In this thread, DarkJedi wonders about the possibility of printing replacement T-hooks, and I express doubt about being able to, since the stress of the O-ring would cause the plastic of the hook to warp or break. However, this got me wondering about a way to replace T-hooks completely, as in, no hook or O-ring. That's when I hit upon the idea for the 'bubble wand' T-joint.

What if, instead of a T-bar with a hook on top to fasten to an O-ring, a bar was fashioned with a long shaft, terminating in an "O"? The length of the shaft would be such that there was just enough tension to hold the figure together tightly but still allow movement. The "O" would be just thick and deep enough to fit around the back peg where the O-ring used to. The attached picture isn't designed to any exact proportions, as it's just a rough sketch.



I don't actively collect RAH-style figures anymore, but I know a lot of guys do. So now I'm wondering if there would be any interest in this? Of course, this wouldn't be of use to someone restoring figures, but for customizing it might be useful, or for just displaying figures without having to worry about O-ring rot. What are your thoughts and opinions? If this seems to be something people are interested in, I'll design one up and test it with one of the various RAH figures I have with busted O-rings.

It would work if you could get a good design for a 3d printer.

I've never measured but I don't think the backscrew height within the torso was standard for all figures. You'd have to test with several figures from several years to come up with something to replace the o-ring. I mean, you're talking about using a "spine" to hold the figures together where the tension of the o-ring would have. I'm very intrigued.

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I can work up the design. That was a 2 minute job in Sketchup to get the idea across. I may try it this weekend if I get a chance. My concern is flat spots on the balls and all the support material that will be generated, leaving rough edges to be smoothed. I may try printing it in halves then gluing them together, so I have two flat surfaces to print. I haven't had much chance to play with the printer in the past month because of other projects that had to be done, but I should have a bit of time this weekend, finally.



I was wondering about that. I was hoping across the the bucks there was some sort of standard, so maybe 4 or 5 various bars could be made, or maybe one could be made, with limited adjustments. Possibly a two-piece, telescoping one, where you set the height and glue the two pieces together.

As someone that continues to buy ARAH figures from various sources, I do have a vested interest in seeing where this goes.

I've been stocking up on 0-rings and buying surplus t-hooks when I can.

As for the mock-up, I like what I see, but the one size may not work.

How about the o section is attached to a threaded section?

A two part piece that has the section where the legs attach with a small female end on the top. The male end is threaded with a vertical O. Say it comes in an inch length, which might fit the longer torsos. For shorter torso, you just clip the end, then screw into the waist part?

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That might work, too. This is definitely something I can see playing around with. My RAH collection has been relegated to containers because I was tired of having to replace O-rings. If something like this could work, I could pull them out to display again.

I'm skeptical...

Are you thinking this would be Rigid or made of a Flexible material?

If it's Rigid, I think it'll make assembly difficult, reduce articulation/posability, and possibly leave figures with floppy legs... The O-ring is needed to create pull the legs tight to the crotch, and the waist to the chest...

If you make the Bar out of a softer material, you'll have a lot of legs popping off. There isn't a lot of tolerance between the size of the ball on a T-hook and the bar that connects them... Using a material that is stretchy or flexible enough, would let the balls compress and slip out of the thigh...

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Semi-rigid, either ABS or PLA. My concern with it is the loss of waist mobility, since a solid spine would effectively fuse that joint. However, if done the way DJ suggested, it would take care of both issues. You could still move at the waist some by turning the threads. At the same time, the torso and legs could be assembled separately, then the two halves threaded together.

So I guess I don't see the point.

If you're not improving the end product...

If you're not reducing Cost...

What's the point? O-rings are cheap and easy to obtain...T-hooks are plentiful and easily harvested from fodder...

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I think it would be an improvement on the end product, especially for customs, since you would not have the O-ring snapping on you. O-rings are indeed cheap and easily obtained, but they also break easily, plus the active pressure of them pulling the pieces together is stress on increasingly brittle plastic that could be reduced/eliminated with a more passive force holding the figures together. I'm also thinking of the possibility for 3rd party figures to be created using the assembly, so they can mix visually with RAH figures, but be assembled from new parts rather than scavenged parts.


BTW, good questions and please keep them coming. It definitely helps formulate an idea.

Edited to add the 3rd party figure comment and the thanks

This is probably over complicating things, but I have follow through with this line of thinking.

What if the bar was spring loaded like cars shocks. A smaller shaft and spring is fed into a larger tube.

O
|Z|
|Z|
||
o==o

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what if the bar connecting the ball sockets were hollow where the bar that is attached to the O for the screw was its own bar and moved inside the other bar that contained the ball socket parts?

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Some good ideas. Hopefully I can put something together this weekend to test. What has me cautiously hoping this will work is scalability. Since I will be printing the parts, or at least a master part, I should be able to print at various scales. Want one of these for a 1:24 figure? No problem. 1:18? Sure thing. COPS collector needing to fix a figure? Gotcha covered...

This is a really creative approach to figure maintenance! Funny, too, since I just replaced an '86 BAT yesterday and '82 Short Fuze is broken today. At first I was concerned about losing waist flexibility, but I'm thinking it's not a huge problem. If you can pull off the "threaded M-F part" approach, that might solve flexibility as well as size (length) issues. I probably wouldn't give up O-rings altogether, but this would be a great solution for those permanently displayed figures (like my '82 Short Fuze and classmates). They don't need ultra flexibility, just the ability to stand up straight without going to pieces every few years.

Price-wise (it always comes down to money, right?), I think you'd have to find a way to make them pretty cheap, so you'd want to balance the costs. O-rings degrade, but you can get 100 for about $5. Constantly replacing them is definitely a drag, though.

Cyko, nice to see him visit JoeCust-hood.

Great idea, I like it. I'd have to go with the idea of a swiveling version that moves in and out so the torso and waist can move independently of one another. If these were to become available, i'd buy more than a few.

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