DDIII Cracks

Yikes. Looks like this Japanese blogger got a Lucy with cracks in the head!!!

 

http://hocha.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-03-26

 

I'm super worried. I hope that this isn't a common problem. Bodies can be replaced, but not the heads.

 

At first I was confused what you meant then I looked at the link. I know a few of my girls have these cracks in their neck-hole part, I haven't noticed any issue with them though.

 

If I get a chance I'll photograph later and start a topic about it.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that this happened to DDs. It looks like the blogger states that Volks will replace the head. Anyone else have heads with cracks like this?

oh, I didn't check that area, look like need to check it out if i ever get any new girl.

haiz, disassemble my Extra to try repair her shoulder joint only to found it get worse despite i handle with care after founding the crack, seem like I can't use the epoxy to fix it now.

 

Sorry for the poor photos but I circle the affect area for those blurry pic.

 

 

 

 

and now her right shoulder joint start to show some crackline

 

this is for those who want to try using copper ring or something to strength the joint without using PlasticFantastic method.

It seems Volks starts using cheap plastic and asks us to buy more repairing parts from them

It seems Volks starts using cheap plastic and asks us to buy more repairing parts from them

 

the thing is ......they haven't sell repair parts for this. maybe i should try sanding the peg that is joining to the joint, definitely too tight to push into the joint which lead to the cracks.

It seems Volks starts using cheap plastic and asks us to buy more repairing parts from them

 

the thing is ......they haven't sell repair parts for this. maybe i should try sanding the peg that is joining to the joint, definitely too tight to push into the joint which lead to the cracks.

 

Don't worry! I believe that they will sell repairing parts very soon.

It is too bad. Our DD is not like a car. A problem car will be called back by the company to get a free repair

Sorry to hear another has fallen victim to the cracks.

 

There is a DDS upper torso skeleton part.

https://www.volks.co.jp/page_ex.jsp?CONTROLID=SC0040&BUSINESSID=InitDisp&jancd=4518992386287

However it's not in stock. Also if someone has a DDS and DDIII body can you please check whether this part is the same size as the DDIII.

Anyway, it will still be prone to cracks i guess, unless they redesign it with extra reinforcement.

too bad for me it only happen after the 14 days grace period but even that, the most Volks do will be spending the replacement part only which will become cracked again unless we do something to fix it ourselves, so i really hope those who get their Sabers later will get a stronger body.

 

Now i worry about my Alter and the Haruka which i won the lottery from AE.

 

I saw the DDS skeleton part also, but is out of stock at the japan site, saw the same item in Volks USA site also.

Sorry to hear another has fallen victim to the cracks.

 

There is a DDS upper torso skeleton part.

https://www.volks.co.jp/page_ex.jsp?CONTROLID=SC0040&BUSINESSID=InitDisp&jancd=4518992386287

However it's not in stock. Also if someone has a DDS and DDIII body can you please check whether this part is the same size as the DDIII.

Anyway, it will still be prone to cracks i guess, unless they redesign it with extra reinforcement.

 

I can double check when I redress these bodies.

 

 

I enjoy that there's a repair method named after me. ^_^

Sorry to hear another has fallen victim to the cracks.

 

There is a DDS upper torso skeleton part.

https://www.volks.co.jp/page_ex.jsp?CONTROLID=SC0040&BUSINESSID=InitDisp&jancd=4518992386287

However it's not in stock. Also if someone has a DDS and DDIII body can you please check whether this part is the same size as the DDIII.

Anyway, it will still be prone to cracks i guess, unless they redesign it with extra reinforcement.

 

I can double check when I redress these bodies.

 

 

I enjoy that there's a repair method named after me. ^_^

 

heh that is a good method, just that i don't have a suitable drill to do the job if not i will have get the kit from you.

heh that is a good method, just that i don't have a suitable drill to do the job if not i will have get the kit from you.

The other option is mailing the torso to us and we perform the mod for you and send it back. We could do both girls (preventative maintenance/repair) and save you on shipping.

heh that is a good method, just that i don't have a suitable drill to do the job if not i will have get the kit from you.

The other option is mailing the torso to us and we perform the mod for you and send it back. We could do both girls (preventative maintenance/repair) and save you on shipping.

 

heh, didn't think of that option and was tempted by it. but as of now, it will be beneficial for myself to learn and get it fix by myself.

Sorry I haven't posted before this. I got distracted by a lot of shiny new DDs, lol.

 

@PlasticFantastic

 

Thank you for your offer, but I'm going to try to fix her myself first. I will see about trying to get pictures up, but it may take a while because I'm waiting on a new battery charger for my camera in the mail.

 

@baldylox

 

Thank you for the info! I'm really glad I asked before using the JB weld. It's just so useful for other stuff, I thought it might be a good idea. :/

 

I went to several auto-parts stores, and finally had to special order the Permatex Plastic Weld. It'll be here in a few days, and I bought some zip ties and heat-shrink plastic tubing, so I might muster the courage once I'm able to take pics and ask specific questions. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks Billy!

 

(BTW, what's up with the broken quotes? I can't get them to work either.)

hmm gotten reply from Volks JP on my problem,

 

We are very sorry that there has been such a problem with your order.

We have forwarded your inquiry and photos to the department of

after-sales service, and it has been under consideration.

As a result, the department of after-sales service decided that they

ship the replacement parts to your registered address.

 

They going to send 2 Upper Torso Internal Frame (for DD) to me, 1 WS & NS, hope they don't mix up and send me 2 NS instead.

 

We would like to apologize again most humbly for the trouble we have

caused to you as a result of this problem.

 

We will work our hardest to ensure that such problems like this do not

occur again, so we sincerely hope that you will continue to support

Volks in the future as well.

 

If anything is unclear, please feel free to contact us again.

 

i wonder should i reply them and ask is there any preventive measure, obviously same problems might happen again. I know there are some great ideas here mention by some of us here, but i just want to see their response.

Thank you for the info! I'm really glad I asked before using the JB weld. It's just so useful for other stuff, I thought it might be a good idea. :/

 

No problem. I've used JB Weld for many auto and home related fixes too but I know it eats/melts ABS and other forms of plastic very quickly.

 

I went to several auto-parts stores, and finally had to special order the Permatex Plastic Weld. It'll be here in a few days, and I bought some zip ties and heat-shrink plastic tubing, so I might muster the courage once I'm able to take pics and ask specific questions. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thanks Billy!

 

Ah cool, good to hear you'll be getting that one. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll do my best to answer them.

 

As far as the zip ties and heat shrink, I didn't use those for my fix on Mamimi. Both her shoulder tubes were cracked completely thru so I could pry them apart and apply the plastic epoxy down into the crack itself with a toothpick. After I got the epoxy in there, I used small pressure clamps to keep the tubes tight and I applied more epoxy to the surfaces of the cracks. The tube says it starts to set in 5 minutes and is completely cured in 4 hours. I gave it 5 hours to cure and did NOT touch or adjust the tubes n any way during that time. And ever since then, I have had NO issues with the repairs. That epoxy is damn tough and dried like rock. If you want to go the extra step and do zip ties and heat shrink, it can only help out more. I just wanted you to know that I haven't had the need for that step just yet.

 

 

Billy

As far as the zip ties and heat shrink, I didn't use those for my fix on Mamimi. Both her shoulder tubes were cracked completely thru so I could pry them apart and apply the plastic epoxy down into the crack itself with a toothpick. After I got the epoxy in there, I used small pressure clamps to keep the tubes tight and I applied more epoxy to the surfaces of the cracks. The tube says it starts to set in 5 minutes and is completely cured in 4 hours. I gave it 5 hours to cure and did NOT touch or adjust the tubes n any way during that time. And ever since then, I have had NO issues with the repairs. That epoxy is damn tough and dried like rock. If you want to go the extra step and do zip ties and heat shrink, it can only help out more. I just wanted you to know that I haven't had the need for that step just yet.

 

 

Billy

I think Billy's approach is pretty solid, but if the joints aren't fully cracked through like Mamimi you may not want to force it apart (which is why we went with an alternate method of repair by using the small wire ties) Though with either method sometimes the reinforced joint can cause another failure of one of the other joints (which is what happened to us and required us getting full screws with nuts to hold the skeleton together). Billy got around a secondary failure (I think) by lightly sanding the pegs down for the arms so there wasn't as much friction in the joints.

 

I whole-heartedly agree with the practice of using a fine grain sandpaper preemptively on the joints of new bodies to help keep friction down and avoid initial fracture. I feel like Volks has options as far as how to fix the issues with the bodies. I think it's a combination of the ABS not being strong enough (perhaps their plastics supplier changed?) and faulty design. I'm hoping that we will see cracking and breakage decrease but part of me worries since DDII never had these issues.

I think Billy's approach is pretty solid, but if the joints aren't fully cracked through like Mamimi you may not want to force it apart (which is why we went with an alternate method of repair by using the small wire ties) Though with either method sometimes the reinforced joint can cause another failure of one of the other joints (which is what happened to us and required us getting full screws with nuts to hold the skeleton together). Billy got around a secondary failure (I think) by lightly sanding the pegs down for the arms so there wasn't as much friction in the joints.

 

Yep, I totally agree with you about the cracks being all the way thru on Mamimi causing my method to work well. Doing the repairs you did are prolly the best way to keep the repairs from cracking again or for other parts to fail after the fact. And I should have mentioned me sanding the arm pegs down earlier as I do think that alleviated a lot of the problems with friction and pressure at the shoulder joints.

 

I whole-heartedly agree with the practice of using a fine grain sandpaper preemptively on the joints of new bodies to help keep friction down and avoid initial fracture. I feel like Volks has options as far as how to fix the issues with the bodies. I think it's a combination of the ABS not being strong enough (perhaps their plastics supplier changed?) and faulty design. I'm hoping that we will see cracking and breakage decrease but part of me worries since DDII never had these issues.

 

Yep, I really do think doing a light sanding of the joints/pegs will help with some of these issues. And I think you're right about the reasons we are seeing these problems. Cost cutting procedures and trying to cut corners has probably been the biggest reasons for this. But that's just my opinion.

 

 

 

Billy

 

I whole-heartedly agree with the practice of using a fine grain sandpaper preemptively on the joints of new bodies to help keep friction down and avoid initial fracture. I feel like Volks has options as far as how to fix the issues with the bodies. I think it's a combination of the ABS not being strong enough (perhaps their plastics supplier changed?) and faulty design. I'm hoping that we will see cracking and breakage decrease but part of me worries since DDII never had these issues.

 

Yep, I really do think doing a light sanding of the joints/pegs will help with some of these issues. And I think you're right about the reasons we are seeing these problems. Cost cutting procedures and trying to cut corners has probably been the biggest reasons for this. But that's just my opinion.

 

 

 

Billy

 

I wonder if it is truly a cost cutting procedure or if they're just trying a new method. The vinyl of the heads and bodies is a lot softer than it used to be, I know part of this may be intentional but I wonder if perhaps their original plastics supplier (likely in China) changed its methods or perhaps even shut down and now Volks has to use a different source.. I mean, these dolls are expensive, as are their resins! But we don't see them cutting corners on the resin dolls, so I don't really see why they'd cut them on the vinyl ones either. This isn't a mass market we're talking about. If Volks wanted higher profit margins they'd just raise the price rather than compromise on quality which at the end of the day is what they're known for. Yuno?

Another cracked Lucy.....................

http://botton.exblog.jp/17630056/

I wonder if it is truly a cost cutting procedure or if they're just trying a new method. The vinyl of the heads and bodies is a lot softer than it used to be, I know part of this may be intentional but I wonder if perhaps their original plastics supplier (likely in China) changed its methods or perhaps even shut down and now Volks has to use a different source.. I mean, these dolls are expensive, as are their resins! But we don't see them cutting corners on the resin dolls, so I don't really see why they'd cut them on the vinyl ones either. This isn't a mass market we're talking about. If Volks wanted higher profit margins they'd just raise the price rather than compromise on quality which at the end of the day is what they're known for. Yuno?

 

 

I really do think it's a mixture of cost cutting and new methods. You can see that they are using thinner plastic on the shoulder tubes than they did with the DDII ones. You can also see that they are using less plastic in the upper torsos because they no longer use the large, plastic "plate/shield" that was inside the DDII for shape and support of the bust piece.

 

But I can see them using this new design to make things better for more movement too. And that's fine for them to do. But with all the problems they have had since the original DDS releases, you'd think their R&D guys would have paid more attention to this.

 

And reading all these terrible responses from Volks about these cracks and such, it really hits home that they knew about the problems and just aren't owning up to them. At least that's what I see. And it's not just me that sees it this way.... plenty of people I talk to say the same thing. I don't *want* to think Volks is screwing us over but things sure look to be heading that way. With lame excuses like "parting lines, not cracks", I suspect laziness and just plain old not giving a crap from them. And that's not cool.

 

 

Billy

I really do think it's a mixture of cost cutting and new methods. You can see that they are using thinner plastic on the shoulder tubes than they did with the DDII ones. You can also see that they are using less plastic in the upper torsos because they no longer use the large, plastic "plate/shield" that was inside the DDII for shape and support of the bust piece.

 

But I can see them using this new design to make things better for more movement too. And that's fine for them to do. But with all the problems they have had since the original DDS releases, you'd think their R&D guys would have paid more attention to this.

 

And reading all these terrible responses from Volks about these cracks and such, it really hits home that they knew about the problems and just aren't owning up to them. At least that's what I see. And it's not just me that sees it this way.... plenty of people I talk to say the same thing. I don't *want* to think Volks is screwing us over but things sure look to be heading that way. With lame excuses like "parting lines, not cracks", I suspect laziness and just plain old not giving a crap from them. And that's not cool.

 

 

Billy

This! Exactly my thoughts about the whole thing which you've worded so well It really makes me sad seeing their responses to the cracks that people have been finding on their girls. They have so many loyal customers and to just say things like "they are production lines not cracks" is very insulting. Plus things like this may discourage those who want to enter this hobby because they see that the company doesn't seem to care if you have a defective product from them. Hopefully they will realize this and get their act together for current & future DD owners!

Yikes, more cracks in the heads! I'm worried about my future Lucy.

Oh wow, I can't believe Lucy's head has cracks in it. That's unbelievable. o_o"

 

I hope that my Mariko doesn't have any issues... I will be inspecting her very thoroughly when I get her, lol.

 

I don't know how or why Volks sent me the replacement part for Moe, since it was months after. I think it was just luck, but I will not be pressing my luck with Mariko. >_<

 

I hope everyone's incoming dolls don't arrive with any defects. ~

So, when I finally got my Millhiore there were stains on her. Volks finally got back to me today and said they were going to replace the stained parts.

 

Imagine my surprise when I take her lower torso off and the center peg is split right through the seam line.

 

Luckily this is one of the stained parts, so it's being replaced anyway, but geeze...