Repairing cracked arms and torsos

[Heir of Black Falcon]

So as I have brought out my collection of Castle Lego from the 80s and an alarming event has appeared. I have found several men with cracked arms near the wrists and one gent with a cracked torso on one side.

Is their a remedy from this or are they now just sadly destined to remain cracked minifigs?

Any solutions CCers?

Heir

[LEGOFREAK]

with cracked torsos I've found a drop of superglue usually does the trick. Sadly - I've found no help for cracked arms...

[Heir of Black Falcon]

Are we really the only two that have ever had this problem? Maybe it does not bother most people and I am just a bit crazy.

Thanks for the torso help! Maybe I can try it with the arms as well?

Heir

[Kevin1990]

I think the best thing for your cracks arms is to buy new arms on bricklink

[JoshWedin]

This is a common issue with older figs. Most of my cracked torsos were on figs that where engaged in "jousting".

I haven't ever tried to repair them. I just kept them and bought replacements, if I needed them.

Josh

[RichardAM]

I have plenty, but the leg assembly still slides into the majority of them so I keep them in play. The ones that have been cracked too much (and result in hands/legs sliding out) invariably, well, get thrown out.

Generally these are the torsos I have plenty of, like early 90s Policemen, Pirate grunts etc.

[Heir of Black Falcon]

So just keep truckin' eh....

How broke is too much? Hands that just fall out?

I may run some of my own tests to try and repair them. If it works I will let you know.

Heir

[Pallando the Blue]

I've had this happen at well.

You know, if you're throwing them out anyway, you may as well glue a hand in. Or even better with a pair of hips. The hand won't turn, but the hips don't lie.

Er, come out, I mean.

And I'd rather have an original torso with glued in hips than throwing away a cracked crusader torso.

[Barbrickian]

I've had this happen at well.

You know, if you're throwing them out anyway, you may as well glue a hand in. Or even better with a pair of hips. The hand won't turn, but the hips don't lie.

Er, come out, I mean.

And I'd rather have an original torso with glued in hips than throwing away a cracked crusader torso.

Good point.

[LEGOFREAK]

I have had to throw out a few torsos, but not as many as one would think. I'll use arms up until they can't hold a spear upright. at that point they become unusuable to me....

I still have a bunch of crusader torsos, but the problem I've had with them has been more the gold paint coming off and turning black, rather than cracked torsos.

[Gecko]

I've had this happen to a few of my torsos as well. A drop of super glue works fine as long as you take out the arms before glueing (If you want the long story, ask ).

[RichardAM]

I still have a bunch of crusader torsos, but the problem I've had with them has been more the gold paint coming off and turning black, rather than cracked torsos.

I was going to ask how everyone dealt with this.

I got a handful of classic space torsos incredibly cheap from eBay recently, and while half of them we're reasonable and fit for moc-ing, the others weren't. The emblem was half gone already so I brasso'd the rest off to give me plain torsos instead, perfect for random townies or minifigs within mocs.

[Blaze Ryder]

I've had this happen, and this is my solution:

For my torsos, I take a Q-Tip and some Testors model glue and apply it lightly, which seems to do the trick so far (I tried 4 years ago and it still holds). For the arms, I've done the same with toothpicks rather than Q-Tips (Attempted this 3 years ago).

The glue: http://www.hobbyland.com/images/hobbyla ... s3515C.jpg

I will post some of the minifigs as soon as my camera finishes charging !

-Blaze Ryder

[legokilt]

I have had these issues for years. After much trial and error I have developed some techniques that work well. I apologize ahead of time for the long explanations.

For the cracked arms (REMOVE THEM FROM THE TORSO, or you'll have them in permanent positions) I have a couple of jewelers vice grips. They are needle nose and don't have teeth. I use them to hold the arm after I apply a little bit of superglue. (If you are worried about them getting glued to the arm put a bit of wax paper between them and the arm. Before I apply the glue I use the tip of an xacto knife to pry the arm apart a bit. Add the glue and quickly remove the blade. Put them in the vice grips for about 30 minutes and when they have dried they are as good as new. If hands still slip, add a tiny bit of glue to the shaft of the hand and let it dry. Then rough up the glue with a glue with a needle file and you are good to go.

My work on the cracked torsos is similar to the arms. Pry the crack open add a bit of glue, quickly remove blade and put torso in a set of smooth (non toothed) vice grips. If done right it makes the torsos like new. I have done this with the arms in or out and as long as you are careful there is little difference.

As for the fading decals or ones that the metallic paint is coming off I do a few different things depending on my mood, how much I like the torso decal and what I am going to do with it.

If I want to get rid of the decal completely I don't use Brasso (my fiancee hates the smell), I use 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with a small dab of 3 in 1 oil on the torso. Looks like a new blank torso when you are done. Also, you can remove only part of the decal this way if that is your goal. I use this to modify faces. I sometimes use the tip of a knife to scratch a bit off then sand. If I like the general design but not the faded bits I use permanent markers by Squigley (not easily found in US, but much better than Sharpie) and draw over it if just the black outline is fading. On the old 80's torsos with the shoulder plates, I have made a bunch with completely black shoulder plates and they look great, especially on a red torso. If the gold is just beginning to fade, take the arms, head and legs off and spray a light coat of ABC clear plastic varnish or polyurethane on the torso. Allow at least 24 hours to cure (I recommend 48). This will keep the metallic from fading further and give the torso a nice luster. I have also used artist grade gold leaf to rub on in place of the original metallic. This works well but needs the lacquer. Lastly one thing I have done a few times recently is bought the reprints of the old decal torsos on Bricklink (I don't remember from whom), cut out just the decal and stick it to the torso over the faded decal and then lacquer. There is a small rise where the lacquer is but the fig still looks and feels great. I still haven't figured a way to keep the metallic swords from flaking. I have a few ideas but can't try for a few months until after my wedding, when I hope to post a bunch of photos of MOC's and minifigs I have made but not had time to post yet. Hope this helps.

[ColonelHawk]

I have done what Blaze Ryder said and it works. Testors model glue is perfect for arm repair. The glue seems to melt the plastic and meld it back together. I did it with a hand in place though so that as the plastic and glue dries, I can slide the hand in and out to keep the hole open and the right size for the hand to fit back in place. I have done it with several older figures arms and it works very well. Never had a torso crack so I haven't had to do it with one of them but I can't see why it won't work.