Asking For Some Pop Rivet Help...

[K'Tesh]

I recently was able to score a NECA Deluxe Alien Queen (the version from ALIENS (blue) not the version from ALIEN Resurrection (the brown one)). Problem is... The spines that attach on her back. More specifically, the ball joints that attach the spines to the back. They're a well known issue for owners of this action figure. They're hard to get to put into place, and worse, stay in place... I struggled and struggled to get my Queen's spines to stay in place, but unfortunately one of the ball joints snapped off, and another was damaged. The ball joint is actually shaped like a barbell, and each end fits into a socket on the figure, allowing multiple hinging points.

I have reached out to NECA, but the figure is OOP IINM, and I'm not holding out a lot of hope that they'll be able to help me replace the part (I also got two long spines for the right side instead of two short spines).


One suggestion from the FB Hive mind is to replace the ball joint with a used (open end) pop rivet's mandrel. If I could score 6 of these mandrels, I could drill the mounting holes to accommodate the mandrel, insert them (after painting them black (I'd prefer using metal blackening treatment)) then use the ball of the mandrel in the spines's socket. It eliminates some of the options for positioning, but would be far more stable than the existing setup.

So, do any you have 6 used mandrels with 3mm or 1/8" balls that I could talk you out of?

Thanks!
Jim

 

[K'Tesh]

You can disregard this request....

In a PM Conversation with H. Craig Miller, the idea of using wire and beads was suggested... I've found the beads, and they're on order