Infamous DD f3 leg problem

I apologize in advance, this is more of a thread for my desperation/frustration/sadness than anything. 

I completed my customized DDH-09 back in January, and the legs of her body were loose straight out of the box from Volks. 

The first time her legs fell out (a week of being new) I was absolutely crushed because I couldn't get them back in. Eventually my friend was able to do it.

Now, her legs have come out once again (actually for the 3rd time), and try as I might, I can't get them back into place. I've followed the Volks tutorial, looked at everything I could, to no avail. 

It's gotten to the point that I feel like DD/vinyl dolls just aren't for me because of how sad this is making me. I just can't believe that my heart, soul, and hundreds and hundreds of dollars went into something that has given me so much grief in so little time. At this point, I'm prepared to just put my vinyl girl away and continue as resin-only. 

Does anyone have this experience? I just never had this with resin BJDs. With them, I never had to question any quality or pricing or whether or not I was happy with my dolls. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Ageha

If you are doing agressive sitting poses back to back, thats something that tugs the legs out of the hip crosspin.

for instance something like this:

This could be something that might catch someone off-guard coming from resins since resins will just bounce back even if you turn them into a pretzel, because rubber band.

So if this happens when doing poses, i've made a habbit of squeezing the thighs at the hips occasionally when doing a photoset to try and help keeping them together, but if I forget, or am being too ambitious with the pose the thighs may plop out.

Another theory is that you might have accidentally gotten a too short cross pin with your body so it doesnt reach the ends of the sockets in the thighs, and as such is easier dislodged.

Edited March 8, 2021 by finnleo

2 hours ago, Ageha said:

Does anyone have this experience?

The f3 legs are difficult to get in, but there is a trick. https://www.facebook.com/notes/dollfie-dream/dd-f³-hip-joint-handling-tips/1271843123025761/

Finnleo is absolutely correct about pushing the legs back in. These are plastic parts held together with friction, and as you pose them they will tend to work loose. 

14 hours ago, finnleo said:

If you are doing agressive sitting poses back to back, thats something that tugs the legs out of the hip crosspin.

for instance something like this:

This could be something that might catch someone off-guard coming from resins since resins will just bounce back even if you turn them into a pretzel, because rubber band.

So if this happens when doing poses, i've made a habbit of squeezing the thighs at the hips occasionally when doing a photoset to try and help keeping them together, but if I forget, or am being too ambitious with the pose the thighs may plop out.

Another theory is that you might have accidentally gotten a too short cross pin with your body so it doesnt reach the ends of the sockets in the thighs, and as such is easier dislodged.

Hmm the last part is interesting to me! Thanks for mentioning it. I'm wondering about that being an actual possibility, since I haven't posed my girl in any type of "aggressive" pose as you mentioned, just regular sitting and standing poses. And even then, I was actually still squeezing the thighs in from the beginning, because I could tell the hips were loose for some reason. 

12 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

The f3 legs are difficult to get in, but there is a trick. https://www.facebook.com/notes/dollfie-dream/dd-f³-hip-joint-handling-tips/1271843123025761/

Finnleo is absolutely correct about pushing the legs back in. These are plastic parts held together with friction, and as you pose them they will tend to work loose. 

Thank you for the link. I will try again to fix it today. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Ageha

Here's a photo with rulers of a DDSf3 pin:

Its pretty specific in length, so that its divided 50/50 between the sockets in the thighs. (if you put the thighs on the pin outside of the rest of the body, they should butt up to eachother). On this example, which doesent have obnoxious levels of thigh-pop, the fitment into the thigh sockets is quite free up to the last 5-6mm or when it starts to tighten up a bit. This is why if the slots on the thigh sockets dont line up with the flat in the hole of the the hip-piece they might be more prone to come off much more easy, despite it seeming like they have been seated.

59 minutes ago, Ageha said:

since I haven't posed my girl in any type of "aggressive" pose as you mentioned, just regular sitting and standing poses.

For certain the legs will begin to work loose through normal posing. I usually gently push the leg and arm joints in as a matter of course when I pose them, because the doll just looks nicer if her joints don't look like they are coming loose at the seams. After a time my sense of aesthetics made it into a habit, but it's a good rule of thumb for doll maintenance too.

On the f3, if they come too far out you will have a hard time getting them back in because of the way the legs fit together in the frame like puzzle pieces. Once they are out of alignment, they don't go back together until re-aligned, so with the f3 keeping the legs properly seated also helps to keep them properly aligned.

There is no design reason your doll shouldn't be able to keep her legs in as long as you know how to care for her when posing her. I've haven't had f3 legs come loose in a long time, and I have 14 girls with the f3 frame.

Sorry to double post, but I do have one other suggestion based on what Finnleo suggested above.

If you pull the lower torso frame out, then with the frame outside the torso practice lining up the legs and installing the legs on the frame in the manner suggested in that facebook link, it may help you to make it work when you are putting them on with the frame in the lower torso.

You can also take the upper torso off while installing the legs. Not having the upper body flopping about acting like the counterweight may make installing the legs easier.

Just wanted to say thank you for the link! So far, works like a charm for my f3 DDdy! 

I did 'cheat', though. Instead of removing any parts, I basically attached the legs in a sitting position (legs straight in front) after confirming the alignment of the part. 

Now that I know what to look for, it is not as daunting even if the leg falls off again

Is this a common issue with the legs? Debating on one of these now vs a 40cm Parabox. Any help would be appreciated.

44 minutes ago, RozensMaidens said:

Is this a common issue with the legs? Debating on one of these now vs a 40cm Parabox. Any help would be appreciated.

For the f3 girls I would definitely say it's common, but especially so in the f3 DDdy and Mochi Ashi bodies, due to the excess of space in the thigh vinyl shells, which makes it hard for a lot of people to realise whether or not they have the legs seated entirely.

I made this infographic for the DD Discord server after getting my own f3 DDdy girl to better explain how the legs work.  It's not a hard issue to fix (unless you have any sort of dexterity/strength issues in your hands, which I understand some people do!), you just have to learn how to re-seat the legs properly and remember to tightly squeeze the thighs/hips back together after moving the legs.  This helps the peg not wiggle itself loose as quickly.

7 minutes ago, OccultBeast said:

For the f3 girls I would definitely say it's common

Thanks for this info. It will be helpful now to figure out para vs dollfie now 😄

On 7/3/2022 at 3:34 PM, OccultBeast said:

For the f3 girls I would definitely say it's common, but especially so in the f3 DDdy and Mochi Ashi bodies, due to the excess of space in the thigh vinyl shells, which makes it hard for a lot of people to realise whether or not they have the legs seated entirely.

I made this infographic for the DD Discord server after getting my own f3 DDdy girl to better explain how the legs work.  It's not a hard issue to fix (unless you have any sort of dexterity/strength issues in your hands, which I understand some people do!), you just have to learn how to re-seat the legs properly and remember to tightly squeeze the thighs/hips back together after moving the legs.  This helps the peg not wiggle itself loose as quickly.

Ok, but I'm laughing at the "squeeze her tightly! She likes it!"

Also, thanks for the tutorial! I'll be getting my first f3 soon and after being used to DD2 for 12 years, i imagine it will be quite an adjustment

2 hours ago, CeliathePikachu said:

Also, thanks for the tutorial! I'll be getting my first f3 soon and after being used to DD2 for 12 years, i imagine it will be quite an adjustment

My first two girls were on the III body, so when I got my first f3 over the summer I was shocked at the difference (mostly the shoulder and hip joints since I planned to use those Cool Cat aluminum reinforcers, and it was immediately apparent that they were incompatible).

Can’t imagine how different the leap from 2 to f3 will be.