A few useful tips regarding old CA aka Super Glue. It doesn’t like being frozen. Put the parts in the freezer for a bit and the glue joint will just pop. This is a great trick for disassembling old model kits. The second thing to know about Super Glue is while it is strong against directly separating the parts, it has a fairly weak shear strength. So it you freeze the glued pieces, then twist or move the pieces in the same plane, instead of pulling them apart, they will come unglued with very little force.
Also,this type of glue is easy to break down with....water(soak the area/whole fig in water a few days if you cant use acetone ) - it really works , safely.
Dave, you are one of the bravest men I've ever known because you attack these problems with such confidence and then, against the odds, succeed very well in you restorations. You have my sincere admiration, my friend! Awesome!
I had to look away, and that made the noise worse. When I think of all the abuse my Action Men went through, I feel like watching these restoration videos is a penance, all be it a very joyful one.
I always hated the original Action Man hands - all those wonderful accessories, and he couldn't hold any of them properly, especially for weapons. Thank goodness for Gripping Hands.
Hey Dave This is the sort of video I like of yours....giving life back to the toys by doing internal fixes, rebuilding outfits and such. I do like all of the other ones as well and have said before, that there is something to learn from each one. Thank you for sharing. Take care.
Some of my mates are fantasy and sci-fi figure sculptors the wire insert is the method they use for building entire miniatures out of a mix of Green stuff and Milliput mixed 50-50 till one shade of whatever colour it turns out. Obviously this depends on the colour of the milliput! Just mix the Milliput normally in a 50-50 and the green stuff 50-50 about the same of each and then mix both compounds together. It gives strength from the milliput and holds finer detail from the green stuff. Green stuff allows things like creased cloth or cloaks to be made crisper and thinner. The wire is called an armature. Like you say it gives strength and something to build on. I would invest in some stainless steel sculpting tools if I were you. They can run a bit expensive but once you have a set they last forever. Just clean them after use and if you to let anything set on them a knife blade will cut it off. I got some 25 years ago for about £10 and I still use them. Now I can't think what I would do without them. Loved Bulletman and always wanted him as well as Atomic man. But my town in my youth though having lots of toyshops always seemed to lack the stuff I really wanted. Can't wait for part 2! I hope you find the uniform. I am off to the NEC show this Xmas 27th Dec. I will keep an eye open.
Thanks for the brilliant video, has helped me repair an old broken action man hard hand which was missing the same finger that yours did.... What would we do without you toy polloi! 🙂
Those little bits of elastic cord used to keep the arms from pulling into the torso, you can always paint them black with a marker (or that dark brown used to touch up his hair), and pretend it's Bullet Man's armpit hair, lol.
Great job! Got some really useful tips there. I'm doing one of my own restores of this figure and found the same issue/fix to the arm posing issue. What I did do though was find/use a pink coloured elastic, which closely matches that of the original rubber compound used in the arm/shoulder joints, to make the finished look closer to the original. Wasn't aware of the chrome paint you used, so I will certainly be acquiring some of that, as well as the paints used to touch in the hair. Cheers.
I totally enjoy your repair videos and this one of bulletman is just great! I do have to point out one detail, if you closely look at your bulletman it is the Action Man version and he actually has hands molded from the AM hard hands and not from GI Joe. But doesn't matter now as you did a good job on remolding the fingers 👍🏻
What if you made a mold of the GI joe hand. And molded the miliput around it? And would that be the same process of painting the silver on the 1983 voltron
Today was Thanksgiving Day in America, and one of the things I'm most thankful for today is: Toy Polloi! I actually wore my Toy Polloi tee-shirt today in honor of the you, man! Great video, Dave! I'm eagerly awaiting part 2 of the Bullet Man restoration!
Great videos !Did Action Man ever have a vehicle like the Trouble Shooter that we had in the US ? Always wanted to repair the one I have . It's the talking mechanism in mine that doesn't work .Do you know anyone who does this ?
I have a superb one of these in a box that i am going to auction at Vectus. it is in excellent condition but head arms just fell off when I took it out of storage for 40 years from my mums loft.
Instead of brute force try soaking in hot, soapy water first. This should help soften the cyanoacrylate glue. A good de-bonding agent will work, but these contain acetone, which will attack the base plastic as well. Hobby shops should sell nitromethane, which is much less aggressive and far less volatile. Try that if the soapy water doesn’t work. As always, work your way up the aggressiveness scale. I believe nitromethane can be diluted with water.
@@toypolloi From memory, check out Cotswold Collectables in the US - they used to have a number of different coloured variant leotard (red, black etc), as well as possible the belt (similar to AM SAS outfits), chest decal (needs to point to midnight instead of 2 O'Clock on the GI J version), GI rubber booties and a similar helmet. The flight line is standard white nylon kite line and the winder/holder thick light grey stiff card about 2-3mm thick. I have mint ex-shop examples of both AM boxed and GI bubble carded versions for anyone needing reference picks etc?
I do have some, but it damages the plastic pretty much always, so I don't use it very often at all. It contains acetone, and that will melt this kind of plastic.
You made me nervous trying to force the arms and head off. Next time try using acetone to dissolve the glue. It won't stress the old plastic and will make cleanup easier as the glue residue will wipe off. Nail polish remover is a cheap and easy to find source of acetone. You can apply it with a cotton swab and just let it soak in. Reapply a few times for really stubborn glue.
i have been waiting for a bulletman restoration. mine is in better condition and should not be very hard to do. those joints hasbor used were garbage i have seen mint in package never opened bulleman figs with the arms broken off. makes me worry about heman and gijoe carded figs.
![1870s Circular Sock Knitting Machine [Restoration]](/img/1.gif)
The fingers restoration was brilliant.
A few useful tips regarding old CA aka Super Glue. It doesn’t like being frozen. Put the parts in the freezer for a bit and the glue joint will just pop. This is a great trick for disassembling old model kits. The second thing to know about Super Glue is while it is strong against directly separating the parts, it has a fairly weak shear strength. So it you freeze the glued pieces, then twist or move the pieces in the same plane, instead of pulling them apart, they will come unglued with very little force.
Lll
Also,this type of glue is easy to break down with....water(soak the area/whole fig in water a few days if you cant use acetone ) - it really works , safely.
Dave, you are one of the bravest men I've ever known because you attack these problems with such confidence and then, against the odds, succeed very well in you restorations. You have my sincere admiration, my friend! Awesome!
Excellent ! Love seeing the vintage show i get when i tune-in
Those hands were really done fantastic.
That’s a terrifying sound! Glad you got the arms off since it is such a rare figure
I had to look away, and that made the noise worse. When I think of all the abuse my Action Men went through, I feel like watching these restoration videos is a penance, all be it a very joyful one.
Just when I thought you couldn’t impress me more and here you go pull off this miracle 😲
Have to applaud your bravery to undertake such a restoration. You're the best at what you do and what you do is pure genius.
Absolutely wonderful video Dave
I had one as a kid, glad you're doing one of these.
Great work Toy Polloi! Thank you for posting this Rescue and repair videos!! Keep them coming!
One of my favorites as a kid besides the batman mego batcave set.
I always hated the original Action Man hands - all those wonderful accessories, and he couldn't hold any of them properly, especially for weapons. Thank goodness for Gripping Hands.
Hey Dave
This is the sort of video I like of yours....giving life back to the toys by doing internal fixes, rebuilding outfits and such.
I do like all of the other ones as well and have said before, that there is something to learn from each one.
Thank you for sharing.
Take care.
Nice work !!!👏👏👏👏👏👏
That Bullet Man action figure looks a lot like a young Sean Connery, nice video Dave, thank you!
Some of my mates are fantasy and sci-fi figure sculptors the wire insert is the method they use for building entire miniatures out of a mix of Green stuff and Milliput mixed 50-50 till one shade of whatever colour it turns out. Obviously this depends on the colour of the milliput! Just mix the Milliput normally in a 50-50 and the green stuff 50-50 about the same of each and then mix both compounds together. It gives strength from the milliput and holds finer detail from the green stuff. Green stuff allows things like creased cloth or cloaks to be made crisper and thinner. The wire is called an armature. Like you say it gives strength and something to build on.
I would invest in some stainless steel sculpting tools if I were you. They can run a bit expensive but once you have a set they last forever. Just clean them after use and if you to let anything set on them a knife blade will cut it off. I got some 25 years ago for about £10 and I still use them. Now I can't think what I would do without them.
Loved Bulletman and always wanted him as well as Atomic man. But my town in my youth though having lots of toyshops always seemed to lack the stuff I really wanted. Can't wait for part 2! I hope you find the uniform.
I am off to the NEC show this Xmas 27th Dec. I will keep an eye open.
Thanks for the brilliant video, has helped me repair an old broken action man hard hand which was missing the same finger that yours did.... What would we do without you toy polloi! 🙂
That was awesome! Really fantastic work restringing his arms.
Awesome get two figures 👍🏾 got a lot patience to do the hands but awesome job 👍🏾
I use Singer Oil to smoothen the glue residue that's been sanded off. Works like a charm. Hope that helps. 😁
This was a great video! Thanks man.
Those little bits of elastic cord used to keep the arms from pulling into the torso, you can always paint them black with a marker (or that dark brown used to touch up his hair), and pretend it's Bullet Man's armpit hair, lol.
Well Done, looking forward to the next video.
Great work with the fingers. This was a really entertaining and informative video. Thank you.
Great video as always. Such brilliant ideas! Do you have a video for repairing the legs on the muscle body type?
Great job! Got some really useful tips there. I'm doing one of my own restores of this figure and found the same issue/fix to the arm posing issue. What I did do though was find/use a pink coloured elastic, which closely matches that of the original rubber compound used in the arm/shoulder joints, to make the finished look closer to the original. Wasn't aware of the chrome paint you used, so I will certainly be acquiring some of that, as well as the paints used to touch in the hair. Cheers.
very nice, looking forward 2 part 2
I totally enjoy your repair videos and this one of bulletman is just great! I do have to point out one detail, if you closely look at your bulletman it is the Action Man version and he actually has hands molded from the AM hard hands and not from GI Joe. But doesn't matter now as you did a good job on remolding the fingers 👍🏻
Those are the 2 main differences of the UK Bulletman and the Hasbro Bulletman, it is the hands and the boots
Finally a fix for a broken off finger!
What if you made a mold of the GI joe hand. And molded the miliput around it? And would that be the same process of painting the silver on the 1983 voltron
Kool video bud, you're good at what you do.
Fantastic video Dave. its not a figure you see often :)
Today was Thanksgiving Day in America, and one of the things I'm most thankful for today is: Toy Polloi! I actually wore my Toy Polloi tee-shirt today in honor of the you, man! Great video, Dave! I'm eagerly awaiting part 2 of the Bullet Man restoration!
Thanks Loston, Happy Thanksgiving to you an yours.
Bloody brilliant
nice one cheers
Impressive as always.
Would a super glue debonder work on old super glue?
"FIRE ME, BOY!" - the human bullet
Thanks for the video.
i know acetone/nail polish remover is useful for removing super glue accidents, i dont know how useful it works on old glue though!
It would damage the plastic these figures are made of. It dissolves it very quickly. So I wouldn't recommend it.
Great videos !Did Action Man ever have a vehicle like the Trouble Shooter that we had in the US ? Always wanted to repair the one I have . It's the talking mechanism in mine that doesn't work .Do you know anyone who does this ?
Try some Jet De-Solve to remove the dried glue residue. It should work on any CA type glue that is dried and will dissolve it.
Would superglue de-bonder damage the plastic? 🤔
Yes, it normally does. It contains acetone, and will melt the plastic. So I don't use it.
@@toypolloi Good to know 🙂 I'll have to only use it to unglue myself from things 🙃
05:06 - "He's got an arm off!"
:)
I have a superb one of these in a box that i am going to auction at Vectus. it is in excellent condition but head arms just fell off when I took it out of storage for 40 years from my mums loft.
How can I find online the neck piece at 28:00?
Estupendo video
Hi, last week i bought a vintage obi wan, but it has acrylic paint and black marker on it do you know how to remove both ?
I have videos that cover both these issues.
Really interesting
Instead of brute force try soaking in hot, soapy water first. This should help soften the cyanoacrylate glue. A good de-bonding agent will work, but these contain acetone, which will attack the base plastic as well. Hobby shops should sell nitromethane, which is much less aggressive and far less volatile. Try that if the soapy water doesn’t work. As always, work your way up the aggressiveness scale. I believe nitromethane can be diluted with water.
Poorly soluble in water. It is miscible in ethanol though.
what is the drill called that you are using? Thanks
Check out the tool shop on toypolloi.com for a list of what tools I use. Cheers
Are these figures/uniforms/parts pricey? I’ve always wanted a 12” GI Joe and/or Action Man.
Most GI Joe and Action Man figures are pretty reasonable price wise. This is a particularly rare figure.
@@toypolloi Are there any repro accessories for Bullet Man? Mainly the boots, since they differ from the normal US release.
Not that I have found so far.
@@toypolloi From memory, check out Cotswold Collectables in the US - they used to have a number of different coloured variant leotard (red, black etc), as well as possible the belt (similar to AM SAS outfits), chest decal (needs to point to midnight instead of 2 O'Clock on the GI J version), GI rubber booties and a similar helmet. The flight line is standard white nylon kite line and the winder/holder thick light grey stiff card about 2-3mm thick. I have mint ex-shop examples of both AM boxed and GI bubble carded versions for anyone needing reference picks etc?
I had Bullet Man in the 70's. I wonder where it is today. I had Zorak from Big Jim's PACK. Ever see that guy?
Parabéns pelo vídeo
How do I get ahold of you, I may have a few pieces youd be interested in
Via any of the social media links in my banner, or email. Cheers
U look more professional after your previous videos u did with restoration of the deep sea diver
Which actionman restoration are you most satisfied with/ proud of?
Probably the one that was completely painted red. That was the ultimate challenge for me. Most people would have just thrown the figure away.
That was a good one too. And you still have Oil to tell the story. :)
They make a super glue debonder. Brand is bob smith industries. Should be easily available online. Shouldn’t cost much.
I do have some, but it damages the plastic pretty much always, so I don't use it very often at all. It contains acetone, and that will melt this kind of plastic.
Didn’t know it was just acetone. Welp scratch that off the list.
Acetone Desolves super glue.
And the plastic it is stuck to! It would have made a real mess of this.
If you gave bullet man normal arms and a suit he’d look like george lazenby when he played James Bond
You made me nervous trying to force the arms and head off. Next time try using acetone to dissolve the glue. It won't stress the old plastic and will make cleanup easier as the glue residue will wipe off.
Nail polish remover is a cheap and easy to find source of acetone. You can apply it with a cotton swab and just let it soak in. Reapply a few times for really stubborn glue.
Acetone does melt this type of plastic, so I wouldn't advise using it at all.
The 1974 Defender figure has the same head.
i have been waiting for a bulletman restoration. mine is in better condition and should not be very hard to do. those joints hasbor used were garbage i have seen mint in package never opened bulleman figs with the arms broken off. makes me worry about heman and gijoe carded figs.
I would have just got another arm and painted it silver
Leaves the arms all worn, but is happy to perfectly restore the hair???
Wabi Sabi
I sold my bullet man for £10 on eBay. Damn!!!
Bullet Mans face looks a lot like Sean Connery.
If you're still after a Bullet Man vest Dave, let me know.
I'm still on the hunt.