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EBL and BL Surgery
- You will need the following tools: Crochet hook, Flat head
screwdriver, Phillips screwdriver and a Razor knife. A pair of
needle nose pliers may also come in handy. |
- I slip a crochet hook underneath the
spring and pull it off the plastic rod.
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I work my way around the scalp, pulling up
on the hair along the scalp line to see if I am able to find an area
where the scalp will pull away from the face plate. The best place
to start would be at the sides of the head, where there is a gap in the
flange. (as shown in the photo below left).
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Once I have an area that has pulled away
from the face plate, I use a flat head screwdriver (with the head of
the screwdriver wrapped in masking tape to prevent sharp edges from
cutting into or tearing the scalp), and I push it in this small opening
and pull up. I work my way around the head, pulling up as I go.
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Make sure not to rest the shaft of the screwdriver
on the plastic head plates when prying. That will cause gouges.
I often use my thumb to rest the screwdriver while prying.
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If you are lucky, and
your Blythe does not have a lot of glue, you will not have any
problems and the flange will come out of the gutter neat and clean.
However, if your Blythe does have a lot of glue, you may need to
cut the flange a bit or work very, very carefully to loosen the flange
(using a razor knife). If some of the flange tears away, don't be
alarmed. Just try to preserve as much as possible. If you do end up
with some flange left in the gutter, due to excessive glue, you can
use a pair of needle nose pliers to grab onto it and pull it out. Then
use a razor knife to remove any pieces that may still be glued into
the gutter. |
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Once you have removed
the scalp, this is what the head will look like. EBL and BL blythe's
heads will come apart in two pieces and do not require sawing like the
SBL blythes. You can see the line, where the front and back head
plates will come apart. |
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Remove the two screws
from the back face plate. |
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In order to separate
the front and back head plates, I first use my razor knife, running it
along the seam on the TOP of the head. There will normally be a lot of
glue on the seam. Then I wiggle the body front to back, which creates
a bit of room where the neck of the body fits in to the head. As you
get the front and back head plates to separate, you may need to use
your razor knife again, to cut through glue on that TOP seam.
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Once you have the head
plates apart, this is what it will look like. Your EBL blythe may or may
not have the posts on the inside back head plate. |
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- When you are ready to
put the scalp back on, if you find it difficult to get the scalp to
fit well, you may need to use your razor knife to shave off the "grippy"
knobs along the front and make more room for the flange. Try refitting
your Blythe's scalp back onto the head before you do this. If the
flange goes back into the gutter and you have a good fit, you don't
need to shave them off. If the flange seems like it doesn't want to
fit back into the gutter, shaving these off will fix the problem.
- When shaving in the
gutter, PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL. Do NOT rush. You do not want the razor
to slip and scratch or gouge your Blythe's face plate. You also do not
want to cut yourself.
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