I Fixed a bent leg - for those who wonder how to do it.

This Papo horse arrived with a terribly bent leg...



Obviously would never be able to stand up...

(missing pictue)

So I held it under a stream of extremely hot water from the faucet...keep your fingers out of it - ouch!
Within 4 minutes the leg was soft and pliable. I moved it very carefully and positioned it with the folded cardboard between the legs.
This is the cardboard that sometimes comes with your figures and I had to use 2 of them to straighten the leg.

(missing pictues)



I left the cardboard for at least one hour to make sure it had plenty of time to cool down.

Tah Dah!

(missing pictures)


I had tried this once before with the old Schleich Appaloosa, but the leg was thicker and it didn't hold. I need to rework that horse's leg.
If this doesn't hold I will repost... :-)
I hope you find this helpful.

 ~ Sue

That works great I always run cold water over it after I get the leg straightened out and that seems to set it back in place

Super I hate it when figurines arrive bent, my schleich Akhal-Teke horse stands wonky, I'll have to see if I can fix the problem with your method.

Hurraaay

Good that you saved that lovely, old exmoor pony

Thankyou for showing, pictures are SO much better than words

What a great idea! I have niver had a figure with a bent leg, but I keep this in my head!

@LittleLady wrote:

What a great idea! I have niver had a figure with a bent leg, but I keep this in my head!

It happens if they are stored in a too warm place, - or stand in the sun
I only left schleich horses in the window sill ONCE

Thanks for posting Sue! My old Safari fox needs a bath! :)
That's an interesting and useful topic.
I think it is the first time we see a little of you, isn't it?

you could also remodel animals like this

I love this tip!! Thanks!!

I had to do this with one of my collecta Hannover stallions. I applied hot with a candle, in this way you only put hot in the area of your interest instead of all the leg. And I think the result is much better if you put the piece in cold water with ice inmediately after having put the leg in the correct position. You just have to wait a pair of minutes to see the result, and the sudden cold makes the blending more durable I think :) I also used this technique to repositionate a bit a leg of one of the horses who are waiting for a new coat ^^

@SyLoBe wrote:

I had to do this with one of my collecta Hannover stallions. I applied hot with a candle, in this way you only put hot in the area of your interest instead of all the leg. And I think the result is much better if you put the piece in cold water with ice inmediately after having put the leg in the correct position. You just have to wait a pair of minutes to see the result, and the sudden cold makes the blending more durable I think :) I also used this technique to repositionate a bit a leg of one of the horses who are waiting for a new coat ^^

So am I. Using candle is the best and fastest way to resume a part in right position or to remodel.

But keep a distance of 6 inches while applying hot otherwise the plastic may melted down.

Thanks for this helpful info! One thing really cool about this forum, is getting some helpful tips from other collectors.
Now, what technique is best used for changing animal figure positions(I have one Britain's Standing Gorilla, with arms(Hands) Krazy Glued to the chest(Instead of both arms right angled, for those familiar with the figure). I just used my own hands to push figures arms to chest and held for a four or five minutes til glue set. Say I wanted to make an elephant figures' trunk hanging down, instead of the curled up position.
Would sticking the trunk in boiling water make it more pliable for re-shaping?

@baltimore zoo wrote:

Would sticking the trunk in boiling water make it more pliable for re-shaping?

I would say yes :)

Thank you!
I'll have a try

I think Safari WW Asian is a good candidate! Bigger trunk to work with.

Thank you, I'm going to try this on my Science and Nature Lorikeet :)

Thanks for showing us how to fix the bent legs! This will be a good resource to have in the future. 

Does anyone have any additional tips to fix bent legs? I have some 1:32 scale water bucks which have bent legs and won't stand properly. I tried the hot water technique (60°C), heating/adjusting the legs then putting the figure in ice water, it works fine but after a short while the legs slowly go back to the warped position.

I believe my figures are made of PVC and I've read online where people recommend the hot water technique and they say its permanent but it isn't working for me after a few tries.

Has anyone experienced this where the plastic temporarily looks fine but then goes back to how it was? Any other techniques?

I've had luck with using a hairdryer on both Schleich-like plastic as well as cellulose acetate (Breyers). Just hold the hairdryer on the warped leg until it's warm (but not hot to the touch - just warm enough that it doesn't hurt your hand), bend and hold in place while running under cold water in the faucet. I like to run the water before I heat up the leg so I know it will be cold. Sometimes it will take several times until it stays in place, but eventually it should stay. I've had to do it many times with some CollectA horses but now they stand just fine.

I should really do this to my Nayab American Cheetah. Thanks for this helpful thread!



The poor fool can hardly stand up. He's too busy kicking himself!  

@LorenzoItaly wrote:

Thank you, I'm going to try this on my Science and Nature Lorikeet :)

My lorikeet won't stand up either!!!!

@LeeAnn wrote:

I've had luck with using a hairdryer on both Schleich-like plastic as well as cellulose acetate (Breyers). Just hold the hairdryer on the warped leg until it's warm (but not hot to the touch - just warm enough that it doesn't hurt your hand), bend and hold in place while running under cold water in the faucet. I like to run the water before I heat up the leg so I know it will be cold. Sometimes it will take several times until it stays in place, but eventually it should stay. I've had to do it many times with some CollectA horses but now they stand just fine.

Hi LeeAnn, you are probably right, I did notice that the legs were not as warped after the first few treatments so as you suggested I might have to do it a few more times for it to lock into the desired position each time getting closer to what I want.  Thanks for the tips!

@elephas_maximus wrote:

@LeeAnn wrote:

I've had luck with using a hairdryer on both Schleich-like plastic as well as cellulose acetate (Breyers). Just hold the hairdryer on the warped leg until it's warm (but not hot to the touch - just warm enough that it doesn't hurt your hand), bend and hold in place while running under cold water in the faucet. I like to run the water before I heat up the leg so I know it will be cold. Sometimes it will take several times until it stays in place, but eventually it should stay. I've had to do it many times with some CollectA horses but now they stand just fine.

Hi LeeAnn, you are probably right, I did notice that the legs were not as warped after the first few treatments so as you suggested I might have to do it a few more times for it to lock into the desired position each time getting closer to what I want.  Thanks for the tips!

It all depends on the material. If your figures are rubber, you're out of luck.

@elephas_maximus wrote:

Hi LeeAnn, you are probably right, I did notice that the legs were not as warped after the first few treatments so as you suggested I might have to do it a few more times for it to lock into the desired position each time getting closer to what I want.  Thanks for the tips!

Happy to help! I hope the hairdryer works for you.

@QuollMate wrote:

I should really do this to my Nayab American Cheetah. Thanks for this helpful thread!

The poor fool can hardly stand up. He's too busy kicking himself!  

That or he has an uncomfortable itch The hairdryer would probably work for you too.

@LeeAnn wrote:

@QuollMate wrote:

I should really do this to my Nayab American Cheetah. Thanks for this helpful thread!

The poor fool can hardly stand up. He's too busy kicking himself!  

That or he has an uncomfortable itch The hairdryer would probably work for you too.

He's made of PVC. Should I try hot water and cardboard, or the hairdryer?

Either would be fine, I prefer the hairdryer just because I'm less likely to hurt myself. You're probably better off with the hairdryer as well so you have the faucet handy for the cold water. I haven't experienced this with the PVC models, but I've noticed the plastic going cloudy on cellulose acetate when not cooled off right away

I wanted to add this video in this very useful topic from our kind Sue!
Ikessauro, a dino collector that makes lots of great walk around videos, made this simple video tutorial about how to fix a bent part in a plastic figure. It is in Portuguese language but it is quite simple, he is using a cup of hot water and then, a cup of cold water, preferrably with ice if possible. Link is here!