Figures with loose joints? Here's stuff that can help

[1AZRAEL1]

If some of your figures are like mine, they can't stand, can't hold a weapon up, loose hinges and ball joints, this stuff works.

KIKI product Ebay link

Works great on hinges and ball joints and mushroom pegs. It's thin enough to work its way into the joints without having to take figure apart. Fairly cheap and you don't use much so a bottle should last quite a while. Recommended. Some YouTube videos are worth a look to see how it works

[Thurmus]

I have found using clear nail polish works for me most of the time but it may be worth a look.

[Trent]

What’s the difference between this stuff and floor polish?

[1AZRAEL1]

I usually use clear nail polish on ball joints too by popping them off to put a coat on the ball before putting back on, but this stuff runs alot thinner. So hinges/pin joints it works into the joints alot better.

Can't say I have used floor polish, on figures, or ever lol.

[Skyfire]

What’s the difference between this stuff and floor polish?

About 5 times the price? From what I've read I believe KiKi is polyurethane. So if you are also handy with your floors/furniture, and have some polyurethane in the garage (water-based is perhaps easier clean up), you could give that a go with a fine paintbrush. You can buy from a hardware store, like Bunnings, as polyurethane or timber varnish.

Another method is to build plastic with supaglue (cyanoacrylate) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, pool/spa alkaliniser). I use this to repair missing or deformed plastic and so can also be used to bulk up plastic (joints). If you apply a dot or layer of supaglue then sprinkle bicarb over it (I recommend doing this over the bicarb container or tray to conserve bicarb and avoid mess), it will instantly harden and dry. You can then layer more supaglue and sprinkle again (I wait a few minutes between layering). When there is enough mass, use sandpaper (like 240 grit) or a hobby rotary tool to shape it. I've stopped ball joints popping out by slightly reinforcing the edge of the socket with this method. I've also created a ball joint from nothing - a metal pin with a drop of glue on it, creating a sphere, sprinkle, drop another glue drop onto that sphere to make a larger sphere, sprinkle, etc, without even needing to sand, then finished with a paint coating. Built plastic is really tough when it sets as the glue bonds (melts) into the plastic then sets hard with the bicarb. If the mass is large enough, hand sanding can take forever. That's how tough it is. And when sanded back, you can see how the areas have merged. It dries whitish and can be painted over and if you haven't got it right, you can sand back and start again. The downside is that if you get supaglue in the wrong spot, it could ruin your figure.

[Ravagecat]

That's some handy tips there All, building a ball joint from scratch... impressive Skyfire - Cheers

[Magnus]

Does anyone else have experience with Kiki Fix Loose Joints? I've got a few figures with joints that could use tightening and I'm curious about it.

I must admit to being a bit cagey about using this stuff because no ingredients are listed, but somebody on Reddit thinks that it's water-based polyurethane.