Found a similar but interesting method of repairing borken figma joints recently.
The "patient" this time here is Cyranc's figma Cute with broken shoulder joints, which is actually a limited figma that comes with the special pack of the PSP game Queens Blade Spiral Chaos.
Solution:
Kansetsu Waza (関節技) ball joints from Premium Parts Collection. 小櫻 (Sakura) has also told me about this as an alternative to Kotobukiya's M.S.G. series. The ball joint sets come in 5 different colours (dark grey, flesh, light flesh, G grey, and pure white), and cost about 500 Yen each. More information on this as well as other joints available can be found on this page from Yellow Submarine.
Hobby Search currently has the flesh one in stock as of writing this post. The one shown above is the light flesh colour.
The top joint is the broken figma joint, and the one below is the replacement one. Cyranc found it difficult to remove the remainder of the shoulder joint from the figure's torso, so he has done so modification to the replacement joint while keeping the remainder of the broken joint inside the torso.
He drilled a hole through the remainder of the broken joint, and sand one end of the replacement joint so that it's just small enough to fit into the hole.
Glue the replacement joint to the hole, and it's done.
I hope I got all that right.
Again, there will be some work required to do the repair, but again if you put the effort and passion to what you like and succeed, then the end result can be very satisfying and rewarding.
Hope this is useful for those who are looking for ways to repair their broken figmas or other action figures, or just as a rough guide for possible future reference.
Source and images from Cyranc via OurToysLand forum
Again like 小櫻 (Sakura)'s method if you want to share it too please give a link back to Cyranc's blog too.
as I heard lately figma lower the quality especially the paintjob and sculpt -_-
ReplyDeletefor broken joint It always happen lol
aww crud!
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me that I have to buy a set of those joint types for something which I bought from wonderfestival.
Best do it now before I forget again...
I've also found that more recent revoltechs don't seem to be quite as well made as the older ones too. Perhaps that is why they started selling revoltech joints separately in japan...
Dude, u gotta stop breaking ur figmas man........... OH, I forget u don't own her. :P
ReplyDeleteThis method is quite similar to the last one u featured.
Like I already said, u need to have the right tools and replacements to make it work.
As for me, yeah, I'm lazy so I take the easy method, buy a new figma. :D
(PS: It wouldn't work if it's an exclusive) ;)
Thanks alot for collecting different ways to repair action figures.
ReplyDeleteLuckily I dont need them yet but ill keep it in mind
Thanks for this. I need this repair for my figma Fate.
ReplyDelete@ moemoekyun:
ReplyDeleteActually I won't be surprised by that. Drossel's fragile shoulder joint was one fo the case for figma.
One of the more prominent case I heard was the GFFMC Zeta Plus, where its usual paint job was lacking compared to the rest of the line. Not sure the reduce of quality now and then is got to do with the cost of production though since I am not familiar with it.
@ gundamkehutykai:
I am not so familiar with Revoltechs, but I did hear some are not as well made as others (e.g. the recently released Macross Valkyries are rather poorly received, but the Sengoku Basara ones are very popular).
Not so sure whether spare Revoltech joints being sold seperately is got to do with lesser quality of Revoltechs, but at least it's good news for those who want spare parts or have joints in need of a replacement.
@ Optic:
Well, buying a new figma to replace a broken one is a solution of some kind, but for those that are long discontinued or are exclusives then it'll be better to repair them than to leave them just broken or even throw them away...
And there is no lazy way out when it comes to repairing broken joints. On the other hand, think about it - it is doable. Repairing a broken joint and make an action figure all well and poseable again can be very rewarding (if one puts in the effort to do so).
@ Blowfish:
Hope we won't break any for the time being, but if we do I do hope these will work well for us.
On a different note, you may know this already, but you can buy spare Revoltech joints from sites like Hobby Search should any Revoltech figures of yours do break. A bit unlikely to happen, but at least their joints are easier to replace than the figma ones.
@ Tommy:
So that "Instant Krazy Glue" of yours did not work at the end? Hope this one will work out well for you!
Hello again. This is another useful article. Great, and thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso, quoting a fellow forumer:
"if figma suffer broken wrist, does anyone have any idea how to repair it? can the same method above be applied on broken wrist?"
Yeah, so I was wondering if you had any info on repairing the wrist part. I think that's the most fragile joint =\
@ xetrov:
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!
The wrist joint really is a tricky one, and yes I agree it's one of the most fragile joints for figmas (especially with the earlier ones). Most that I have found would have you to clear and destroy whatever that's stuck inside the hole with a drill or something thin and sharp.
As for repairing what's left of the hand part, you can make a peg with anything that is rod shape or if you are willing to do modding then pla plates maybe a good idea too.
There are not a lot of details on the repair here but you can have a quick look on this Yuki Witch version here:
http://sotbest.blogspot.com/2008/10/figma-yuki-witch-edition.html
Thank you very much, Q. So I guess this is what they called "Prevention is better than cure". Better be extra careful from now on.
ReplyDelete@ xetrov:
ReplyDeleteIndeed "prevention is better than cure". You may have read about it already but I did write a general guide for figma care quite some time ago. Hope it helps.
http://quentinlau.blogspot.com/2008/10/figma-care.html
Despite being action figures, figma are pretty delicate, so they are more like for display than to play around with IMHO.
Yep, read that already. Thanks for the reminder though =)
ReplyDelete@ xetrov:
ReplyDeleteNo problem.
Btw I have just read up a bit on the figma thread on your forum. Looks like people have the misconception that even normal shops in Hong Kong sell fake figmas like the online auction sellers. Those online sellers (at least some are likely to be from mainland) are already hurting Hong Kong's reputation badly by using "Hong Kong" as a namesake for "higher margin", so please don't drag the innocent shops along with those guys. Shops that do sell fake stuff exist but are not easy to find.
I can't stress this enough - just because one has bought stuff from Hong Kong via online auctions/shops it does not mean s/he knows how everything's like over there without even stepping foot on the actual place.
Actually, I think someone had bought fake toy from a shop when visiting Hong Kong. The news spread, and people got concerned. But I can't say anything more as I have no other resource to back this up, nor have I ever been to Hong Kong before.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wouldn't know if it's a few cases or just one news/rumor that kept getting spread around again and again in several forums.
Normally, I wouldn't care much about these talks. Like I've mentioned in the forum, it's only the online sellers that I find hard to trust. If it's the shop, I'll only believe it when I see it.
But I don't think that it'll hurt HK reputation as there's still a lot of toy fans here (in Malaysia) who like to go to HK just to buy toys. It's just more of a worry since we can't always go back to the shop by just taking a cab.
I don't know how else I can reassure you, but if it helps, I could relay your message in the forum.
@ xestrov:
ReplyDeleteReally? I heard quite a few stories stemming from figure.fm, where a number of Danny Choo readers got their fake stuff from eBay sellers supposedly from Hong Kong. Those rumours really do spread, giving some readers a thought that Hong Kong is not reliable for place to buy anime-related goods.
I see that the previous reply has been relayed back to the forum. I am available for email for those who cannot gain access to blogspot, but it may take some time for me to reply.
Well, we can't do much if other people want to believe rumors instead of the truth. Of course, there's no perfect country. But many just prefer the easy way out instead of spending time to look further into the matter. If there's a bad rumor, they'd rather not go there to waste time. Sad fact, yeah.
ReplyDeleteBut at least when it comes to true figure fans, I bet they'll search high and low for their favourite figures, and ignore rumors altogether.
By the way, since you've read the post in the forum, do you mind listing out some famous shop names and perhaps some direction too? That is, if you have the time. Also, are there a lot of shops selling figma/revoltechs? In any case, thank you very much.
@ xetrov:
ReplyDeleteListing out shops will be outside my capability, but I can give you a link which shows a general list of toy shops in Hong Kong from ToysDaily forum.
http://www.toysdaily.com/discuz/thread-823-1-1.html
Somebody made a map of general places to hunt out for MongKok. You can check it out here. I do plan to do posts on directions and maps in the future (made my version of the Mongkok map but haven't uploaded it yet), but it would have to be in the summer when I have more time on my hands.
Shops selling revoltechs are fairly easy to come by. As for figmas the popular ones (e.g. K-On!) can get sold out rather quickly, leaving the remaining stock having inflation in prices.
Q, again, thank you. Sorry if I've made too many requests lately. Hehe.
ReplyDelete@Q Unfortunately, the crazy glue didn't work because it didn't bond that well with the plastic.
ReplyDelete@ xetrov:
ReplyDeleteOh don't worry about it. In fact I have decided to join the XL TOYS forum (even if it may be for a short period of time) in case there are more questions since it will be easier for us and other fellow hobbyists to communicate.
@ Tommy:
Ah I see. Looking forward to know whether this method works for you or not!
thanks for the tip!!! (^_^)b
ReplyDelete@ Carla:
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, and I am glad that you find the tips useful there! ^^
This tutorial is a LIFESAVER! Thanks!
ReplyDelete