Manipulating and bending flawed statues after heating them

[moonlightdrive21]

Hey guys, have any of you ever used the hot water bath technique on statues (instead of hair dryer) on legs and feet to get it to fit on the base properly when they don't line up with the base holes or footprints or for some other reason a statue needs to be reshaped?

If so, how successful were you and does this usually work?

Any issues with paint blistering from the hot water? Can this method only be used once for that reason, or multiple times until it works?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

[aa909]

Originally Posted by moonlightdrive21

Hey guys, have any of you ever used the hot water bath technique on statues (instead of hair dryer) on legs and feet to get it to fit on the base properly when they don't line up with the base holes or footprints or for some other reason a statue needs to be reshaped?

If so, how successful were you and does this usually work?

Any issues with paint blistering from the hot water? Can this method only be used once for that reason, or multiple times until it works?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

I've only used the hairdryer technique. It works really well depending on how much you need to reposition a part.

[Halcyon]

Good question.

But unfortunately I can't help you with it.

I am more inclined to adjust the metal rod and/or remove/add some resin with dremel/metal file. In order to achieve the desired end result between feet and base. But that is probably bcs i'm a mechanical engineer.

[mmk123]

I have never heard of the hot water technique but I would be afraid of damaging the statue.

Are you able to return the statue and maybe get a new one or was this purchased off of Ebay or second hand?

[moonlightdrive21]

Thanks for the responses guys. I can return the statue if I have to and if my attempt to fix it does not work out, but for me that's a last resort because I really love it. If I try to fix it and do more damage, I was told by the dealer that I can still get a refund, so I figured worth trying. I can't get a replacement, so it's either fix it and keep it, or refund it and not get the statute.

But even generally speaking, I am interested in learning about what heating techniques work. A very experienced resin figure caster just told me the hot bath technique often works with bear resin that's not painted (he's done it), but he was not sure about how well the paint would handle it.

[Asgard]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

I am more inclined to adjust the metal rod and/or remove/add some resin with dremel/metal file.

That would be my first choice too.

[UnicornPegasus]

I have done both. The hair dryer works well for PVC, and then I set them with cold water. And I've used the boiling water method for one resin Storm bust many years ago. It worked well, but you have to be really careful with it. What I needed to do took it too far, and exposed unpainted resin as I bent her cape. I plan on making her a custom, so it wasn't a huge loss for me, but you should only use either method if the needed tweak is a really smalllllllll modification. Whenever possible I'd go the hair dryer route, but the water can be quicker. I just noticed my Black Canary Bishoujo is leaning forward a lot today, so she's gonna get the hair dryer treatment soon. I've heard of people using heat guns too, and that freaks me out. It's far too easy to go from warm to burned to a crisp with those in a flash, so I would not even try that one myself.

[AC_808]

I've never used the hot water method. Always thought using hot water on painted resin/polystone/PVC was just too risky of ruining the paint.

I've used the hairdryer method instead. It allowed me to control the amount of heat better ... and in a gradual manner. Worked well for me so far.

I've also used sandpaper to gradually remove some material off the key when the statue wouldn't fit all the way into the base. Gradual sanding until the statue fit perfectly into the base. Did the same process on a portrait once to make the portrait fit better on the statue.