TPE Crotch Repair

[CinnamonLover]

Greetings again!

It has been a long time since I did finger-wire repair/replace (and now I simply order my dolls without finger wires) and I have learned a lot. Special thanks to Mishka1965 who in one brief video changed my entire TPE experience. With his wonderful tutorial I now use a heat gun with amazing results.

However, I heard something about he might show how to do crotch repairs, but also that he didn't tackle them.

Well, that's the holy grail for me now. The only piece missing. In fact if I could figure out crotch repairs, with the other heat gun stuff, I could see a TPE doll lasting for decades. Yes, with regular "repairs", but no need to replace every few years.

So, knowing what I have learned after even one session and Mishka's tutorial, tension on the TPE is KEY to heat gun repairs. TPE cannot be "stretched" while heated, or it will part further. So crotch repairs are probably impossible with direct application of a heat gun? Or does someone know how to do it anyway?

I was thinking that if you got the legs positioned so that the TPE is basically connected (with her legs nearly closed, Cinnamon's orifices look almost normal again) you could use a soldering iron? Get it down in there and work it backward and out? I figure it is just going to tear again over time, but it might be that you've set the clock back a couple months?

[KenDoll16]

Hey cinnamon_lover, I'm not sure if you've done any research around the forum, but I'd take a look at these threads. They have good and relevant information.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=103695&start=15
viewtopic.php?f=229&t=89398&hilit=Vaginal

Good luck, cinnamon_lover. Let us know how any repairs go.

[CinnamonLover]

Thanks KenDoll - those links do look helpful. I was able to do a soldering iron fix and it looked cosmetically wonderful, but it did not "keep". It was only my first attempt though, and Harem's post in that one link gave me another idea.

[RGC_0767]

Patience and time almost any area can be repaired. A combination of heat gun and solder iron can be very effective. I did LuAnnes crotch area no problem. with hot air and a ball sculpting tool
It had also dried up some, and was able to reflow, and repair any areas. Closed up legs as tight as possible. and had no tension issues. Mineral oil is also needed.

She sits on her ass a lot, this is the result of that

Compression-Marks.jpg

Able to smooth it out hot air (SMD rework, 100c, lowest fan speed) and steel sculpting ball.

Compression-Marks-2.jpg

Also, I was curious to see how the non standing foot was made, so I made a huge cut on the sole, and opened it up.. lol
In sealing it back up, here is the mess I'd made with that tension on the TPE

damn-ashamed-of-me.jpg

I was able to fix it no problem. Spare TPE, solder iron and hot air. Patience gentlemen, patience!!
Here is a brief crazy video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XIwv2sI-I

Been holding up for a few months now. No issues.

[CinnamonLover]

Thank you RGC. I think I saw one of your posts on this here, and dang, this is the best forum. I don't have the ball sculpt, but may invest in one. Do you heat it up with the heat gun? How hot? How about other metals? I have the soldering iron and did actually take one stab at healing the crotch. It looked amazing when it was done, but the repair did not last very long.

[maddmatter70]

Patience and time almost any area can be repaired. A combination of heat gun and solder iron can be very effective. I did LuAnnes crotch area no problem. with hot air and a ball sculpting tool
It had also dried up some, and was able to reflow, and repair any areas. Closed up legs as tight as possible. and had no tension issues. Mineral oil is also needed.

She sits on her ass a lot, this is the result of that

Compression-Marks.jpg

Able to smooth it out hot air (SMD rework, 100c, lowest fan speed) and steel sculpting ball.

Compression-Marks-2.jpg

Also, I was curious to see how the non standing foot was made, so I made a huge cut on the sole, and opened it up.. lol
In sealing it back up, here is the mess I'd made with that tension on the TPE

damn-ashamed-of-me.jpg

I was able to fix it no problem. Spare TPE, solder iron and hot air. Patience gentlemen, patience!!
Here is a brief crazy video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XIwv2sI-I

Been holding up for a few months now. No issues.

i use hot air heat gun too, where do you get the "spare tpe"?

[RGC_0767]

Thank you RGC. I think I saw one of your posts on this here, and dang, this is the best forum. I don't have the ball sculpt, but may invest in one. Do you heat it up with the heat gun? How hot? How about other metals? I have the soldering iron and did actually take one stab at healing the crotch. It looked amazing when it was done, but the repair did not last very long.

Smoothed out the groin area with hot air set at 100C to begin. It was safe for me to heat it to 150c. Finding the sweet spot for heat will take a bit of experimenting.
Smoothing it out takes a very gentle brushing of the ball. If pressed to hard it will put a dent. Mineral oil is necessary to prevent any tool from sticking, or etching surface
I bought sculpting ball set on Ebay, they were only about 5 bucks and do work good. Various sizes.
I use a 30 watt iron with homemade tips. Melt spare TPE into any voids with it, smooth out with sculpting balls or a sculpting hook. (Clay model tools, etc)
The balls on these little tools do work well for filling holes. Just copper wire and hole thru alloy balls. Bigger one is stainless steel.
30 watt iron is lots for most surface repairs. Deeper we go, more heat we need. Those long flat ones are still being tested for some big areas like hips, etc.

solder-tools.jpg

[RGC_0767]

Patience and time almost any area can be repaired. A combination of heat gun and solder iron can be very effective. I did LuAnnes crotch area no problem. with hot air and a ball sculpting tool
It had also dried up some, and was able to reflow, and repair any areas. Closed up legs as tight as possible. and had no tension issues. Mineral oil is also needed.

She sits on her ass a lot, this is the result of that

Compression-Marks.jpg

Able to smooth it out hot air (SMD rework, 100c, lowest fan speed) and steel sculpting ball.

Compression-Marks-2.jpg

Also, I was curious to see how the non standing foot was made, so I made a huge cut on the sole, and opened it up.. lol
In sealing it back up, here is the mess I'd made with that tension on the TPE

damn-ashamed-of-me.jpg

I was able to fix it no problem. Spare TPE, solder iron and hot air. Patience gentlemen, patience!!
Here is a brief crazy video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XIwv2sI-I

Been holding up for a few months now. No issues.

i use hot air heat gun too, where do you get the "spare tpe"?

I cut very sparingly from her neck top. A little can go a long way. For the massive foot damage I put a foundation of TPE from a hand TPE toy, and finished it off with her neck TPE.
That white stuff that's oozing out the foot was from another TPE toy. I had removed that and put TPE closer in color in there.
Molten TPE or even a paste TPE will stick amazing to cheesecloth as well. In case it's ever needed

[maddmatter70]

Good tip!! The neck area has some excess!! A real craftsman could add a few moles to their doll as well. Maybe even an intentional blemish or two, like a surgical scar

[RGC_0767]

Good tip!! The neck area has some excess!! A real craftsman could add a few moles to their doll as well. Maybe even an intentional blemish or two, like a surgical scar

Toaster oven (225 F), some finely cut up TPE, some powdered makeup the color of a mole.... melt it all together... you have colored TPE could melt that carefully as a mole somewhere, But be VERY careful with this idea.
do the melting/ mixing in a well vented area, it does smoke quite a bit... but does cool quite rapidly once removed from oven
I though of this to add to labia for permanent color. Melt in on there, it wont peel off. Nipples? maybe , but labia is a better choice.

And do be quite frugal when cutting from neck. I cut around the female thread insert, if too much cut, you can cause a bobble head. For small areas to repair, not much is needed. I can fill the neck area back up where I'd cut from in the future.

[CinnamonLover]

I thought I should report back.

I have made two attempts at Cinnamon's crotch repair. In each case the repair went remarkably smoothly, but the repair did not last. I used a soldering iron with a small blade style attachment heated to 200c as per another thread with Anung's suggestion. There was white smoke but nothing dark. The end result looked impressive, with little scarring and most of the original shape/design returned. After about 10 hours, I tested the area with a finger and it felt fairly strong. The repair appears to have parted rather quickly when put under "other" stresses.

I am contemplating two other repairs. One would be to use TPE glue, though this would take a long time and a lot of effort, particularly as it is difficult to work inside the opening and yet have the area as closed as possible to facilitate mending (which is ideal for the heat method, incidentally). The other would be to add TPE from the test piece I have in order to make a more stretched pose less "stressful".

I figure method one would, like my other repairs, create a visually excellent result but without the ability to withstand the more crucial activities; while method two would produce an awkward looking result but capable of handling more "active" contact.

Any thoughts and/or tips particularly when it comes to adding TPE to a shaped area?

[Anung Un Rama]

Hi CL, Did you also pre heat the surrounding area with an hot gun and light mineral oil coating before the hot iron, and then did you feather the area and surround with the heat gun to heat to just sub molten (say 100 degrees C tpe surface temp) for a few minutes after, to allow the heat transfer to normalize the the crystalline matrix SBS bond structure of the surrounding material.

This will help achieve more consistent crystalline matrix construct and allow for a more consistent and stronger matrix and bond structure, otherwise the area where the iron heat will have a different bond matrix structure to the surrounds, and thus remain the weal kink.

Just a thought,

Anung

[CinnamonLover]

Hi CL, Did you also pre heat the surrounding area with an hot gun and light mineral oil coating before the hot iron, and then did you feather the area and surround with the heat gun to heat to just sub molten (say 100 degrees C tpe surface temp) for a few minutes after, to allow the heat transfer to normalize the the crystalline matrix SBS bond structure of the surrounding material.

This will help achieve more consistent crystalline matrix construct and allow for a more consistent and stronger matrix and bond structure, otherwise the area where the iron heat will have a different bond matrix structure to the surrounds, and thus remain the weal kink.

Just a thought,

Anung

I may have to ask you how that is done, particularly in a tight area where you are having the legs closed as much as possible for tension purposes. But no, I did not know to do any of that, so thank you for mentioning it! By feathering, you mean a slight shift or stair-step motion as you remove the iron? How would you do this in a case where you are trying to get the two sides to hold together?

Your apprentice,

[CinnamonLover]

Time for another update.

I have not attempted another heat repair yet, though I was just talking with some members in chat about the fact that my soldering iron is probably too hot. A cooler tool and Anung's pre-heat methods are definitely on the "re-try" list.

Fellow member GrimReefer24601 has developed a complete line of useful items for TPE gals. As he is an approved vendor I hope this unsolicited plug for his Body Color 2 is not out of place, but I am very impressed. You should see what is going on in his section of TDF, particularly if you have a TPE girl and want colors that do not transfer to your body and stay on the girl for long stretches of time (nipples, lips, etc.) That said, he also has a solvent/sealant concept that I have tried. It does not require any skill with heat, and comes in a set of useful bottles that made application easy. I did not know the best method for the size repair I was attempting, so my results were not as good on first attempt. The repair was much better than using an iron, though - as about 40% of the fix "held" after [ahem] "direct contact stress test". Which, to me, is the whole point.

I also scored one of Indigo20's bottles of cold weld. Again, the repair I'm attempting is very large, and quite possibly impossible. But this weld seems so far to have done the best work. After application and curing according to instructions, about 70% of the fix "held" after a "direct contact stress test" - if that is a delicate enough way of phrasing it.

The matrix stands thus:

2 attempts with heat (soldering iron) with no lasting repair.
1 attempt with Grim's BC2 with 40% lasting repair after one "session".
1 attempt with Indigo's cold weld with 70% lasting repair after one "session".

I am going to continue attempting with all three methods, doing my best to follow instructions despite being a complete layman newbie (I suspect most people attempting crotch repair have never done it before and are not experts with any of these methods).

I suspect the final answer may be that there is no "holy grail" for crotch repair. Which makes sense in that, duh, the wound happened in the first place and it's not like I've stopped doing what caused the damage... However, I am happy if I can extend the life of Cinnamon's body so that I do not have to replace it as often. When I first started with dolls I came in expecting to have to buy a "replacement body" every few years.

I further suspect that one or all of these methods, if correctly applied, can hopefully give "month at a time" or better results. But unless I stop having sex with Cinnamon (which isn't going to happen) I think the stresses that cause the injury are still going to be there.

At least that will allow me to continue testing each method, to find what works best. It's not like it SUCKS to test

[KenDoll16]

Good luck to you and Cinnamon! I just met Grimreefer this Friday! He was able to pick up Ty from me and give her another purpose for her future. He's a really cool guy! Anyway, please keep us updated!