What's your current project?

[ATC]

I suspect lots of Joe heads are working on projects. What's yours?

I'm currently working on:
- M5 kangaroo (Stuart that I can easily convert into a kangaroo recon vehicle, and back again),
- Joe Rocketship (4 decks, retro 50s sci fi type) 22" in diameter and 6' tall. Planning is done, now I need to execute. Been waiting for warm enough weather to work on it in my pole barn. I was stymied for years, looking for a nose cone. Finally found the solution! If I get the shell done this summer, I can work on the interior next winter. No rush. It's a hobby!

What are YOU working on?

[GeekDragon]

Looking good.

[ATC]

Following all of your work and exploits. I'm jealous!
All my stuff is still in storage.
SOMEDAY I'll have a house, and a Joe room again.
ATC

[Myles_Falworth]

Here is a progress report on a 1964 Joe I've been working on. The original "before" photos are on post 266 in this thread. As you can see I've replaced the bicep pieces and reattached the arms. The calves are badly cracked as you can see. I'm trying to decide whether to replace them too. Then I will be searching for a rubber right boot. Someone sold one on the original Trenches site a few years ago. I hope I can find one.

Here are some photos.

[Myles_Falworth]

Joe arrived today from Alabama. He is not a gummy head after all. He does have a painted rivet, patent pending body, with beefy hands and baby feet. Both arms are broken at the section just below the shoulder joint. Also both calfs are very badly cracked. The forearms and the shoulder pieces each have cracks, but are not too loose. I will likely keep those. But will at least need to replace one or both calfs, and the pieces just below the shoulder (the elbow joint). I'll be sorting through my parts box tonight and seeing whether I can match the parts with other painted rivet parts. The figure also has one intact tall brown boot, and a nice field jacket in great condition, and a nice Action Soldier uniform, except that the pants are missing snaps on one side.

I'm looking over the 1964 Joe from post 178. Trying to restart some older projects I never finished. I could reassemble this Joe now, since I have new lower biceps in place. The lower legs are severely cracked, and I'm thinking about replacing them too. I have some vintage replacements, but not the same year or color. I may just use a newer one and call it a day. I still need a left boot (rubber) so if anyone has one, I'd be greatly obliged. I'm hoping to find one at Joelanta if not here or somewhere else. Then once I get the snap sewn onto this Joe's trousers, I may be ready to take photos for you.

[Myles_Falworth]

I hope everyone wished their Mothers, and wives a happy Mother's Day. Yesterday I decided to work on my study again, and got out a large Cotswold box with many of the figures I've worked on and posted photos of here. In the process I found my Bulletman figure and also my talker I've been wanting to resume work on. I found the felt pads are in the box, and I added a new speaker to the box, since the old one is very beat up and worn.

I've been at home for the past month and a half nearly all day every day. My father in law is back in the hospital again, and so I'm here watching my 23 year old son who has classic Autism. He usually sleeps during the afternoon while his mom is gone. And I am thinking of trying to put the pads on the talker mechanism tomorrow, and maybe see if I can take the metal spindle out for inspection without destroying the spring and other parts. We'll see. If I do, I will post pictures. I want to work on my other Muscle body Joe before tackling Bulletman. I've already glued the arms back together, but I don't know where the box is. I'll keep searching. I've been rereading my thread and some of the Action Man threads which show some restorations, and I'm feeling more inspired. I hope to begin tomorrow or the next day.

[Myles_Falworth]

Yesterday I continued clearing off the desk late at night. I found the screen printed rudder for the sub, and a new looking long orange hose and face mask for it. I also found the rudder decals. And lastly I discovered the decals for the whole sub which I bought some time ago from Cotswold. So I'm getting a little more organized at last.

Also, I purchased a box for the Adventure Team Mobile Support Vehicle. It's in bad shape but was only $50. I think I overpaid. I'll try to restore it some. It has paper hanging off of one flap, and some others are peeling too. There's a video by Toy Tinker Tim showing how to restore a small box, and it has some insights I'll use to at least keep this one from falling apart any further. I'll post pics when I have time.

[Myles_Falworth]

Friday I took another step in decluttering my study. I put all of the Mego figures in a plastic bin, and got them off of my desk. Then I moved my remaining helicopter parts into a bin in the basement, and brought up the other Seawolf sub which I had in that container. Turns out it is cracked as I had thought. It's stickers are in bad shape and it came with almost none of the pieces it's supposed to have. So it will get sold before long. Maybe as part of a lot. The other Seawolf which arrived yesterday was missing one fin. I popped one off of the Sub from the container, and put it on the nicer sub, so now it is complete, and my nicest Seawolf is also whole.

I have only one periscope and one rudder between the two nicer subs. They have all the other hardware except for the floating mirror and pump. I have a few pumps but only one mirror, and it's missing one of the floats. I also think I need a plastic hose and also an orange breathing hose to plug into my best sub. I think I have one long one in my parts boxes. I'll have to look. Between all of them I have one complete Seawolf, minus the orange hose, the clear hose and the white float. Soon this set will be complete. I will restore the stickers on my nicest Seawolf, and use the ones I got from Cotswold. I'm looking forward to starting on the sticker removal. It's a big job. Maybe my shipyard workers will handle it.

As the weather is improving, I will start work on the talker figure from last year. I will begin with cutting the felt pads it needs, and then find a way to apply silicone and lubricate it and clean it. Then I'll reassemble and hope it works. Then I'll know what kind of talker it is. Very exciting. My first talker rebuild.

[GeekDragon]

Nice

[Myles_Falworth]

Today a "new" Seawolf sub surfaced at my dock. It's a project sub. I bought it for parts but it has a lot of possibilities. The main issue is that the plastic has yellowed. It's also missing one of the diving planes. But it has a periscope and a rudder both intact, and also has nice stickers mostly in the right places. The dome is very cloudy, so I started by washing it with a soft toothbrush and some Dawn detergent. It took away the cloudiness, but it's still tinted yellow.

Here's a shot of the dome at the beginning of restoration. It's cleared a lot since washing. I may stick with this sub, or scavenge it for the parts I was missing, it even has the gripper that goes on the prow. Mine is warped and can't be used.

[GeekDragon]

Sounds like a plan. I also have a incomplete Seawolf. I don't remember exactly what I need, been focusing on RAH and Classified.

[Myles_Falworth]

Last night I bought a junk Seawolf sub, which has the last two parts I'm missing. So once it arrives, my nice Seawolf will be complete, except for the box and the comic. I'll find replicas someday I'm sure. I'll post photos once the parts are on. They are the periscope, and the rudder, the two most frequently lost pieces. I'm happy to have found them on a junky sub. I'll put it and another junk sub on Ebay soon, and see whether any fish bite. Then maybe I'll list my extra Adventure Team HQ, and some other extras that are taking up space in my study. Maybe then I'll be able to afford some more purchases.

[ATC]

After reading that, I'm vicariously pooped! I'll have to go take a nap!

Well done, Myles!
HUZZAH!!!
- ATC

[Myles_Falworth]

It's been several months, and no progress so far. I haven't made it to any shows lately. I'm really hoping for Joelanta 2026. We'll see. It all depends on my budget. But I got notice of a part time job at the American Legion post. They need an Accountant. And an accountant I am! So I applied yesterday and we'll see. If I get it some of the money will hopefully buy my ticket and hotel at Joelanta. Fingers crossed!

I still intend to work on the talker next. I have all the parts. When the weather warms up I'll try removing the paint from the head with the brake fluid too. I've been feeling much better lately after losing 30 pounds since November of 2024. I didn't use semi-glutides either. Just cut out almost all my sugar. I've been working on projects around the house. Most have been waiting for months or years. I unclogged the kitchen sink, and one of the bathroom sinks.

Tomorrow I plan to fix the kitchen faucet. It's become loose and wobbly. So I bought a socket wrench and it should fit. Tomorrow I hope to tighten the nut and get it back tight and sturdy again. I have another project also ready to do, but I'll leave that out. After those two are done, I'll try my hand and the felt pads for the talker, and also disassembly and cleaning, and lubricating with the silicone spray. I'll post my results once I've tried. Hopefully sometime in February or March. Cheers!

[ATC]

Great job, Myles!
I always enjoy reading your Joe rebuilding project reports!
Great stuff!
Keep it up!
- ATC