Replacing damaged and split limbs on a vintage flock haired Action Man
We picked up this Vintage Palitoy Action Man on ebay for about £35, we knew he had a very bad repair to his upper right arm, but when this fella arrived we found a few more splits that weren’t in the description or visible on the photos.
The minor splits weren’t that much of a problem as we could fix them and they wouldn’t be seen under the uniform, a large split on the lower right leg meant it had to go, and the whole of the left arm also needed to be replaced as the upper part had been so badly glued that there was no articulation, also the forearm had a really bad double split that couldn’t be repaired.
The first job was to remove the damaged arm and lower leg. The arm was removed using the same technique we use for restringing and the leg popped off with the aid of a soft vice.
We dug out a replacement arm that was from the same model with matching skin tone.
The replacement arm was attached.
We then replaced the lower right leg and repaired the minor splits on the other limbs and re-attached them. This was done using plumbers plastic weld solvent and a hose clip, first we had to open the split to apply the solvent on both sides using a brush, then it was left clamped overnight for the weld to set, we then cleaned off the joint and used a small round file to clean the excess glue from inside, then we ran a file over the original post taking just a smidgen off the sides of it, pushed it in and the joint held nicely.
There was also a loose rivet to tighten on one of the feet, that was achieved by gently tapping the rivet using a hammer and a 1/8th (5mm) ball punch.
Finally, we cleaned up the marks on the face with Rubbing Alcohol and cleaned the flock with a toothbrush.
Now we have a good clean, tight jointed and free standing flocked Action Man, ready to be kitted up and deployed….
