Cracked shoulder joint

So I found out a little while ago (to my dismay) that my v2 saber alter has a crack on the right side of her internal frame. Seeing as how I only got her last month, I'm pretty sad that she's developed cracks

 

While I do plan on getting the cool cats reinforcement rings to help solve that issue, would it actually stop the cracks from getting worse? Or should I try to do something about the cracks first before using the reinforcement rings? I would be willing to get an new internal frame for my girl, but I'd rather avoid going thru that route :C

put some cyanoacrylate or epoxyfiller(any type of gap filling formula) in the crack. push sides together(it will ooze out from the sides dont worry about it. just let it set) when cured cut of excess with a knife on the outside. use a rat tail file to remove excess from inside. put on some coolcat rings. et voila stronger then original

As Shinegamix stated, using some type of plastic weld epoxy is a good way to keep the cracks from getting bigger or breaking all the way thru. The Cool Cats pieces are the best way of fixing this issue tho so I would definitely get those regardless. But if the cracked piece isn't broken all the way thru yet, you can do another bit of repair until those CC parts come in. If you do this tho, you'll be drilling holes in the frame part just under the arm tubes and using small zip ties that will have to be cut off when the metal parts are to be put on.

 

Basically, you fill the cracks or breaks with the epoxy and then you drill holes under the arm tubes and run small zip ties thru the holes and around the entire tube. Then zip it tight to keep pressures from letting the plastic come loose from the tubes. But the metal brace parts need to clip over the bare plastic directly so the zip ties will have to be cut off before installing the CC parts. You can still redo the zip ties over the metal parts after you install them just for backup.

 

I have 2 internal frames that cracked and broke on me that I have done the epoxy and zip tie repairs to. If you like, I can take pics of them tomorrow and post them for you so it's easier to know what I'm talking about.

 

 

Billy

put some cyanoacrylate or epoxyfiller(any type of gap filling formula) in the crack. push sides together(it will ooze out from the sides dont worry about it. just let it set) when cured cut of excess with a knife on the outside. use a rat tail file to remove excess from inside. put on some coolcat rings. et voila stronger then original

 

Thanks! I'll try to find some epoxy when I have the time, Finals are coming up so I don't think I can find them right away

 

As Shinegamix stated, using some type of plastic weld epoxy is a good way to keep the cracks from getting bigger or breaking all the way thru. The Cool Cats pieces are the best way of fixing this issue tho so I would definitely get those regardless. But if the cracked piece isn't broken all the way thru yet, you can do another bit of repair until those CC parts come in. If you do this tho, you'll be drilling holes in the frame part just under the arm tubes and using small zip ties that will have to be cut off when the metal parts are to be put on.

 

Basically, you fill the cracks or breaks with the epoxy and then you drill holes under the arm tubes and run small zip ties thru the holes and around the entire tube. Then zip it tight to keep pressures from letting the plastic come loose from the tubes. But the metal brace parts need to clip over the bare plastic directly so the zip ties will have to be cut off before installing the CC parts. You can still redo the zip ties over the metal parts after you install them just for backup.

 

I have 2 internal frames that cracked and broke on me that I have done the epoxy and zip tie repairs to. If you like, I can take pics of them tomorrow and post them for you so it's easier to know what I'm talking about.

 

 

Billy

 

They actually haven't cracked all the way through, but I'm really worried that it could possible get worse. so I might be ordering those coolcats parts later tonight or tomorrow ;;

 

I MIGHT try the zip tie method, but I don't know when since I don't have access to tools needed to drill the plastic :v;

Someone has made replacement parts. Dunno how good it is....

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.3.w17-6979763114.18.xRs2m2&id=19309488717&

^ I probably won't risk it for now ;;

 

Regarding coolcats:

 

I'll be placing an order soon; but I'm unsure which ones to get? I decided to get reinforcement rings for my Millhiore DD as well and for my future girl (a Rise) , but I don't know if milhi and alter are using the old DD III body or they're using the new ones :v

just measure the ring size and you will know. or make aq picture and show us

^ I probably won't risk it for now ;;

 

Regarding coolcats:

 

I'll be placing an order soon; but I'm unsure which ones to get? I decided to get reinforcement rings for my Millhiore DD as well and for my future girl (a Rise) , but I don't know if milhi and alter are using the old DD III body or they're using the new ones :v

 

On the page at the Cool Cat website it shows a picture of the "primitive" DDIII/DDS, and then the newer one. You will probably have to take out an arm and move the bust piece around to compare the size. That's what I did. I just took out one of her arms, moved her bust around and compared the thickness to the pictures on the Cool Cat website. I figured that I would have to take her arm(s) off anyway to put the reinforcements on, so might as well. xD

really reluctant to try and take off the torso at the moment, but this is what it looks like?

 

 

I feel like I'd be using the large reinforcement rings, but I'm not sure ;;;

looks like a v1 to me. if that the case. you might want to check the legs too. as you want to order rings for them as well

looks like a v1 to me. if that the case. you might want to check the legs too. as you want to order rings for them as well

 

I plan on doing so!

 

I'll probably check my alter later. Reluctant to do it on my milhi because her joints are really tight somehow D;

So I went to try and check to see the joints on both my girls to see if they were the old or new frames.

 

But then suddenly it came to a point where one of Io's left shoulder won't budge. She can move them to some degree, but she can't rotate her arm around the joint and they seem to be stuck

 

why this _(:3」∠)＿

So I went to try and check to see the joints on both my girls to see if they were the old or new frames.

 

But then suddenly it came to a point where one of Io's left shoulder won't budge. She can move them to some degree, but she can't rotate her arm around the joint and they seem to be stuck

 

why this _(:3」∠)＿

ok this step is tricky. it might be the v1 frame with v1 arm peg and its stuck. here is what you need to do. raise the arms till you get a 90 degree angle. and then pull it out straight. no twisting

Okay, I took some pics of the two inner frames I have and luckily for you, they're different! I've got one of the original frames and one of the newer, beefed up ones that needed repairs done. I'll show which is which below.

 

First up is both inner frames, the older version on the left and the newer on the right. As you can see, I've done repairs to both arm peg tubes on each of these with plastic weld epoxy. That didn't keep them fully repaired tho as after a few months of use, one tube on each frame cracked again. This is why I did the zip tie repair after redoing the epoxy fix. Now don't worry about those big blobs of epoxy you see. As long as those aren't INSIDE the tubes, it doesn't matter how they look on the outside. All this is under the vinyl bust anyways so none of it will ever be seen.

 

DSC_0567 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Here's a closeup shot of both pieces. I did this because besides the tubes being different on these, the screws are too. Note how much bigger the heads are on the one on the right? That's the newer frame. It seems they built in washers on the new screws. You can also see on the left frame, one of the shoulder frame screws is different. That's because the tube under that screw broke off and I had to epoxy that back into place and then use a longer screw to hold it better. So far that repair has held up fine.

 

DSC_0568 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

A side shot comparing the screws again.

 

DSC_0569 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

Now to the tubes themselves. Here you can easily see the difference between 1st versions and newer ones. On the left is the 1st version, on the right is the newer one.

 

DSC_0570 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

See the thickness difference in the round tube itself? Yeah, those first versions were so damn thin, I don't know how any engineer thought that would be enuff plastic to hold up to ANY sort of use or posing. Morons.... Anyway, you can clearly see where I've run the zip ties around the arm tubes. basically this is a cheap way to do what the metal Cool Cats pieces do, they just reinforce the tubes so that the arm pegs can't push the arm tubes away from the center of the tubes. With nothing to hold them, they can expand, crack and break. With the zip ties and metal parts, they have no room to expand. Well, the zip ties DO still flex a tiny bit but not nearly as much without them.

 

If you look closely on the right tube on the bottom front side, you can see very tiny stress fractures beginning to form. Eventually these will turn into fullsized cracks. Hopefully the zip ties and epoxy will help that process slow down a lot.

 

DSC_0571 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

To do the zip tie repair/reinforcement, all you need are small zip ties and a drill bit that's a hair larger than your zip ties. I used very small ones because they were easier to use but you can use larger ones if you like. Just don't go too big or the holes you have to drill to run them thru will take away too much plastic.

 

DSC_0572 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

And the flip side. When drilling these holes, I drilled from THIS side thru to the other side because this way I could see right where the holes would be at. If drilling from the other side, it would be a lot more difficult to see where they would come out at.

 

DSC_0573 by balldylox, on Flickr

 

As you could see, I did the zip ties after I did epoxy repairs. This allowed the parts to be super snug for a good fit and the zip ties helped keep the parts together while the epoxy dried. I had to do this with my Saber Extra too altho with her it was just one arm tube that broke. Still, I went ahead and did the zip ties on both shoulders just to keep things from getting bad sooner. And with Saber, she was also a newer version inner frame so just because they're thicker now, doesn't mean they won't crack.

 

I'd suggest anyone who owns a DD3/DDdy3/DDS pick up those Cool Cats metal shoulder sleeves to help this from happening sooner. Or you can do the zip tie thing for way cheaper. Either way will help things out on shoulders.

 

I hope this helped out some.

 

 

 

Billy