Too Tight or Too Loose? Even tension? Getting it right!

That's too tight - if they were too loose he wouldn't be able to hold a sitting position at all ^_^

 

Zevchan I'm not so sure about that. Here's why: First of all I still consider myself a newbie and so a little patience please. I have had the same problem and was told it was too tight. Then I won a doll on YJ - remember the dragon tatoo? - and he was unbelievably tight. So tight I can't imagine how it was done. He was more stable standing than any doll I've seen. Do you have any idea why/how that could be?

So now I'm even more confused - CathyL

 

I have the same problem with my boy x:. But I know for a fact that he's strung too tight, I can't even get one of his feet off.

Maybe in your case CathyL, the won doll was strung so tightly that it had no leniance to ha "crazy" legs? I'm sorry, I honestly have no idea XD;

 

Gabriel has that problem too... But I am having him sleep laying flat on his back with all his limbs fully extended... This seems to be helping as it's stretching the elastic and stuff...

 

Saori also has this problem, but I'm starting to wonder if it's a DD problem in general rather than a stringing problem.

 

Gabriel is a Delf.... so I don't think it's just a DD problem

 

I recently got my first doll and I'm enjoying him loads. But one thing that bothers me is his stringing, I can't decide if his stringing is too tigh or too loose, maybe its both. The thing is his arms don't hold up very well and often just fall back down at his side when positioned any other way.

His other problem is in his legs, he bends fine but when I try and get him to stand up his leg either clicks in at the knee and goes dead straight or it just seems to buckle under his weight.

This is obviously a problem because I can't trust him to stand anywhere unaided, one reason I wanted him is the photographic part of the hobby but when he has to be sitting or proped up everywhere its a little boring.

So what ARE the specific traits of both loose and tight stringing and how do I solve this problem?

Annie

 

I think it differs a bit from doll to doll... but in general; if it flops, it's too loose, if it kicks, it's too tight.

 

Is he a CP? His behaviour sounds a lot like Bella's (lishe) when she first arrived. I solved her tendency to curl up by keeping her on a doll stand, and playing with her a lot. :grin:

 

No hes a Dream of Doll long legged boy.

I don't think his leg stringing is too strong, he can stand with his default trousers on but I put a skirt on me and his knees just buckle and he falls on his tushie. Its like the trousers stop him from bending freely at the knees but when he has no trousers he just collapses.

Annie

 

**chuckles** Sounds like he may just not like skirts! :wink:

In all honesty...it depends on what the owner wants. Some people LIKE their dolls to be very taught, others like them very loose and floppy (I've heard this described as 'huggable'), while othes like somewhere inbetween.

 

have you tried taking the head cap off and tugging on the strings a little to see how he works?

 

Heh, I tried but I cannot pull it much at all, its so hard to pull I can't believe I think his stringing is loose ops:

Annie

 

I was kinda in the same boat with Eiji, not knowing if he was too loose or too tight. His legs kick back, but his arms just kinda flop down to his sides sometimes. I think that means his legs are too tight and his arms are too loose?

I definitely feel your pain on the headcap being insanely tight. XD I read Luts' instructions on restringing a doll, and giggled at the part where they said 'get a friend to help you if you can't do it'. heehee, it's not so funny now. I took Eiji's head cap off to turn his eyes a little and had a hell of a time pulling the string and hooking him back together. o_o

 

You know, I'm not sure if DODs can stand with bent legs - I think all the people who show us pictures of them doing so are part of some big conspiracy But I did tighten the string on my U (and yes, it hurt like hell because it's so tight). It helped a little with the arms and standing with locked legs, but he's still no better at standing in anything other than the straight-legged position. I think what would really help is sueding the joints - there's only so much elastic can do. There's a ton of threads on sueding, but good luck finding any of the supplies mentioned in the UK - I've been trying for weeks :cry:

 

My Yukio will only stand with one leg bent . . . I think that's mostly his shoes restricting movement, though, as he didn't used to be that way ^^;;;


Yasuo I haven't tried standing with a bent leg. I imagine he'd do it, you'd just have to play with the balance. That's the key to the long-legged body in my opinion, the ball joint at their ankle is a lot more versatile than the DoD old body, however it also makes their balance a tad more precarious ^^;;;;

Sometimes Yasuo topples because he's not balanced at that joint. (the ankle)

Edit: By way of example, I've gotten Yasuo to balance on one leg before by simply playing with the balance/angle on that ankle ball joint.

 

Mine won't stand without them being bent... And i can't loosen it... since ... um...its as high up the knot will go.

 

If you stretch the elastic you should be able to loosen it a little bit, that's what I did for my friend's Si girl as she came to us strung very tightly ^^;; Granted, it would take time to loosen it a *lot*.


I found the best location fo stretch the stringing through the body was at the torso. ^^;; It takes a bit of force because of the tension of the stringing . . . but it might help if you want looser stringing.

 

I'm pretty sure Lutz is strung so tight there's no hope outside of a full restringing. XD;;; I can't even really pull his headcap off to change his eyes. I swapped out one of his hands last night and there was barely enough elastic to do so. His arms like to curl. Occasionally if you luck out he'll hold a pose with his arms, but not often... ^_^;;; And his legs just plain buckle. I barely manage to stand him. ^^; So on the list of 'Things That Must Be Done' is getting new elastic, stringing him again a bit loser, and sueding him. That should help a bit. Need to suede Alisa's ankles, too. Though it could just be the shoes she's wearing... She didn't have nearly this problem in the other ones.

Elly's just beyond hope without new elastic. ^_^;;; I got her second hand and not only is she loose, her elastic seems just plain worn out. ^^; She does arm poses better than Lutz, though, and stands easier as well, floppy though she may be. XD;;;

 

I adore my Arashi, but even after a restringing he still flops all over the place and won't sit up without jumping through flaming hoops and voodoo prayers.

I wonder if being too tight can do this? Because when I adjusted his tension I took a good four inches from the initial length... But he still seems like he's loose, though, in this case, because Lutz is too tight so he just tends to curl up, he doesn't flop. Should I shorten the body string even MORE? Also, he came with the knot in the body, not over the S-hook. I put it back in the body, but it seems like doing it that way makes the tension uneven? He lists a little towards the side with the knot. Should I put it over the S-hook in his head like every other doll I've ever owned had it done? O_o;

Also, arms... How can you tell which direction the stringing is? Nai, Lukas and Lutz's arms all just kind of flop down and won't hold poses, but Lutz is too tight(Changing his hands is six kinds of hell, the elastic will barely pull out), and Lukas is waaaaaaaaay too lose, and Nai is... I don't know? I shortened his elastic, but I can't tell if it's still too loose or too tight now.

I guess I CAN just untie and re-tie knots until my fingers fall off testing, but is there a good way to tell which way to adjust it?

(Why, oh why, don't doll companies string dolls properly to begin with? T_T)

 

Maybe just try sueding..my new FCS boy came sueded and from what I can tell (never played with another doll before him) he has no problem moving and holding poses so far.

 

Oh, no, Lukas's elastic is too loose, period. I can pull on a hand and get it out a good 4 inches, which just isn't normal. I have a properly strung doll(Red), and he isn't sueded at all but his arms hold any pose I stick them in. Someday I shall find equilibrium!

 

My dolls don't flop, rather their legs and arms jerk into bent positions with the slightest touch. I think they are strung too tight. On the one hand, the tightness allows them to stand well, but it doesn't help for other poses. Sueding might help. I'll have to get some moleskin and try. I'd be interested in knowing though if there is a "standard" tightness that is optimum.

 

I'm not sure if my boy (an El) is too tight or not, I think he is. Anyway, the problem is mainly that I can't seem to get him to look up properly. He keeps wanting to face downward as if perpetually bowing his head. His legs tend to buckle when I try to straighten them out, so I think this means too tight...

 

So I am in the process of buyiny my first doll, and I keep asking questions to the seller...

I asked if the strings were tightned, I heard it makes them easier to pose and that they would then stand by themselves without the need for a stand.

So first...is that true...

However, the response was that they didn't like to have them stand for long because they were made of resin and they could break...are the dolls that delicate!!?? I wanted to have him standing in my room, or posed without a stand.

If it's true that kind of freaks me out. Maybe she just meant if they were standing and fell over?

 

if a doll falls over while standing, absolutely they can break. Resin isn't like porcelain - a porcelain doll would really shatter - but it is breakable, it's not like vinyl.

it isn't a good idea to leave them standing without a stand. I have mine sitting in sofas and on chairs and stuff. it's easy to find them furniture.

 

Yea, if they're standing by themselves, they may fall over and break. Standing alone won't harm them.

 

Well that just sounds great :-(

Does anyone actually know or have a guesstament on the thickness of the resin?

Like are they just a few mms thick?...when you say brake...they shatter or like...their head or limbs will go flying off...or worse...and most likley BOTH!?...I'm gonna have him in a down filled caged so no one can touch him and if he does fall over he won't break...not really but it's a funny idea heh heh

 

I'm not sure of thickness measurements, but anything will break if you throw it across the room. X'D I don't think you should worry about the doll breaking as long as you treat it well.

 

Er, as Sher said.. Porcelain dolls will shatter, not resin. Resin is sturdy, but WILL chip. Like.. A nose breaking, or, more likely, fingers snapping off. They'll just break, not evaporate.. There's quite a few threads I've seen it mentioned.
Sometimes they fall and nothing happens, sometimes they get scuffed, sometimes they chip.. Sometimes elf ears partially break off or noses do such. They will Just Break.

 

If it helps assure youm I've dropped my dolls a number of times, had them fall over while posing them (sometimes onto conrete...) but I have yet to have one break on my as a result. Not that you shouldn't do whatever nessesary to avoid them falling of course, as I've been rather lucky in that regards so far, but these are quite durable dolls. They'll be moe likely to break if they fall on a hard surface of course, but falling down on your bed for instance, Idon't imagine would harm them. (So long as it's not from a high distance.)

In other words, you do want to be careful and keep a watchful eye out, but don't let the fear of them breaking become so strong that you're afraid to play with them. =D

 

Maybe you could make a little pillow for them to fall onto, just in case, haha...

My boy Fabian has fallen a few times, but always onto carpet, and he was completely fine afterwards.

 

Well thank you...I do feel better about it now LOL

I was like...okay...I'm just gonna stare at him LOL :cow

 

True. Always be there to catch them if you have them standing up. I only let Kazutaka stand if he has his hand on something for support, otherwise, his hips like to snap back. It's a rule of thumb to get at least one comfy chair for your baby. X3

 

If it's any consolation, I don't have stands for any of my dolls and I've left some standing on my desk or night table for weeks... my mini F-09 and petite Ai have been standing around for almost a month now and the only time the mini fell was when I knocked him over with my elbow.

It's not really the *proper* way to keep them, but at least you know it can be done with no problems.

 

don't be TOO scared!! I play pretty hard with my dolls, and by that I mean I pose them, they sit, stand, sometimes they wrestle around and stuff, but I do try not to drop them, I never leave them standing unless it's on a GOOD stand, and I try to be mindful that they CAN break. It's not like holding a wine glass, they aren't THAT fragile, but... you can't bang them around like you could a barbie, for example.

 

^-^ I was dumb enough to turn my back on my Hound standing. I swear I only looked away for a moment and he fell over and broke off two of his fingers XD Just my luck.(Mind you.. Hounds arent reknowned for their standing capabilities XD)

However I have had him fall several times onto his face XD one of which was on outside decking and he came out unscathed.

Don't be scared of standing your doll, but be sure to watch them XD and catch them if they fall - just to be on the safe side ~

 

I wanted to say thanks, you all are really helpful!! and you help with stress! heh heh

So...the proper way is to have them on their on chair, yes?

I was gonna use his box (cause they look so nice) as his bed, seeing as how he has pillows and a blanket...I'm gonna keep him by my bed.

Some of your stories...about them falling...UGH....someone should post a thread on that, there probably already is one, I just didnt find it.

 

well, i have my heather standing as of about half an hour ago , it gets boring when theyre just sat down all the time! shes in a cabinet without a door, so i took my other dolls out of the cabinet and put her stood in, and shook the cabinet, to my surprise, she stayed standing, so i shook it more, and she fell into my hands that were ready to catch her so they arnt too easy to fall, but my cabinet is a flat serface... but im still worried about my dolls, so i prop her up on the corner slightly,but my other doll a happydoll judy has such weak legs, try to stand her and she just flopps over, its really cute and makes her cuddly, but she has to have a stand, my dad wired her legs, too so she can stand, but still flops sometimes, lol

 

Our Toppi arrived pretty loose. I read somewhere that the limiteds come that way on purpose so you can adjust it to your taste. It is fun to have her so responsive to every touch and she is cuddly. but she has loosened up more since christmas and now it is a challenge to even dress her. She squirms like a little kid *grin*. I pick her up wrong and her legs and lower torso swing all the way roundto her backside!
Her head cap is the magnetic kind so we have opened her head and pulled up a bit on the s hook and elastic. It helped briefly. What is the knot that I see mentioned here and there? How do you get enough slack to tie one. I am chicken to completely restring this delicate beauty.
Advice or a thread to read would be great.

Thanks,
Sheri

 

I was just wondering...what are some of the characteristics of
A.) too loose stringing
and
B.) Too tight stringing? Because, I used to think my girl was strung really tightly but now I think her legs are too loose...? Help?

 

some dolls actually react differently to loose or tight stringing, but in general... loosely strung dolls have limbs that feel wobbly - you can pose an arm, but it will slowly slide out of position because of gravity. The doll may not sit or stand well, or at all. There can be a sense of floppiness at the waist. A doll that is strung too tightly will get "crazy legs" - legs that snap into a 45 degree angle, or suddenly kick out straight. This might also make standing difficult, because the legs can basically only hold two positions, straight and fully bent.

 

Thank you! I can't tell if my doll is too loose or too tight, though. Her limbs are wobbly but they also "snap" into 45 degree angles. And, her arms can't go up very far....>< I'm so confused!! ><;;;;

 

What we could do is show you sueding at the meetup. It fixed 90% of Riku's tight strung/loose strung problems. Duae let me use her suede and taught me how to do it and it is really easy. Of course, you may want someone with knowledge to supervise you on it, because we unstrung Riku and... Lets just say that the one touch head system was a bit of a condundrum for a while.

 

One touch head system? Anyways, yeah, I was thinking about getting you guys to help me with her when I came to the meet up. ^^

 

The one touch head system is a joy and a terror... How is your girl's head attached to her body? Riku, instaed of having an s-hook inside his head or a neck part blocking the hole, has a little switch that the s-hook holding the elastic is fitted around. You turn the switch and can pop off his head without disturbing the elastic in the rest of his body and without fear of losing the elastic into his body.

Duae is at a gaming convention right now, but I'll ask her when she gets back if she could bring you some suede when she goes to the meetup. She is going to give me more for Riku's feet, since I was stoopid and didn't do them when I was at her house...

 

I am so excited! My Astrid came in today, and he is gorgeous. :3 I will have photos of him up later this evening in the gallery section!

However, I am having one problem. I think he might be strung a bit too tightly; his movement is very awkward, and sometimes his legs or waist will kick forward on their own. Is there any way to fix this?

 

Ah the infamous CP kicky legs. I would say your best bet would be to leave the stringing as is and just play with him. Overtime his stringing will loosen up and be more perfect. But lots of CP dolls have the kicky leg problem.

 

I have had this problem. xD Playing with him is really the best thing to do to fix it. :3 You'll get used to his body and his kickiness will lessen. :3

Congrats on a Mini Fee Chiwoo! 8D You've joined the sect!

 

My first MiniFee had the same problem, if you dont want to restring him, which is tedious and not worth it, just play with him and work around the kicky leg. You get used to it pretty fast, and in a few months it's not as bad.

It's best to hold him alot by his hips, and keep his back straight when you aren't possing him, I found this stretches the elastic a bit more. If your have a problem getting him to stand, make sure your keeping his back stiff and then lower his legs in place, that way his hips cant jut and cause the elastic to snap the legs back.

 

Wire him. My EL is over a year old, and only wiring helps him. Might go back and replace it in him now.

 

Thanks for all of your advice! I'll try to work his joints for awhile, and if it doesn't work I'll take the wiring advice. About how long did it take for the kicky leg to go away?

 

Its very very normal. ^^ It wears off after some playing time, and the elastic stretches out. Don't be afraid to do daily doll yoga! ;D

 

I think my Winston has this problem, but it's in her arms. (Kicky arms?) Actually it's more like Karate-chop action!!!! If I move her arm, HIYAAA! the elbow snaps into a perfect chop chop! They will only lock straight, or be stuck in prayer/karate mode. I'm trying to play with her arms a lot every night.. I also might try sueding her later on... but I think this is the same thing?

 

yeah, Kaoru (OrientDoll Il) was like that when i first got him. i'd move one arm and the other one would just *SNAP!!!* right up at the elbow. as soon as i let go to straighten it out, the other one would do the same thing. he ended up looking worried all the time.

not a problem now, though, as he's in pieces for extensive full-body blushing and sueding. (a link to the project is in my siggy... *embarrassed smile*)

 

Luts MNF Shiwoo is the same way. Yami is such a stubborn, fighter when it comes to posing, or changing his clothes. I was hoping there was more of a solution,b ut I'll just have to use him more.

 

When Ciar first came, I stretched him out a lot. Left him kneeling for a day and night (punishment, muahaha!) to get his elastic stretched. Then he was less likely to kick me for no reason.

However, in the end, restringing was still the best move. Now he poses like a dream~ ^_^ I think CP uses string that are not long enough to string their dolls. So you need something a little longer than what they have in your doll. Probably best if you've help to hold the string as you put it through the doll before tying off the knots.

I talk like I know so much about it but actually Hooli did most of the work, with helpful tips from Pia and Atticus. *snickers* They're so good at it that restringing is not a problem for them. If you've done it once, you become a lot less fearful about it and will find it pretty simple after that first time. ^_^;

 

i have seen this mentioned anywhere, but my main problem with my DoC Twingkey is that her head won't stay up straight... she's either constantly looking down or flopped to the side at a weird angle... any ideas on fixing this?

 

help-me and my husband put together my souldoll tiffee, it took a bit of doing but went okay. Now I can't decide if he is too tight or too loose!

the arms seem fine.

his right leg kicks up to a bent position, left leg doesn't.

is the right leg too tight? ( the legs are on seperate elastic loops)

the reason I am unsure is that both legs seem loose in the sockets- you can kind of shake them a bit and they wobble about- so they seems loose to the body...but his right leg seem too tight...what is going on, anyone?

I am worried to tighten the elastic to make the legs less wobbly in case that isn't the problem...ahh!