been working on a really messed up lion rn so thought i'd jot down some repair notes ^_^ best practices and then my fixes for specific problems


best practices:
my golden rule is to reversibly fix. stuff fails with use and that means fixes will fail too (although we'll do our best to make them live long), so use materials and fabrications that are repeatable and reversible. this means staying away from epoxies and adhesives for the most part- use the materials that are present in your lion if you can! sometimes you'll need to use a glue for something, but in general stay away. don't duct tape over paper or fabric & don't hot glue beards.. please... LOL

common issues
these are issues you can find guides for online! people will explain better than i can
restringing eyes/ ears, anything sewing related, washing/ fabric care


less common issues

frame problems:

terminology - ribs: rattan strips that go vertically upward from the base and loop around to attach to the base on the other side

ribs detatching from base (what i'm working on rn lol) -
there are a couple ways of fixing this issue. currently, i'm just 3d printing brackets to hold the ribs in place- this is also great if you have a broken/ too short rib, you can just make a taller bracket. if you don't know how to do CAD (maybe ill release the files.. hum), then you can clear the area around the rib so that the aluminum base frame is exposed and re-tie the rib to the frame with tape. i've used medical tape in the past, but most lion makers use masking tape. duct tape would be an ok replacement here, as long as you don't tape directly over the frame wrapping. after rib is attached, replace the frame wrapping.

strips detatching in general -
if a little cross of tape on the inside gets old af and stops sticking, remove the old tape and replace it with new masking tape. cross the tape over itself when wrapping around the two strips to make an x like pattern. good as new!


mouth problems:

retying the mouth -
ironically, i don't think i've seen people talking about retying mouths that much even though it's easy/common. we use a sort of figure 8 to do ours and it's slick, i'll post a video at some point in my life LUL. basically you loop around the mouth, then around the bar, then around the mouth, etc. and tie knots at the end

part of the mouth is missing -
this is a fairly common mouth issue, the first step is to determine the core of the mouth. some use fabric, balsa wood, or random stuff your team threw in there trying to fix it before (like newspaper). this is mostly important so you can see whether it'll be an issue in the future again. you'll need to clean up the space a bit though if it's not a very clean break/space to be able to patch it. next, prepare your patch. i've patched mouths with multiple things, my favorite is (you guessed it) 3d printing, because polymer has a really high stiffness compared to some of the other things i've tried, it's cheap, and it's flexible. you can also use fabric, though! try to pick a heavy one like idk denim or something if it's available since it'll be stronger. jeans lion. next, measure the area for your patch. i like to measure the lengths of the exposed rattan and then connect them, since the mouth shape can be a bit tricky. then, if you're printing, use a hexagon infill and remove the top & bottom layers of your print in the slicer so that it prints an open hex. this way, you'll print a flexible sheet you can install easily! with fabric, you'll just cut it. for installing the patch, i like to sew it in- the mouth can be tricky to work in and i like to use a needle to just tie the piece into the mouth around the exposed rattan. after, cheesecloth/gauze, then paper, then paint!

mouth is bent -
lol bend it back into place . skill issue (affectionate) some lions have a rattan bottom lip (the piece that forms the curve of the mouth) but others have wire so if you have wire it might just be bent, you can carefully smush it around!

paper problems:

my paper looks like sucks forever.
welcome to the club that's just how it is with paper on lions. that's all i got bye LOL no i gotchu. in the process of working on this rn, but if your lion is swanky, it's made with something that people generally refer to as "laser paper". i've never seen a hobby lion video that's used laser paper unfortunately, mostly it's in big name lion makers... but i suspect that it's "metallic foil". there are lots of these laser papers and there's no standard brand. in terms of paper repair, you can try to glue it, but at a certain point, you have to make a choice about the condition of the paper.
first, check the integrity of your lion. is the cheesecloth intact? if you press on it, does it move a lot? if your structure is unstable, it would be a good choice to add an extra layer or two of xuan paper (the paper that goes on lions before the laser paper) or cheesecloth and then proceed. past that, i'd suggest mosaic patching, where you cut patches of new paper and work them into the design (not an official term i just made that up LUL). the other alternative is removing all of the paper on your lion or all the paper from the area, but this is VERY TIME CONSUMING and i'm lazy and also scared of fucking up so i wouldn't suggest this one.

other problems:

collar detatched -
sometimes if your paper is old & falling apart, the glue will come off for the velcro for the collar (the fabric bit that stays on the head, not the cape). this is actually not too bad to fix, we've had luck with "sewing" it back on! a needle is really good even when you're not really sewing for lion dance. first, detatch the velcro with the collar part from the other velcro, then sew the non collar velcro around the ribs of the frame. you can rest it on the cross of the ribs and it should stay in place nicely! you can also use the old glue line as a good reference to see where it was before. this fix is nice because you can always just cut the strings/ thread rip if you need to replace, but its also independent of the paper, so if the paper comes off, it's not an issue for the collar!