Specific Doll Doll Chateau Wings

I was trying to find pics of Lydia with wings but couldn't find any... If I find any, I'll link them...

 

I think we saw the same video! Lol! Never having strung a doll, it's all intimidating to me. But I'm hoping to buy a Lydia with wings this year... So eventually I'll post pics but not anytime soon I'm afraid.

 

@Dark Angel

Yes, hello, sorry I'm late, but I have answers! I don't have a Lydia, but I do have the Kevin body for another doll. First of all, you are correct, they do come with wires sticking out. But that's not how the wings attach, that's just to hold the elastic out so that you can (in theory) attach the wings once you get them out of the box.



The attachment system is a lot like how hands and feet work on DC dolls. There's a ball joint that goes in a hole on the back, and an s-hook goes through the ball, to the elastic on one side, and you pull it through to hook on the wing base on the other side.

Here's a guide I made a while back: (green is how the elastic goes, purple circles are joints)



Elastic comes out of the body from the left, and a little piece goes on (another claw-lookin thing) where the arrow head is on the left side, and that's what you string the elastic to to hold the wings on. I know that sounds confusing, but once you get in there, it's fairly straightforward.

Basically, you pull the elastic out of the body through the holes in the back, pull it up through the ball joint and part of the wing, put a hook on there, and hook that to a little claw thing that will settle back into place on the outside of the wing. HOWEVER, be aware that in my doll's case, he was strung way too tightly, and rather than completely restring him, I just had to jury-rig a system where I have the wings essentially strung to each other instead of to the elastic in his main body. Not sure if you'll have to do this, or if you'd even want to. Up to you, I suppose.

Anyway, hope this helps, and if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to answer.

 

The way the dolls are made, you're supposed to just use the elastic from the body (the neck-to-legs segment) and stretch it out to meet the wings, too. But you don't have to, no, and taking the wings off doesn't make the body loose (especially if it's as tight as mine was). Just be aware that the moment you unsecure the elastic from the ball joints on the back, it will definitely get sucked back into the body, and you'll have to either pull it out with a tool or restring her to get it back.

My personal solution is that I have an s-hook in there to hold the elastic out even when the wings aren't on (which they usually aren't, the larger ones are so big he can't sit with them on). I just have each end of the hook holding the elastic for one wing, and it sits on his back between the holes. And yes, there are holes, when the little balls are removed, but of course with shirts and stuff, you won't see them.

It's a bit late here right now, but if you'd like, I can take photos of my own system, to show you what I mean. I find it easier to remove and add the wings when they're strung to one another instead of to the body. Just let me know.

 

Thank you for the explainer. I'd like to see your set up for the wings as well since I will be ordering a Lydia with wings sometime this year. And if there's an easy way to put the wings on and take them off again, I'd love to know. Especially since I don't think I'd want her to have them on all the time. Looks like she might be a bit easier to pose/transport without the wings on.

 

@Dark Angel @The_amphibian

Okay! Here we go. This is my basic setup from the outside:



I forgot I'd replaced the s-hook with some wire, because I needed the hook for something else. If memory serves, the doll came with two extra hooks but I wound up never using them because I couldn't quite figure out where they went. ANYWAY, what I have going on here is a circle of elastic strung in one hole and out the other, through the body cavity. The original intent of DC, I believe, is that you're supposed to use the elastic already stringing the head to the legs. But since I have the doll strung SUPER tight, that made it impossible to easily remove and add the wings. So, this solution, a whole new piece of elastic, so the wings are strung to each other instead of any other parts. It can he kept like I have it (with the wire/hook/whatever holding the elastic out) or you can remove it altogether and just put it back in when you want wings. Speaking of which, I whipped up a quick walkthrough of how to put the wings on, whether you're using my method or using the elastic already in the doll.

Here's what the parts look like separately (the green line is where the elastic will go)



First pull one side of the elastic up through the ball joint. Don't forget to leave something in to keep the other end of the elastic from getting sucked away if you're using the system I do. If you're stringing these to the body elastic, you'll have to pull each side out separately.



Next, pull it up through this channel in the wing:



And finally, you hook that little claw thing on the end (it's got a hook installed in it already) and let it sit back in the hole at the end of the channel. It winds up looking something like this all together:



And then repeat on the other side.

Now of course this is the Kevin body, but having looked at the others, I think the system is the same for all of them. And as always, if you have questions, I can answer.

 

@Dark Angel

The wings have fewer joints than you might think. There's the joint on the back, which can move side to side and up and down, but it doesn't swivel freely (this is to help make sure the wings don't just fall because they're heavy). As for the rest, the top "knuckles" of the wings are jointed and can move virtually any direction, but the rest are either magnet points or just sculpted faux joints. I can sort of fold them over his shoulders, but I definitely can't wrap them around him. Maybe if they were wired or sueded?

 

Thank you so much for this! If you have a tutorial for how you string the other part of the wings, I'd really appreciate it. I don't have her yet but I am worried I won't be able to figure out how to do it. I've never restrung a doll before so I'm just trying to gather as much info as I can.
Thank you again!

 

@The_amphibian

In my doll's case, the other parts of the wing came pre-strung. I didn't have to put them together, just put on the magnet parts and attach the wings to the doll. To be honest, I haven't even tried to mess with the stringing in the wings themselves. That said, I did peek inside and see how it works, so here's that one image again, because it illustrates what I know:



The top claw is the anchor, with four strings heading out from it. These go down and connect to the four "fingers" of the wing. That joint you can see (circled in purple) at the top of each finger is the only actual joint on the wings, so the elastic connects to those pieces. Restringing it would be a bit like restringing less complicated, larger jointed hands. Hope that helps!

 

Yes, this actually helps quite a bit! It definitely makes me less nervous about getting her to know the wings may come pre-strung. And thanks for the reference of how the joints function too. This entire process is nerve-wracking! Thank you so much.

 

@The_amphibian

You're very welcome! And I know it's pretty scary at first, but re-stringing isn't as terrible as it sounds. I'd look up some general tutorials if you're nervous (that's how I taught myself) and sort of pry open your doll to familiarize yourself with how their stringing setup works. After that it's really more a question of brute strength than skill, haha. DC dolls tend to be strung very tightly because of all those extra pieces.

 

They seem pretty tightly strung after watching a few box openings. They don't seem to like laying flat! I think I'll have to look up some stringing tutorials. But I'm hoping not to restring her if I don't have to... But I guess if I want the wings attached, I may have to... Ahh... It's all an adventure! Thanks for being so nice!

 

@The_amphibian

I think the main reason they don't like to lie flat or are sometimes kicky is because of their very rounded joints, most of all. They don't have "kips", or the things that interlock and keep the knees from bending, etc.

Also no problem! I know information is difficult to find, so any gaps I can fill in, I'll do so. I had no idea what to expect with my own doll, so I feel you.

 

So happy i can across this thread. The info on the wings string was a great help. Planning t buy the adult winged body but want to hybrid it to a different head. Anyone here used the body but used a different company’s head? The neck girth is so thin 7 to 8cm that im having difficulty finding another doll head from another company. Pls share if u have ty

 

A huge thank you to @BlackSheep - this is so helpful - I just got my A-body-04-1 and there was no way that elastic was going to pull all the way though. thanks for the tutorial for an alternative!

 

@Grimalkin Oh, you're welcome! I totally forgot I made this, but I'm glad people are still finding it useful!