Repairs and renovations from my collection

Sorry to learn of your health problems. Hope everything is on the mend now. Great to have your contributions here again!

I am not sure our paths have crossed , but your work is to be admired . The flocking looks as good as most I have seen , are or will you be doing this for people , and make yourself some cash ? If this is your first attempt , it can only get better . I am sure you already know , but be careful not to breath that flock in , and take precautions to protect yourself and those around you .

Thanks guys for your kind comments.

Chip, thanks very much for the compliment. It's greatly appreciated.

I started flocking my own AM about four to five years ago. I have done quite a few since then. If you look through my collection thread, you'll see some examples of my efforts.  

You can see from that photo that I do this  with a flocking box outside in fine weather or I use the station in my shed.

Respirator and goggles are an absolute must for this, as you've said, it's dangerous if not done with proper PPE.

I've never taken any orders, but I'd be very happy to help anyone out who does need any work done.

Here's the last MAM head I did before falling ill last year.











Here's the finished article.

Dreadnought it’s absolutely brilliant to see you back posting once again . Flock-tastic on the flocks Dreadnought. Looking forward to seeing more posts from you in the future .

Those painted modern heads look pretty good after a flock job!

SCU_HQ wrote:

Those painted modern heads look pretty good after a flock job!

Thanks SCU. This guy was an out of the box flocked figure originally.
There were traces of it and the glue that was used left when I picked this up at a flea market.
I just stripped the rest and re flocked it. Yep, looks a good deal better.

Something of the 60's "Rocker" look happening there! 

This will be my next major restoration project. 100% original AM locker storage box.












Bit of major damage to this side panel on the interior



Took all sides and bottom carefully apart and will use a high quality wood filler and masking tape to reconstitute this:





Right folks, here's where you can help. Anybody got any good suggestions how to carefully remove that lovely original contents sticker. Also anybody got a good suggestion for a green paint match for this box so I can re-touch those filed areas and other bits of wear on it. Thanks

It looks like it`s paper sticker ? and not the more plasticky type ? I have in the past removed the stickers off of vintage vehicles using a hairdryer to heat them up , and carefully peeled them off . Be very patient and take your time , let us know how it goes , and be careful not to brown / burn the paper .

Looks like a challenging but worthwhile project! Good luck!

Thanks guys. Chip, that's a good suggestion my friend. I'm very keen to try to preserve that print.

Yes you're correct, it's paper spot glued onto the interior of the lid - valuable as it's an original.

My advice would be to leave it exactly as it is and work around it. Removing old paper is fraught with danger and one slip and suddenly it's worthless.
It MAY soak off in warm water but the paper may also disintegrate due to age.

What a cracking find Kev.. like LeStryge , I,d be inclined to leave the sticker “ as is”

Just going by the photos but that paper looks to be in very good condition with no fading or tearing. Worth preserving "as is"!
I was lucky enough to find one of these cases in a charity shop, but sadly mine is the later plastic model, not the far more desirable wooden one.

Agreed guys. I've done enough amateur restorations on my collection to know 'if it ain't broke..'
The paper contents  illustration is in excellent conservation and as you've all accurately surmised -far too fragile to do much with.
I was looking to remove it to stiffen it with another sheet under but, it will be a work around.
I've been working on that broken side panel. I'll post an update photo soon.

I do need to replace the brass catch as you can see from the pics as the top section is missing. I'll have to source something appropriate for that.

A wet damp day here, so I plumped for doing a little more on this bit of VAM history.

Got the damaged side panel filled and painted.



I used this shade of Revell drab green for the patch painting which is a reasonable match. Hopefully not too noticeable on the left inner side where it is located.



Rather stupidly, I think I deleted the image of the repaint and can't find the bloody thing in the phone recycle bin, but it's acceptable as can be seen in the images below.

Next thing was to remove the remaining bottom half of the original clasp.





I'll have to go shopping around to try and match this. On an obsolete piece that's nearly 60 years old, it'll have to be a different newer one but hopefully a suitable replacement.

I then glued it lightly, nailed it and clamped it to hold the thing rigid. I used glue because It's my own piece - I wouldn't sell it and the nails alone mean the whole structure is not as solid as I'd like with such thin pieces of wood.



Took a very well squeezed wet wipe and removed a lot of surface grime from the box inside and out. It brought the colour up a little.



I used a bigger antique dome headed nail also for a little bit of modding and I think they look authentic? The small split around the nail head were there from the original ones. I used the clamp to press these home rather than banging the delicate sides up.
Only issue was the wood filler gave way slightly under the weight of the nail, so I've had to refill an area or two as in above open box pic. No biggie, I'll sand and repaint those two small areas.



It's coming along nicely.  Next thing is to refit the original rope handles - which I have somewhere, sort that clasp, find a replica footlocker tray  and it should look neat enough.

I think I've seen very similar clasps on some of those little suitcases that were made for kids? Might be worth a look at a market?
Great restoration so far!

Brilliant , careful and thoughtful restoration as usual Kev
It will look fabulous when finally complete.
Imagine being given one of these back in the day? I think I'd have thought all my Xmas's had come at once

Will you try to restore the inner rack and the contents Kev?

Thank you kindly fellers.
Yes Barry, I hope to get it completed. I have near all the bits in the illustration. I will need a replacement tray. There are replicas out there. I have the 40th issue of the '66 basic soldier that would have accompanied this. A good condition original of those would be astronomical now, so I
I'll use that . Might take a while to finish it but I will keep the thread posted.

It`s looking very good , must be quite a relaxing thing to do . I wonder why the need to replace the clasp ? Is it missing something or not working ? I think if you bathed it in a glass of Coke for a couple of hours it may well come up quite nice , obviously need to wash it after , and dry thoroughly , just a thought . Look forward to further progress .

Chip wrote:

It`s looking very good , must be quite a relaxing thing to do . I wonder why the need to replace the clasp ? Is it missing something or not working ? I think if you bathed it in a glass of Coke for a couple of hours it may well come up quite nice , obviously need to wash it after , and dry thoroughly , just a thought . Look forward to further progress .

Thanks Chip. I need to do something with the clasp as the upper lid part (receiver) is missing.
I intend to reuse the original bit if I can find a part that it will close onto.
Coke is great at removing tarnish alright. I clean a lot of AM clothes poppers with it.
Makes you wonder what it does to one's innards ....

For speed, I generally clean this type of thing up with AutoSol paste - it's marvelous and fast.

Like me, there are a couple of members who bought the Argos released Chad Valley figures a few years ago.

I remember Rouge Trooper (Chris) and Gunner (Steve) investing in quite a few and why not as they were well made well articulated figures with great customizing possibilities.  

I really like modding Modern Action Man heads onto these bods as I much prefer the MAM head sculpts but like the extra, improved articulation offered by the Chad bods.

I have done a few of these..



Had a go at another one yesterday.







The dry fit onto the modified Chad neck post wasn't bad but the was a difference in circumferences which needed to be evened out.



I used a cap from a mini conditioner bottle to flare out the Chad post to match the circumference of the MAM neck.





10 minute epoxy to get it positioned.







Gave him back his MAM hands - fleshed out the posts with tape to fit- as I have no spare AM 40th grippers and with prices what they are won't have for a while. These are better than the rock hard Chads though and at least can hold a weapon or implement.



Huge improvement in articulation with the bod mod.





The really 'eagle eyed' among you might notice the last couple of pics his eyebrows are different? Had a major mishap with a spray can whilst trying an experimental hairspray and inferior masking tape. He had a huge scrub which vanished his brows but at least cleaned him up as I thought he was a goner - whew !!  
I'll put a second thicker coat over the brows later to try and match the original look.

Excellent Mod , you would struggle to tell he has been worked on . I would leave his Brows they look o.K .

Top work Kev!