What's your current project?

[Myles_Falworth]

And here they are side by side.

[Myles_Falworth]

Here is the Talking Soldier, before and after. He also has been restrung, and had the voice repaired. His voice is clear as a bell, and loud. Very nice. I still need to remove the blue spots from his face, and I'm thinking about attempting to give him some new hair. We'll see. Somewhere I saved a guide on which paints to use for painted hair Joes. Then he needs a new uniform (he didn't come with one), and tall brown boots, which I have already. I'll post more photos when he's dressed and his face is clear.

[Myles_Falworth]

It's been a busy couple of months. I haven't had any time for hobbies, with work, and planning for retirement. But I took these new photos tonight as an update on the restoration of the Talking Soldier and the AT Commander figures I promised. So here they are. First up, the Commander. He is now cleaned, and restrung, and has his voice fixed, however the words are very hard to understand, even if they are loud. Maybe cleaning the tape or replacing the needle will help.

[Myles_Falworth]

You got it!

[ATC]

Let's see the before and after pics side by side when you're done!
:-)
- ATC

[Myles_Falworth]

I reached a decision yesterday and made a deal to bring Scott Wilde in on two restorations. He will fix the voice for the Action "Soldier" (what I think he is) in post 197 & 198 above, and also the AT Commander in post 217. So then in October, I'll have two more working Gi Joes in my collection. Scott has helped me many times with fixing talkers, and has never failed to return a Gi Joe in good working order. I'm looking forward to picking these up from him and shaking his hand again at the Kane County show. He also now does repairs to the Troubleshooter talking units. I have one of those which will be either shipped to him or dropped off in October.

The Commander got his face washed tonight. He has no eyebrows, but looks much better than in the photos. More cleaning will be done once the voices are working, especially on the Talking Soldier, which needs a deep cleaning.

[Myles_Falworth]

That's what I like about this older format - the bulletin board websites. You can find your old posts easily, and reflect on what you've said and done. And also find your photos!

[ATC]

I looked back at the first post when I started this thread. I listed two projects I was working on.
- M5 kangaroo - I ended up putting a quasi interior into that tank and mounted the 37 mm anti-tank gun in the turret rather than that silly dart-shooting cannon. The turret is removable, so it would pass for a kangaroo, although I never detailed the interior like one, nor did I add any British decals. I'm going to call that one "done."
- Joe Rocketship - I'm finally getting around to this one, at last! I started that description in a new thread. I have been road locked by an inability to find a big piece of sheet plastic. Solved that problem!

It's funny how time flies...
- ATC

[ATC]

Well done! It sounds like you had fun putting them all together too! Good luck on your job application.
HUZZAH!
- ATC

[Myles_Falworth]

Here are the three new Joes from posts 207 and 209. I finally got hands for all of them. I should also have boots for them, and maybe even holsters. I'll have to decide which uniforms to put them in. I'll post photos once they are outfitted. This was a nice project. All still have original stringing, and were restored with original parts. Two will need reflocking. That will happen shortly once I find out if I get a job I've applied for internal to my organization. The scratched LA intrigues me the most. He must have done a belly crawl in a creek bed back in the 70s. I remember a commercial where Joe did just that, and always wanted to with my Joe - except there was no creek near my home. He'll be put in rugged gear of some kind, since he had a rugged life.

[ATC]

Nice!
It's fun tracking your progress as these projects evolve!
Keep up the good work!
:-)
- ATC

[Myles_Falworth]

Well, I opened up the Commander today. I found the pivot joints holding the arms on are in perfect condition except they are hard and smooth, so it's a mystery why the arms were so floppy. Also, there is a good speaker, and everything inside looks clean and in place. Next thing I'll try is some oil on the axle of the fly wheel if i can get a drop in there. It seems the tape retracts haltingly, and never smoothly. So maybe a little oil there could cure it. If not, I plan to open the fly wheel housing and take a look in there. That to me is for emergencies only. Something I've never tried, and worried that I'd break it beyond repair if I did. I will get some acetone first to try the loosening Camo recommended. I can probably get felt from Michael's craft. This could be a difficult repair.

I went ahead and gave him new Geyperman KFG hands today. I have a stock of those I always keep for KFG repairs. Often that's all they need. I really love those hands. $7.99 at Cots.

[Myles_Falworth]

Won an AT Commander uniform on Joezeta's auction, which was on again last night due to technical problems on Wednesday night. It should be here in about a week, and will be waiting at the Quartermaster's shop for the Commander to pick up once he's declared fit for duty. May be a while until that happens. But at least now he'll look like a Commander when he's finished.

[Myles_Falworth]

I got an AT Commander in need of several repairs today at mail call. He has good flocking, but needs a cleanup, new KFG hands, restringing, a uniform, dog tag, and repairs to the talking mechanism. He also needs new pieces on both arms to keep them from being floppy. So that will require replacing the arm rivets. Definitely a project Commander. The nice thing is, I feel motivated to do all of it myself, since he needs so much attention. This is my first KFG Commander. So I will keep him and restore him back to duty status. It will take some time however. Here's a couple of "before" photos of him from Ebay.

I also won an Joezeta auction item last night. Just an AT hand and forearm. I'll use that to finish the Sea Adventurer in the post above. Then I will find uniforms and gear for the 4 completed Joes from the sets in posts 198 and 209 above. Hope to get photos up this weekend. It's been a long time since I had something finished to show!

[camojoe]

I forgot one thing. If you see corrosion on metal parts, like the flywheel axle, don't use sandpaper to remove the rust.
I use a light steel wool, or a scotchbrite pad.
Just be sure to remove all residue.
Camo