Help, leg stuck!

So I was trying to take my doll apart, everything was going smoothly. Everything came apart with ease. until I got to the legs. Here hip joints are really tight and wouldn't budge. I was able to get one of the legs off, but the other one wouldn't budge. So I thought I would try taking the vinyl off her upper leg. And then the armature got stuck. it's hanging out a bit to far and I can't get it to come all the way out or go back in. So I can't even put her back together right and give up. If there's any tips please let me know. Been at this for a few days now. I can post picture if it would help, oh and it's the DDII body.

I had trouble with this once before, but it's kind of hard for me to help you without a picture. If you could please post one when you have time, maybe I (or someone else) would be able to help you.

Well I took the photo but apparently i can't post it yet, guess I need to get to 20 posts, I'll go make some then I guess.

Alright got enough now, here's the photo. I can taken anther from a different angle if needed.

http://i.imgur.com/jj6yPSP.jpg (edit: img is too big so I'll just link it)

When the similar situation happened to me, I got a hairdryer and I heated up the piece(s) that would not move. It worked very well. In order to not permanently warp the vinyl, I would have the hairdryer on the piece for like 30-45 seconds... Then move it away for a few seconds. I kept alternating that for about 2-3 minutes and then it was warm and pliable enough to budge, but not so hot that it warped the vinyl.

Ah maybe that's the problem, I was giving it heat but no more than 40-60 seconds, I'll try your method of giving it more heat, but not all at once. I must just not have been giving it enough. Should that also help get the hip joint loose?

How long should I pull it away for, 4-5, or more like 10-15?

I found that doing smaller increments of heat (with small cooling breaks) for a longer period of time worked better than consistent heat for a short amount of time. That's just my experience though.

 

Whenever I have to take off head caps, or when I had a problem with her legs not being equal/balanced, this is what I do. I will try to describe as thoroughly as possible.

 

- Hairdryer on low or medium, not the highest setting.

- Get the piece in my hand, and hold the hairdryer about 3-4 inches away from the vinyl piece.

- Rotate the piece, aiming the hairdryer on it for 30-45 seconds, rotating the entire time to make sure the heat was distributed evenly.

- At this point, the vinyl is warm/hot to the touch, so I pull the hairdryer away for about 20-30 seconds, more if it is very hot.

- I do this for about 2-3 minutes and try to adjust the vinyl piece that is giving me a problem.

- If it still doesn't budge, then I heat and rotate for another 30-45 seconds.

- Try again to move the piece.

- Repeat as necessary.

 

Another thing I did, is that as I pushed it in, I twisted slightly and I found it helped more than pushing it on straight... Hopefully this helps you. If not, maybe someone else will have a better idea. >__< I really hope you can get it fixed soon, I hate whenever there is something wrong with my girls.

Thank's so much for the details. I tried it and it worked pretty well, I was able to get the hip joint lose. But I ended up pulling the armature all the way out of the thigh piece, and I can get it back in, but I cant get the peg into the piece on the hip joint. And tips for this? I was able to take the while piece apart, but I can't get it back together.

 

Is that what you're talking about? Don't mind my amateur drawing.

Or do you mean like this?

 

 

There's really no trick I know of to get it back together from there. You just have to put the peg in the thigh and feel around with it until it goes back in the socket. Maybe hold the hip joint still with your fingers or pliers or something.

Yeah it's the second one

I've never had that happen before, so hopefully Jezrah can help you.

Well I found the trick apparently. First I heated the vinyl and made it softy. Then I pushed the ball joint down into the thigh as far as I could, which put it much closer to the other end. Then I was able to easily put the peg into the hole and push everything back up to where it should be. So I got everything back together and everything is good now. Thank you guys for helping out.

Glad you got it back together.