the ideas.

I do have the lower legs still.
Sounds like a bigger job than I want to tackle though. I'm already in trouble w/ my business spending too much time on dolls. Looking for the fastest fix. I'll have to do the arms the same way too. Her whole crotch has ripped out too since she wasn't made to spread her legs. I'll probably cut all that out while her legs are spread and adapt some type of insert.

If I'm going to get into molding, I'll just make a complete doll to my liking and set up a cottage industry biz.

beardygoat · Post by **beardygoat** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 7:18 pm

coyote9 is a member here who makes fabric dolls,fantasy style. he used to make some legs for dolls with none. perhaps some custom legs for you that look like fetish rubber boots.?
check him out.
BG

Jimjam · Post by **Jimjam** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 4:11 pm

Another idea might be to make some plaster moulds of the original legs and cast them in two part pouring foam. That would give you the correct leg shape in a lighter, cheaper material.

Quicker and less fussy than working with silicone, but you would of course still have to make the moulds.