New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
- Mishka1965
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
Technician wrote:Mishka, I have one of those little butane torches that has the adapter to make it a tiny heat gun of sorts. Such a thing could be revolutionary due to the precision once one gets the distance down but in your opinion do you think it would discolor the TPE being essentially an open flame?
I tried this, and the temp goes up too fast and melts the TPE. The heat gun has a smaller nozzle, and achieves this ok - hence why they train the factory people to use this method.
Mishka
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
I did the repair today, experimented on a tongue to replicate the procedure and then just did it. When I was first experimenting with this I said I was using waxed paper but it was actually the empty backing from a sheet of Avery labels and I learned today that real waxed paper isn't nearly as good as the Avery paper, lol. I didn't see a tremendous difference between the two but the waxed paper will grip the hot TPE for whatever reason and the Avery paper just peels right off.
This is the damage to be repaired on the left shoulder, Bubbles came to me like this, I knew there would be some "additional personality" to her because she's a knockoff from Amazon and was about $100 USD cheaper than the going rate even there for a 140cm.
More about Bubbles: https://www.dollforum.com/forum/viewtop ... 4&t=116186
This has been a concern of mine as I would prefer it not be allowed to expand into a bigger wound but I had my expectations of the repair dialed down pretty far so as not to be disappointed by the quality of the repair being my first attempt and pioneering a new method.
Stole a little material from inside the neck area.
Trimmed the repair material down and fit it into the wound. The wound and repair material have already been washed thoroughly and well oiled with mineral oil in this picture.
This picture is hot, one nice thing about the waxed paper is that once the oil gets on it you can see through it pretty well to see what's going on while heating.
If I do another repair (or mod) I may try the waxed parchment paper since it more closely resembles the Avery backing paper.
Below is about 1/2 way through the repair, I switched to the Avery paper after this since the waxed paper was being pissy about peeling off nicely and noted that the Avery paper performed well without any oil on the TPE.
I did a bit of texturing with a clean cloth to remove the gloss here, being a cheaper doll the color was slightly inconsistent between the shoulder and the neck so it's a little less than perfect.
After powder it looks fairly normal, I may fiddle with it again someday but for now I'm delighted to have the damage repaired before it can escalate.
The mini iron used for the repair was a Sunbeam GCSBTR-100-000, it's a super cool little iron that heats more rapidly than any iron or for that matter any heating element I've ever seen. The thermostat control is manageable to use and I used my IR thermometer to monitor the temp of the iron and Bubbles' shoulder throughout the process.
Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
Jael - (YL 148) viewtopic.php?f=212&t=73333
Miriame - (SM 136) viewtopic.php?f=269&t=102115
Beth - (SM 157G) viewtopic.php?f=269&t=149637
Brooke - (Starpery 148F) viewtopic.php?t=175783
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
That's one heck of an approach to a repair. Excellent job!Technician wrote:I'll pass on trying the butane torch and pick out the right heat gun for me before I try the original method.
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
Good job
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
This has been done yes with fine needles. Shouldn't require doing but if they are particularly over-stuff then maybe worth considering.Technician wrote:I thought I saw somewhere about injecting oil into joints to free them up but I can't find it. That's a thing, right?
Keep on topic though please...any unrelated questions start a new thread please.
Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
I admit that I did my best to read this thread, but just in case I missed it - Mishka, or anyone know a good place to get a good deal on sample TPE material? Most vendors I've looked offer it for $25, but don't always mention the size of the piece, and one vendor gives an approximate with the note that the sizes are random.
Especially in one of your videos Mishka, I noticed for your demonstrations, you had fairly big pieces of sample TPE, where did you get that? Or did you just luck out and get a really huge piece?
Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
Rumstalk wrote:This is really good information, I can't believe I missed this area before. Well done on your repairs everyone, and a special thanks to Mishka1965 for all this great information.
I admit that I did my best to read this thread, but just in case I missed it - Mishka, or anyone know a good place to get a good deal on sample TPE material? Most vendors I've looked offer it for $25, but don't always mention the size of the piece, and one vendor gives an approximate with the note that the sizes are random.
Especially in one of your videos Mishka, I noticed for your demonstrations, you had fairly big pieces of sample TPE, where did you get that? Or did you just luck out and get a really huge piece?
Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome.
The TPE parts I have are very large pieces and are many kilos. These are from recycled dolls that broke during photoshoots and could not be repaired.
Mishka
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
I have a regular soldering iron made to repair circuit boards and electronics but not the one with a adjustable thermostat so the tpe always started smoking as soon as I touch it.
I have to do hip surgery soon and just bought that heat station from amazon.
Hope it does miracle lol!
Thanks again and cheers!
Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
I'm sorry if it was mentioned before, but I honestly don't remember it being mentioned anywhere. The only thing I've seen so far is a "24 hour curing period" when using TPE Solvent, which of course isn't the method you've used in these tutorials.
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Re: New video - TPE repairs, a comprehensive tutorial
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