Action Jon's night of experiments and Failures and successes

I'm sure it has happened to all of us, we want to desperately restore a neglected figure, outfit or vehicle and have grand ideas on how to do it. I had a theory that dropping muscle bodies in boiling water would loosen the glue up, hence lowering the risk of cutting up the seams with a blade. I attempted this on a broken Muscle Body Gi Joe....the results were upsetting enough for me to not post pictures. Needless to say it warped, badly. Don't do it! They are a little softer than the Action Man bodies however I wouldn't risk it again. There are some days that I should not be allowed near old Toys.

Second lesson for the evening......while it may be possible to dye plastic, old Joe bodies can't be dyed even with concentrated amounts of Rit dye. I attempted this on an old talker body that was discolored with no result.

On The winning side:

I did manage to get arms on my EE Body that was lacking them. This was done via the tried and true Exacto knife and patience. In addition after hours of frustration I got a lot closer to restoring my action Girl!

I remember Action Burt supergluing himself to his Action Man once. Or was it he mistook superglue for lube?   

A love that dare not speak its name....

Well without brave people like you attempting this kind of stuff the rest of us wouldnt know how to do stuff right

I appreciate the nod, Rossini! It always stings a little to throw out parts but I am pleased to do my bit.

Who Dares Wins  

thanks for the tip Jon, shame about that joe tho   

still onward !!      

Thanks for the warning, Jon!

I find 'hair dryers' are very useful when heat is needed on plastic. I use a narrow attachment on the end of mine to channel the heat into one area.

I use a hair dryer for straightening warped Action Man weapons and other plastic parts, I run cold water over the hot freshly straightened part to make it keep it's new shape.

Great tip Clive! I have one of those craft heat guns.. I could try that if situation should arise!

Sorry for your loss, Jon. Darn hard way to learn something.

Hey Ross, don't mean to butt in here, but heat guns are a lot hotter than hair dryers. Use caution! And, with that said, I'll add that hair dryers are hot enough to melt boots (and that is without the aid of Clive's channeling attachment.) They can burn fabric too.   

Yes, a lot can be learned by our mistakes.     

Brian