I've been restringing for a couple of days. My Volks MSD Tsubaki, Davy, was as floppy as a marionette, and I couldn't get Ellen (Volks Yo-SD Papi) to hold her head up. I've got a kit doll coming in tomorrow, which I'll need to paint and string, so I thought these two would be great practice.
Look how nicely Ellen's head holds up now! I was pleased with my work on Davy, too; I need to get a better backdrop to get a good shot of the two of them standing, but you can see here that his head is nicely balanced.
I'm glad I got the practice in; not only do these two pose much better, but I figured out how *not* to restring a doll. I did a couple of things ass-backwards. The final jobbie wasn't affected, but I could have saved myself some aggravation and pinched fingers if I'd done it right. The key: take the whole doll apart, start with the legs, work up. Once the legs and torso pieces are held in place with the S-hook for the head, then do the arms. The right tools would have greatly helped, too, and I'm glad I ordered specific stringing hooks for the kit doll. Because *goddammit* did I swear like a Soprano. Vhooff.
Before I start the kit tomorrow, and when I have the right tools in hand, I'm going to restring Sam's Resin Soul Bao (named Isaac). Isaac alternates between snapping into a fetal position or flopping like Pinocchio, as his stringing cords are all tangled and probably wearing out. Once when I picked him up, he flopped backwards, then curled up forwards. The boy needs some work.
I'm glad I got the practice in; not only do these two pose much better, but I figured out how *not* to restring a doll. I did a couple of things ass-backwards. The final jobbie wasn't affected, but I could have saved myself some aggravation and pinched fingers if I'd done it right. The key: take the whole doll apart, start with the legs, work up. Once the legs and torso pieces are held in place with the S-hook for the head, then do the arms. The right tools would have greatly helped, too, and I'm glad I ordered specific stringing hooks for the kit doll. Because *goddammit* did I swear like a Soprano. Vhooff.
Before I start the kit tomorrow, and when I have the right tools in hand, I'm going to restring Sam's Resin Soul Bao (named Isaac). Isaac alternates between snapping into a fetal position or flopping like Pinocchio, as his stringing cords are all tangled and probably wearing out. Once when I picked him up, he flopped backwards, then curled up forwards. The boy needs some work.
Awesome, Charlie!
ReplyDeleteRestringing can be tricky at first, but indeed, it's worth the effort in the end. I always do the torso first, and then do the legs completely and separately. Then I string the legs onto the torso and pull the loop up through the neck.
As far as your Isaac goes--if you haven't restrung him before, Bobobie and Resin Soul use a different stringing method (at least on their mini dolls). Fei and Lan were both strung with the elastic tied together in the middle, and using a very slim piece of elastic. They wouldn't stand out of the box.
My technique: Switch to a slightly larger diameter of elastic (but not too large, or it a) won't fit through the canals in the limbs and b) it might be too strong for the resin and cause dings or dents). I used Souldoll's MSD elastic for one, and I think 3mm elastic from Mint on Card for the other. Then, I strung the torso completely separately from the body and did not tie them together.
With a little sueding, some restringing, and yes, a little swearing, both girls were eventually able to stand on their own. ;)
Alison, you're a sanity saver. I just looked at Isaac's insides and thought "No wonder he can't figure out what direction to flop in." I did get him some good elastic the right width, and I'm going to take your advice on *not* tying them together! I also got a very low heat glue gun (I hurt myself on hot things, and pointy things, and sharp things, and round things, and....best to reduce the risk, at least) for the sueding. Sam's going to be thrilled, I think, at Isaac's improved mobility.Thank you so much!
ReplyDelete