When people bring us toys to fix, it’s because they are important and meaningful to them. So many good memories come with these toys; this plastic doll was no exception. Like many items that come to me, these treasures have deep sentimental value.
Materials
Processes
DAMAGE
This sweet doll came in for a limb and neck re-attachment. She was made of plastic and was from the 1950s era.
Complexities
This job took time. If there’s an easy and obvious exit at the back of the body or head, as is often the case, then the job is easier if the intention is to connect the body parts and if there is no other damage. You’ll see in another post how a 117-year-old doll with much internal damage made of porcelain was so much more challenging to repair.
Initially, I thought the voice box would be a good access port, but it was glued in place, and I couldn’t remove it. The voice box itself worked and did not need repair.
tools for narrow access points
To find elastic braided rope, I had to go to a mountain climbing store. I relied on the stretch of the rope to anchor the limbs against their joints.
It was tricky to tie the knots, so I had to create some tying tools to get between the limbs and body through the joints. I fabricated some tying tools that resembled long tweezers. The knots had to be tied extra tight for the limbs to pop back into their sockets.
I removed the old rope and looped the new rope through any eyelets or links internally through all the limbs and the head. Her eyes were not an issue. They opened and closed perfectly.
I started with one of the eyelets in the head, looped into one leg and arm and across to the other leg and arm. Then, I finished stringing the other eyelet of the head and stretched and tied everything together.
What took a long time? Fiddling with rigid, narrow access points.
final touches
The last stage was cleaning the doll. I combed her hair with a light brush and removed the dust from her clothes.