Loose leg

Hello, I need help with something. I just bought a DDS Ram and her leg is really loose, is this normal? I tried searching for information on internet, but I didn’t find anything useful. I need some help. Can you give me some advice? Thank you.

 

update. I got the leg attached again and it’s a little stiff, but better then the loose leg. Thank you all for the help! 😊🌸

Edited November 24, 2019 by Ohana
Update

Ram is on the new f3 body, which has screws to adjust the tightness of nearly everything. While one might expect a doll to arrive from the factory with the joints at an appropriate tightness, various posts here show that isn't the case.

Volks has a page on how to disassemble the body and adjust the tightness of the various joints:

https://www.dollfiedream.tokyo/dd_en/support/howto_ddf3_dd/

That is assuming that's what you mean. If you instead mean a leg is falling off at the hip, on f3 most of the pins have a friction ring on them that snaps into a specific part of the matching socket, and if it isn't pushed in far enough it won't engage and will tend to fall off.

I don't personally own an f3 so I don't have experience with it, but from some other discussions here, putting the legs back on the body can be difficult because the vinyl skin gets in the way; I know that is true for the older style bodies like I have. You can temporarily soften the vinyl a bit by heating with a hair dryer which may help.

Which part of the leg is loose?

If you do tighten the screws, tighten then by a quarter turn and then test. A little bit goes a long way with those screws, and you don't want to over-tighten them.

Edited October 27, 2019 by BeyondTime

5 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Which part of the leg is loose?

If you do tighten the screws, tighten then by a quarter turn and then test. A little bit goes a long way with those screws, and you don't want to over-tighten them.

Okay thank you I’ll try.

i totally forgot to tell what part, it’s the upper leg / torso.

Edited October 27, 2019 by Ohana

7 hours ago, cfx said:

Ram is on the new f3 body, which has screws to adjust the tightness of nearly everything. While one might expect a doll to arrive from the factory with the joints at an appropriate tightness, various posts here show that isn't the case.

Volks has a page on how to disassemble the body and adjust the tightness of the various joints:

https://www.dollfiedream.tokyo/dd_en/support/howto_ddf3_dd/

That is assuming that's what you mean. If you instead mean a leg is falling off at the hip, on f3 most of the pins have a friction ring on them that snaps into a specific part of the matching socket, and if it isn't pushed in far enough it won't engage and will tend to fall off.

I don't personally own an f3 so I don't have experience with it, but from some other discussions here, putting the legs back on the body can be difficult because the vinyl skin gets in the way; I know that is true for the older style bodies like I have. You can temporarily soften the vinyl a bit by heating with a hair dryer which may help.

Okay thank you, it’s a great help.

6 hours ago, Ohana said:

Okay thank you I’ll try.

i totally forgot to tell what part, it’s the upper leg / torso.

Ok, as cfx indicated you may have a issue with the thigh not being fully seated on the torso peg. Unfortunately that's the hardest part to get in place on the F3. Before removing the leg and trying to properly reinsert it I would recommend just gently pressing inward on both hips. You may need to rotate the loose leg a bit as you try pressing it back in. There is a slot it has to fit into before it goes all the way in.

If doing that won't make it go in any farther you will probably need to remove the leg and reposition it, but it can take a lot of fiddling to get it back on. You may have to remove the upper torso to make it easier to position the pelvis part of the frame while you work.

If you still have a hard time you can pull the lower torso frame out, and then put everything back together outside of the torso, so you can see how it all fits together and make sure it all fits properly. If it does you then you still have to reassemble it all inside the torso. It can be done, but the last person with this issue took several days before they managed to get it together.

I'm pretty mechanically adept, and it still took me about 30 minutes to get Iori's leg on properly after taking it off.

I thought about it a bit more, and the other possibility is the hip adjustment screw at 12 on the F3 guide cfx posted.

If that screw needs tightening there isn't really going to be an easy way to get to it. You will need to take the leg off the torso, and separate the calf and the thigh from each other. Then you remove the frame from the thigh. My experience has been that reattaching the calf to the thigh is the second hardest part to get back together. It's hard to get it trough the hole in the vinyl and keep it lined up with the frame part in the thigh.

Having done these things I know they can be done, so if I sound a bit reticent it's because I've seen folks really struggle with reassembly. I really hate to see someone with their brand new expensive doll in pieces, and feeling like they can't get it back together.

It can be done, but it takes some persistent effort, and care in handling the parts. You may not have any other options if the leg is really loose.

It takes a bit of strength and dexterity, so if you have any sort of issue that makes working with your hands a problem I wouldn't attempt it. In that circumstance you might be best off taking her to a doll meet and asking for help. On the forum we can post photos and try to explain things, but we can't handle the parts for you.

On 10/26/2019 at 8:14 PM, Ohana said:

Hello, I need help with something. I just bought a DDS Ram and her leg is really loose, is this normal? I tried searching for information on internet, but I didn’t find anything useful. I need some help. Can you give me some advice? Thank you. 🎀✨

Hi Ohana, 

I personally do not recommend you to play around with the frame. Because you could damage it, if your not sure what part might need adjusting.

I would recommend you contact Volks or Volks Shops, Because they are more experienced. Send them a photo of which part of the leg is loose.