Papo Standing Issues

[Shenuday the Great]

(Sorry if this topic has already been discussed)
Recently I've noticed that many of my Papo theropod figures are having trouble standing. For a while now my running rex and allosaurus have been unable to stand at all. More recently, the same has happened to my baryonyx (unless you count the tripedal option). My feathered velociraptor can indeed stand, but has some trouble and can be knocked over easily (though this may just be due to the sculpt). Perhaps this is due to the type of plastic Papo uses being especially prone to warping?. Does anyone else have this problem?

P.S Yes, I know about the hot water fix. However, I've never really liked the idea of it.

[SidB]

It would be worth your while to browse through various threads in the forum and explore the various approaches members have tried, successful and not, to cure "the curse of the theropods." Beyond the hot water treatment, people have tried blow driers, bases, steel rods (internal), external transparent plastic rods,etc. Check it out.

[Shenuday the Great]

Ok, thanks for the advice. I'll take a look.

[Shonisaurus]

Perhaps the unstable Papo dinosaurs (in my case except for his oviraptor the rest have no stability problems) it would be a good idea to stick a little plasticine between the soil surface and the sole of the theropod in this case. It is also good to put them in the fridge so that in this way their legs contract and in this way they can stand up.

[Over9K]

I've had the best results getting leaners to stand with bases, made from oven-cured polymer clay, available at any hobby/craft store, and super simple to use.




Once you have the shape and thickness of your base figured out, you can use a stone to press texture into the clay, before you use the figure to make a set of footprints for the figure to set into.

You can rebake polymer clay, so if you need to adjust your base, you can. I have adjusted the base for my REBOR Killer Queen, to bring the front half of the body level with the ground, instead of leaning forward, as the model does normally. You can see looking at the feet, that this base corrects quite a bit of warping in the front leg of the dinosaur.

[Shenuday the Great]

Ok, thanks for the tips. Also, @Over9K I love the base you made for the giga!

[stargatedalek]

Hot water is the safest way by far to correct warping. Everything else requires either constructing a separate part like a base or invasive procedures that permanently alter the figure, and a hair dryer has the potential risk of accidentally melting the plastic.

Hot water shouldn't even be able to do any permanent damage unless you're heating it on a stove and let the figure touch the metal sides of a pot or kettle. Instead I recommend using a mug in a microwave, heat it for 2-3 minutes, then remove the mug and add the figure (don't place plastic in a microwave). You can even set the bent part in the water and leave it unattended with no risk of damage to the plastic.

[RobinGoodfellow]

..it's better never to throw away the original plastics that come with the figures..

[Shenuday the Great]

@stargatedalek Thanks for the info.

..it's better never to throw away the original plastics that come with the figures..

Yeah, you're probably right, but on some figures it can be a bit annoying.

[Shonisaurus]

@stargatedalek Thanks for the info.

..it's better never to throw away the original plastics that come with the figures..

Yeah, you're probably right, but on some figures it can be a bit annoying.

True, it is annoying but there is no other. Normally my figures stand up well but just in case ... I usually store their plastic packaging bases in theropods as Robin says and not only that I usually display them with the plastic of the packaging, for safety reasons. For example my yangchuanosaurus and tyrannosaurus Wilson (first and second version) from PNSO keep the plastic of the packaging and the same can be said for the acrocanthosaurus from Rebor and the gorgosaurus from Papo, it is very annoying anyway but there is no other solution.

Papo's dinosaurs, which is what the thread is about when it comes to theropods, I always keep them with the plastic of the packaging, especially those that are kept on two legs, tyrannosaurus running, ceratosaurus and of course the acrocanthosaurus the two versions of Papo and also Papo's pentaceratops.

[Shenuday the Great]

Ok, I'll probably start saving the plastic pieces.