Tell me what you think of KIPS --

[inari]

I've hot-glue-sueded a couple of my dolls, and it's helped their posability. I'm considering trying the Volks Kips discs on some of the others. If you've used Kips, what do you think of the results? Are they easy to use? Which joints did you Kips-ify? ;) I saw a thread describing how Kips can get sucked into the doll's body, and that's kinda worrisome...

Thanks for your input!

[Tereya Chan]

I have KIPs in three of my dolls. One I had them put in, two came with them. All of them have them in their wrists, elbows, and shoulders. I like them pretty well and would consider getting them for my other dolls. I do recommend if you have KIPs to make sure your doll is strung fairly tight. It helps them hold the poses that the KIPs allow much better. I did notice a great improvement in my SD10 boy after I had KIPs put in.

[Osaka]

I have KIPS in my SD13 boy's arms, and wow, the difference it made! He can hold his arms in place now, defying gravity. ^-^ I've not had any problems with them getting sucked into the body. It's also very, very quick to put them on--just a matter of removing the arms and sticking the discs in the appropriate places between joints. It's much, much faster than hot-glue sueding (which I've also done). The one gripe I have is that the arm components don't nest together quite so neatly with the KIPS, but it's a small price for how nicely they help dolls hold poses.

[Mid]

If you could find small plastic/silicon (right material?) washers, they would probably work the same as KIPs at a smaller price.

Having said that, I bought a pack of KIPs for one my big boys. His arms were already strung tight, so some poses he held. With the KIPs he was three times are strong holding them. I've only used them in his arms.

When I was starting out with them, I had problems with them sticking and being sucked into his arms and torso. I think it was because his arms were TOO tight (it's hard for me to change his hands).

They're an excellent choice for owners like me who aren't comfortable with sueding.

[decadentarisu]

They're an excellent choice for owners like me who aren't comfortable with sueding.

I totally agree with this. My little girl has KIPS in her shoulders, elbows, thighs and knees. They work really well in helping her keep poses, especially standing since for some reason the MSD suwarikko body is pretty floppy as compared to an SD suwarikko body I handled once that had superb posing. The SD body I handled once had KIPS in her shoulders and elbows and so far, they didn't get sucked in.

Meanwhile, on the MSD suwarikko body, they work fabulously on her shoulders and elbows but they work a little funny on the knees and thighs. I might consider having those parts hot-glue sueded or actually sueding them someday. :wahwah

[chizzie_shark]

Hmm, the silicon washers sounds like a good idea. It'd be better than all the hassle of having them shipped from Volks.

[Jun]

I think I prefer hot glue sueding myself. My SD13 girl has them and they just keep being a pain in her shoulders , sticking out.. they're nicer in her elbows.
I can't say about her legs, since she's wired.

[Resin Angels]

I've sueded, hot glued and used kips in some of my dolls. I love kips the most, they are so easy to put in. I have only used them in the arms and shoulders so far but I am going to try and use them in the legs of my CP girls to fix the notorious CP kicky legs.

[TrekkieGrrrl]

There's also another product, same principle as KIPS only as a DiY thing: Pupaparadise (http://pupapa.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=994) sells a silicone sheet where you can make your own - the great thing about this is that it's cheap and should you like to line a torso or something, it's possible as well.

I tried it and it works! Before I put those in, Harry could have either TOTALLY straight arms, or bent to an approximate 90 degree angle. Now he can do inbetweens, too :D

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/ABJD/Sili01.jpg

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/ABJD/Sili02.jpg

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/ABJD/Sili03.jpg

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/ABJD/Sili04.jpg

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/ABJD/Sili05.jpg

[kateb]

Awesome thread, thanks for all this info! One question though: should the discs get sucked into the legs/arms/wherever, are they easy to get out again...? How do you do it? Just kinda ... poke them back out? ^^;

[TrekkieGrrrl]

Well... mine hasn't been sucked in yet. Should that happen I would assume you could pry them out with a crochet needle or something similar. Or just leave them *L* As long as they don't interfere with the elastic movements...
One of our dolls has a small piece from a metal hook somewhere in her leg. It snapped when I was trying to pull the elastic and I can't even FIND it in her. I just know it's there somewhere. But it doesn't seem to affect anything so.. I just leave it be :lol:

[Ares]

I have a problem with kips. Sometimes their run into legs and arms holes. But when they are well installed, works really fine.

[MieAga]

My complaint is that they effect how the joint fits together. Asthetically it looks wierd when the seems on the elbows don't match up. I keep having this urge to 'fix it'. Otherwise they do their job...but so does hot glue. (shrugs)

[Astrid]

I had them in an oldskin girl I used to own but it seemed like the kips discs kept getting sucked up and in to the joint. I dont have them on any of my current dolls so I cant really say how they would do there...

[Resin Angels]

I love them, I just wish they would make bigger ones for the top of the legs for my CP girls.

[pianissimo]

Resin Angels wrote:I am going to try and use them in the legs of my CP girls to fix the notorious CP kicky legs.

Hello! How did you get on? I'd be interested to know if it worked well - CP kicky legs are my pet hate :(

[sgtgeorgecarter]

My understanding is that Kips weren't meant for legs.

I have them in the neck of my Narae and she no longer has that snapping head thing. I also have them in the the necks of the two MSDs I have. I haven't really needed them for anyone else.

If I keep my Limho little boy, he'll get one in his neck as well.

[Laylian]

I put KIPS in the arms of my DOD boy and they worked amazingly well. His arms wouldn't stay up at all before, but now he's taking up the camera time like my Souldoll is XD I don't like it when they show through the joints, but a quick trim can take care of that ^_^

[miyako]

KIPS are awesome stuffs, really. I've installed them in the neck & shoulders of my dolls, and now they can make certain poses stay very well.

[inari]

Hey, thanks for all the responses, everybody. I got a pack of Kips at the Volks store this summer and have tried them in the shoulders, elbows, and knees of my dolls. They do improve the arm posing, and also help my girls keep their knees from bending at the wrong times! I've had some close calls of a Kip almost getting sucked into the joint though. And, I haven't been able to find any silicone washers here, so I ordered the Pupaparadise silicone sheet in TrekkieGrrrl's post. I've still been hot-glue sueding the larger areas, though. Maybe I'll try some of the silicone sheet to line a torso joint. Thanks again. :yey

[gaylejoy]

Kips are great on some dolls but on others they will fall through the holes, you can use both kips and hot glue sueding in these cases. coolcat on ebay has silicone ones that I use.

[elphsnt]

I really like the Kips in the neck and shoulders in my MSD. I love them! But, I think any doll designed well and strung right doesn't really "need" them elsewhere. I only really notice my Kips as being a necessity when positioning an arm upwards or with a head tilt. But, that's me. Everyone requires their dolls to do different things. :)

[Witchypoo]

I've used a combination of a Kips and a Luts neck piece on my MNM head/body guy. It vastly improved his head positions. He can even look down, I had thought that would involve sanding his neck & head, but the Kips fixed it.

[Bobster]

My new Megu has them in her arms. They do look a bit odd by separating the joint some, but work very well. I like them so much; I picked up 3 more kits of them from Volks this week. We will be installing them on the others as soon as they get here.

Bobby

[Tsukidoll]

I just got my first Volks doll. She came with Kips I definitely like them. But I was wondering does anyone have both Kips and the Silicone sheets from Pupa that you make yourself. Is there a difference in quality?
If I could save money on having to buy kips for all my dolls and not sacrifice quality I am all for it. I do love everything I have gotten from Volks except the price tag lol.

[Wickedgood]

I haven't had experience with the Pupa sheets, but I have ordered silicone disks from Cool Cat and they are virtually identical to the Volks ones. http://us.sk-coolcat.com/front/bin/ptlist.phtml?Category=158911

I love Kips! I put them into my BlueFairy May and she actually can hold a pose now :)

[Izayoi]

I have KIPS in all my dolls (except my yos) and they work amazingly well. If the KIPS start to get sucked into the body you can use a tweezer to pull them out. Otherwise you have to unstring your doll to remove them if they get completely sucked into the body.

I spoke to one of the doll advisors at the Volks store and she explained that KIPS discs are only meant for the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and neck. I don't remember what she said about ankles as this was over a year ago. They are not to be used in the hips and knee joints as that can interfere with the locking mechanism of Volks dolls.

[Buff]

I find they are a bit too much for the wrists, personally, but I really like them in the shoulders and elbows. You must use the really big one for the shoulders, or it will get sucked in. Other than that, I haven't had any problem.

[Maxwell]

when I had a Dolpa 20 Kurumi who had kips in her shoulders, elbows, and neck... I didn't like them at all :/ they didn't really help keep any pose in my opinion.

[choumai]

I think it's enough for shoulders and elbows.
The neck one is easy to break and hard to post the head after it's partially broken.