MDD al azif problems.....

hello i wont yap too much but basically this is my first dollfie and her legs are very loose. its whatever, but her knee gave out like this: 

 

 

i am aware this is apparently an old mdd and it just kinda sucks in general but i wanna get her knee working again, and possibly make her legs less floppy. how do i do it?

You'll need to take off the foot and then slide off the shin vinyl first.  Then you need to see if the bottom leg frame will come out of the thigh vinyl on its own.  If it's loose in there then that means the nut and bolt have come out and you need to put them back together.  Sometimes those fall out and will be rattling around inside the thigh vinyl so if you hear that, don't lose those little parts!  Your best bet is to pull that leg off the frame in the torso and then pull off the thigh vinyl so you can see the frame.  If the nut and bolt are intact but loose then you just have to tighten them or put them back into place.

If that isn't the issue then it's possible the upper and lower frame pieces slid apart just above the knee and they need to be put back together.  That's relatively easy to do as well.  The hard part is getting the vinyl off the frame.  It's very easy to do if you have a heat gun but you can substitute a hair dryer for it as well.  Just warm up the outer vinyl shell so it's soft and pliable then pull it away from the inner frame.

If none of the above is wrong and something else is broken then I'd need to see pics in order to tell you how to proceed.  I've done lots of work to the old MDD bodies and they are finiky as heck.  While you're in there you might want to check the ankle screw and knee screws too.  Be careful not to overtighten those or you'll really be in trouble.  Just go easy and you should be fine.

 

Billy

thank you for the valuable advice billy! here is what happened:

i managed to put it back in, i just had to be careful with the positioning.. nothing was rattling inside thankfully. both the hip & knee joints definitely need some tightening (it will have to wait though) however i'm not sure how to remove the thigh for that? is it how this guide does it? i've tried and i'm scared of breaking anything because it wasn't budging.

(also.. bit of a silly idea, but would it be possible to get one of the newer frames and put it on this doll? the skin tone wont be a perfect match but i'm just wondering lol)

On 4/17/2025 at 7:33 PM, meowya said:

thank you for the valuable advice billy! here is what happened:

 

No problem at all!  But neither of those photos above are available.  I can't see either one.

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i managed to put it back in, i just had to be careful with the positioning.. nothing was rattling inside thankfully. both the hip & knee joints definitely need some tightening (it will have to wait though) however i'm not sure how to remove the thigh for that? is it how this guide does it? i've tried and i'm scared of breaking anything because it wasn't budging.

That guide is for the F3 version of the bodies so the way the hips go together are different.  You do still have to pull the leg away from the inner frame in order to separate it but it'll take more pulling and tugging than the new bodies.  Lining the old parts up is way easier tho.  

To take off any vinyl parts you'll need to warm them up enough to make them flexible enough to slide out the internal frame parts.  I use a heat gun with adjustable settings but other people have used hair dryers to do the same thing.  Just make sure you don't heat it too much or you may burn the vinyl shell itself.

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(also.. bit of a silly idea, but would it be possible to get one of the newer frames and put it on this doll? the skin tone wont be a perfect match but i'm just wondering lol)

Al Azif's head will definitely work on any of the newer MDD bodies with no problem.  Of course she's a white skinned girl and the closest thing to that now is the semi white skin one but if that color difference doesn't bug you then I'd say go for it.  I have an old 01 head in WS on a MDD3 SWS body and due to her age and the way she is yellowing over time, you can't see any color difference anymore.  Since your Al is probably older than my 01 girl, I'm wagering you won't see a huge difference either.

 

Billy