Adventure Team Land Adventure Fix-Up

Recently going through a tote I found a couple of AT figures I had forgotten about. This Land Adventurer I decided to work on first.

I found the left elbow was cracked.



The left hand, the fore finger was broken off, the fore finger and thumb on the right hand looks to be chewed up/off.



Not having vintage replacement parts, I used a Cotswold elbow and found a pair of Cotswold gripping hands. The peg in the
shoulder fit great, bur the peg for the forearm I had to wrap with plumber's tape for a good fit.



The arms on the figure wouldn't stay up, were very floppy. The legs were also kind of loose, so I did a re-string. First in a
hobby vise to hold the figure still. It's showing how the legs are hanging, I had already removed the arms before I thought
to take a photo.



I used a Cotswold re-string kit, which is what I normally use.



Once finished, he stands well and his arms will raise and hold position. Luckily his flocking is in great shape.



I also noticed he has some green spots on the head. Years ago I read a thread on a site where someone was asking
about how to remove them. It was so long ago I don't remember which site it was or the answers on how to remove
them.



But considering I plan to dress this figure in a Mark Cole uniform with a hat, I guess it's not really important at this
point. I will post photos once I have him in an outfit.

I hope you like.  

He looks great Daryl! nice repair job. I also recall issues with the dreaded blue spot! Wasn't it spot cream folks used to use to remove it? Maybe someone here will have more info?

Great fix Daryl , I assume you tapped out the pins on the thighs ? Yes I not seen Green spot , before but have seen Blue spot on a few figures . I am not 100% sure there is a cure but would like to hear of it if there is , I have some spot cream which worked really well on felt pen , I believe it kind of bleaches out the marks and so may work , I posted a thread on it some place here , you need to leave the head in sun with the cream on for a few days as I recall .

Daryl it’s so really fantastic seeing a Joe being fixed up and ready for action as soon as he gets his uniform on and equipment and gun .

Darryl, nice job repairing your LA! I hear zit cream is what people use, and put the head in a clear plastic bag in the sun so the cream doesn't dry out. Then reapply and do again a time or two until the spots are gone. I guess spot cream is the same thing?

Nice face on this Joe. I try to find Joes with good well painted faces. Can't wait to see him all set up with a new outfit.

Chip wrote:

I assume you tapped out the pins on the thighs ?

Thanks Chip. Cotswold used to include the thigh pins, but don't anymore. Nobody tried to replace them.
And I couldn't on this one with the splits around the pin.

We now do it a different way. The end of the elastic, were it hooks to the legs, is of course a complete circle.
I learned this on forums. First, using wire cutters, the circle is snipped next to where it is clamped to the elastic.



Then a careful bend with needle nosed pliers so that it hooks to the pin more easily.



Once hooked, it is carefully bent back to make it a circle and doesn't easily come back off. I would include
a photo, but it's hard to take a photo into the thigh. I find this a LOT easier than trying to replace the pin.
Other than that, the rest is all hooks. That's why I carefully put the chest into a hobby vise. It holds it
firm while I work to stretch the elastic to hook up the head and arms. First time I tried to put the chest in the vise
I busted the chest. Luckily I had a spare. Lesson learned.

During my first re-string, I tried a crochet needle as was mentioned here, but it wasn't long enough. So I made
my own tool using a wire hanger, which are scarce these day, as all are now made of plastic. I made a small loop
for pulling the elastic, and a large loop as the handle. It reaches throughout the body to make it easier to hook the elastic.




I hope this helps someone for future use.

Thank you Dal, Alexander and Myles. I'm glad you like him. And thanks for the tips on removing the spots.

Thanks Daryl , there does seem to be a weakness around those thigh pins , I made a similar tool for threading that elastic through with a very large heavy duty paper clip , again you don`t see them very often . Great fix and thanks for the further tips .

Great job Daryl on the Joe and nice tip with the leg pins on the elastic kit, I've tried Acne cream on felt pen on faces in the past with not great results but the faces were very badly penned up it would be worth having a try but the face on yours doesn't look too bad Cheers Ian

Hawkeye , look for My thread regarding the Acne cream , the stuff we get here is not strong enough , you need to get some from the states or where the E.U I assume hasn`t controlled the potency of one part of the mix .

Thanks Chip and Ian, I'm glad you found some of the tips useful. But the tips I have provided are
for Cotswold parts. I don't know if you guys ever use them. But if they help with other parts, well,
I hope they help.

After getting a little side-tracked, I finished this figure with the uniform I mentioned.
I'm guessing my mates in Europe are not familiar with Mark Cole. Mark does masterful
work with uniforms here across the pond. He has done uniforms for some of Cotswold's
limited edition figures. He does all of his work by hand! And therefore they are made in
very limited quantities. Usually 10-15 sets.

I bought this set some years back. Upon seeing the date in the hat, I realized I've had
it for a long time. It has the jacket, trousers, hat, scarf and belt. The jacket has his tag,
and the tag in the hat shows the year he made it.









Here it is dressed on my Land Adventurer. I hope you can see the detail of his work.












I think his work is amazing. He once posted on another forum how he made the buttons.
ALL of the work on this uniform is hand made, as is all the work he does.

I finished him with a reproduction hunting rifle, if I remember correctly I got it from
the GI Joe Collectors Club.



I think the uniform makes him. I'm really pleased with how he turned out.

What an excellent choice for a uniform! He looks amazing .

I think he really suits being a Land Adventurer. Adding the hunting rifle works really well. Once again brilliant pictures showing us the details and the design of the Land Adventuring outfit.

What a great uniform , It reminds me of the Green Beret set only in brown , I love the scarf and the hat , the rifle is the perfect choice foe him I think . As you say the quality looks superb .

Wow that uni is immaculate

He looks great

Wow he looks great those Cotswold uniforms are great I picked up a similar set in black a few years back that I used with my Green Berets as a Black Ops Agent

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you like him.

This, however, is NOT a Cots uniform. This is one he offered to members on
another board. The Cots are massed produced, this one is hand made, as is all
of his work. The uniforms he made for Cots were for limited edition kits that
included a figure, a total of about 15 or so sets.

What a great set! He looks ready for action in it!

-Nate

Thanks Nate, I'm glad you like it.