Misaligned foot?

I've gone through this entire subforum and didn't see a similar problem so it's time to ask away! As I was putting shoes on my doll today I noticed that her right foot is misaligned at the joint, like it's slipped down over the little ball in the foot. I don't know if she came to me like this (I just put shoes on her for the first time, was waiting for something that wouldn't stain) or if I managed to do something to the foot when posing or putting the shoes on, but obviously I'd like to fix it.

 

I think I should probably use warm water or a hair dryer and then carefully try to wiggle the foot back into proper position. However, I wanted to ask here first since ankle and wrist joints are so fragile. I'm terrified of damaging my DD so I'd rather ask for advice here first, just in case anyone has met with this issue before. I imagine it's as simple of a fix as I think it is, but I figured asking first couldn't hurt.

 

 

Here are some really sad phone photos for now. I'll add better photos tomorrow when the lighting is better. As you can see, the one foot sits at an angle compared to the other, and it looks like it's been pulled down some over the ankle ball. There's a gap between the foot and the lower leg piece that isn't visible on the other, normal foot. The gap is even noticeable from behind:

 

I tried wiggling the foot to see if I could get it back up onto the joint but it wouldn't budge. Any ideas? Does warm water or a hair dryer and gentle wiggling sound like the best method? Thanks for your assitance!

I'd try low heat from a blow dryer. Water would probably make the parts hard to grip. I wouldn't know much else about how to fix this or even that it was an issue so I can't help much past that.

When I had to replace the feet on my Yui Hirasawa it took a lot of effort to get the vinyl foot part over the plastic internal frame.

 

Given the difficulty of getting the frame into the foot it probably just didn't get inserted fully when they made it. In order to get the old foot off the internal frame with my Yui I had to cut the vinyl from the Achilles tendon to the bottom of the heel. It's impossible to remove without cutting. In order to get the new one on I had to shoehorn it in with a flat blade screwdriver, and it probably took 30 minutes of heating it and squeezing it over the ball joint till it was all the way on.

 

There is no way you could have dislodged it by accident or by putting a shoe on.

 

What you can do is heat the vinyl well and work the vinyl part with your fingers, so that it is farther over the ball. It will take a lot of work to move it a small amount, but remember it's fragile.

 

I don't know how the vinyl parts are manufactured, but if the open part of the foot vinyl is trimmed by hand when its made it's possible the two feet just fit differently. If you can't get it to move at all I would expect that is the case.

When I had to replace the feet on my Yui Hirasawa it took a lot of effort to get the vinyl foot part over the plastic internal frame.

 

Given the difficulty of getting the frame into the foot it probably just didn't get inserted fully when they made it. In order to get the old foot off the internal frame with my Yui I had to cut the vinyl from the Achilles tendon to the bottom of the heel. It's impossible to remove without cutting. In order to get the new one on I had to shoehorn it in with a flat blade screwdriver, and it probably took 30 minutes of heating it and squeezing it over the ball joint till it was all the way on.

 

There is no way you could have dislodged it by accident or by putting a shoe on.

 

What you can do is heat the vinyl well and work the vinyl part with your fingers, so that it is farther over the ball. It will take a lot of work to move it a small amount, but remember it's fragile.

 

I don't know how the vinyl parts are manufactured, but if the open part of the foot vinyl is trimmed by hand when its made it's possible the two feet just fit differently. If you can't get it to move at all I would expect that is the case.

That's such a big help, thanks! It's reassuring to hear that I didn't manage to do it while putting shoes on. When you did the feet on Yui, what did you use as your heat source?

 

That's such a big help, thanks! It's reassuring to hear that I didn't manage to do it while putting shoes on. When you did the feet on Yui, what did you use as your heat source?

 

A hair drier. It was set on high, but I'd suggest starting with a low setting and then increase it if needed to be safe.

One other thing I should have mentioned. It would be hard to remove the vinyl part of the foot from it's frame, but you can easily separate the ankle frame part from the shin when you remove shoes, socks, and tight pants. Make sure it's pushed all the way into the shin bone. That might fix your problem.

 

In point of fact pulling the foot off can make it easier to get tight pants on, but Volks does seem to use a weak glue-like substance on the frame parts to help secure them. After the first time you remove them they will come off more easily.

 

There are photo's of the dd frame in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44

 

That should help to visualize the feet parts, and how it all fits together.

The DDIII foot doesn't actually have the full internal foot frame exactly like the DDII body did. My Saber Alter arrived to me with the ankle joint crooked like that, and I emailed Volks about it. They said in this version the ankle joint can turn, so just turn it back using pliers for grip. After I turned the ball joint to where it should be it fit together better.

The DDIII foot doesn't actually have the full internal foot frame exactly like the DDII body did. My Saber Alter arrived to me with the ankle joint crooked like that, and I emailed Volks about it. They said in this version the ankle joint can turn, so just turn it back using pliers for grip. After I turned the ball joint to where it should be it fit together better.

That sounds exactly like what my problem is. What do you mean by turn? Like it rotated within the foot, or the foot just kind of moved around on the ankle ball?

The foot actually looks kind of bulbous at the ankle compared to the other so I do think that the joint just isn't fully inserted into the foot. Gonna give it a look later!

 

@Wolf: I already thought of that and tried pushing the foot part back up. Thanks for the link!

The DDIII foot doesn't actually have the full internal foot frame exactly like the DDII body did. My Saber Alter arrived to me with the ankle joint crooked like that, and I emailed Volks about it. They said in this version the ankle joint can turn, so just turn it back using pliers for grip. After I turned the ball joint to where it should be it fit together better.

That sounds exactly like what my problem is. What do you mean by turn? Like it rotated within the foot, or the foot just kind of moved around on the ankle ball?

The foot actually looks kind of bulbous at the ankle compared to the other so I do think that the joint just isn't fully inserted into the foot. Gonna give it a look later!

 

@Wolf: I already thought of that and tried pushing the foot part back up. Thanks for the link!

The ball had rotated within the foot. It does sound like you may also need to heat it and push the ball further into the foot though.

Back with a far better photo. I pulled the feet out entirely and the joint is at a slight angle in the foot. It is also either not pushed into the foot entirely, or one foot just has less plastic than the other. They seem roughly the same size?

 

 

I just put stockings on her and am horribly lazy, but I'll try to get around to using the hairdryer on it eventually.

Ok that photo shows the problem a lot better. The hairdryer should do the trick. I don't think a DDII foot could be misaligned in that way. The frame extends all the way to the toes.

 

I've never had that happen to the feet on any of my DDIII or DDS, and they've had tight pants pulled on over their feet a few times. I'm still going to guess that it was a manufacturing problem and not something you did.

 

If you do use pliers be careful not to over-stress the plastic parts. Replacement feet only come in pairs and aren't exactly cheap. Especially since you have to get them shipped from Japan right now. I'd also recommend putting cloth between the plier jaws and the plastic if you can manage it; otherwise the teeth will scar the plastic up. If you get it the vinyl warm enough I don't think you will need them, but just in case. You may need to reheat the vinyl a few times throughout the process.

Oh it's really easy to turn the ball back, I put tape on my pliers but you don't even need to bear down on them, just lightly grip that thinner area and rotate it. You would only need the heat to try to push the ball in further.

 

I just remembered I managed to turn it on my Melty once before too, when I was posing her at a garden and she had her feet hooked around a railing for support. I think it's actually meant to do that since you can have the ankle rotated on purpose when standing on an uneven surface.