Repairing Lego minifigure torso cracks/damage

Question

I have a ton of Lego minifigures that I really put through their paces throughout my childhood (fighting pirates, exploring space... basic stuff really). A number of them are damaged on the torso. Starting at the base on the left and right sides of the torso there are cracks that extend upwards toward the minifigure's "armpit". The cracks cause the legs to be loosely attached to the torso (and hence fall out sometimes).

Is there a way to repair damage (probably not) or hide it and prevent further cracks from creeping up the torso?

Answer 1

one thing that worked for me is to use a very small needle-nose plier or a tweezer to hold the torso from inside while pushing the crack apart (very carefully). now you can use a toothpick or a needle get a bit of superglue in the crack to fix it.

note that this just works for bigger cracks like the ones going up to the armpits.

Answer 2

I had this trouble when I was a nipper. My dad owned a model shop so I used the same glue that you use on Airfix type kits ("Polystyrene cement") - you can get this from model shops. Use a cocktail stick to smear a bit inside the figure, above where the top nobules of the legs will go so it won't interfere. Don't use too much because it kind of melts the plastic, almost like welding it.

Because of this it'll dry and hold the crack shut, but because you're not holding the crack open when you apply, you won't see the glue, it'll be like a patch on the inside.

Be sure to test on a scrap bit of lego 1st to see how it affects the plastic. Add too much and it'll turn your figure into a shapeless blob. also note it takes maybe 20 mins to dry

Answer 3

There is at least one possible way to hide the damage to a cracked torso and brace it at the same time. Wrapping the outside of a cracked minifig torso with a decal and/or a piece of transparent tape can increase the snugness of the pelvis/torso fit as well as reduce the rate of future cracking.

There is a downside. If you do this without taking due care, your minifigs will look shoddy. Sometimes it's better to use a cracked stock minifig in the background of a model rather than having a poorly repaired minifig stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of an otherwise stellar project.

Answer 4

What I have found that works, most of the time, is DURO super glue. Extreme safety must be exercised as it is super glue and can cause skin to bond and burn as well as prove poisonous via inhalation. I would recommend using wet(with water) latex cleaning gloves as the water seems to prevent the gloves from sticking to themselves or each other to handle the glue, and then using a nail or something thin to apply it to the crack. However, it can cause the piece's colour to rub off, so be careful. One should always test the cracks(dependent on piece, e.g. putting legs into a torso). and look for more(with magnified glass (glasses, monocles, loupes, magnifying glasses, etc.) before returning it to use. The glue must be left to dry for at least 8 hours(maybe more), even though it will initially appear dry. Still, it seems to work. The torso I had from Rodney Rathbone had a bad crack on the left side, and some DURO seems to have done the job.

Answer 5

I used option 2 and I couldn't fit the needle. So if you can't get a bottle of gorilla glue and stick the tooth pick. First take out the legs and the where the crack is. Then you stick the toothpick into the gorilla glue and apply on the inside crack and outside crack. Make sure you get the cracks bottom where it transitions from inside to outside