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07-02-2021, 10:24 PM | #41 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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I posted this over in my OG13 customs thread this week. As as has been dicussed previously:
1) Except for the lower waist (below the belt), all the body parts of the new figures are constructed of a soft pliable plastic 2) The soft pliable plastic parts can be heated to where they can be removed and swapped at all joints except at the knee joints (due to the new exterior peg free system). 3) Axonrey pointed out acetone (nail polish remover) does not damage or melt soft plastic parts, and is safe to use to remove paints--custom or factor applied--fom the soft parts. Based on this info, I give you Zap, in the lighter green base mold color or Stalker: 20210701_021419 (1) by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr Stalker's dark green camo was removed using ONYX "Professional Nail Polish Remover" - 100% pure acetone, readily available at Walmart for 2 fiddy. I used ample amounts applied to Qtips (Precistion tips, always available at WM), and rubbed the paint off. No apparent damage to the fine texture of the body parts at all, especially at the legs where the texture is not deep at all. The acetone, though, is NO BUENO for the lower torso b/c it is made of hard plastic, and it will melt that plastic. This is a fact I unfortunately forgot, and somewhat melted his butt. I made the realization after the first wipe (yes, first butt wipe), and quickly rinsed with water to avoid any major damage. Thankfully, there is no paint to remove on the front side of this lower waist piece. To remove the paint on back waist more safely, I would recommend 2 options. First option is to try maybe a lower strength nail polisher remover, or a high strength paint thinner. AK Real Colors High Compatibility is strong enough to remove this factory paint without damaging the plastic or texture that I have been using for the last year in large quantities to remove my custom paints and was the first product I used to test Stalker paint removal. It takes a little rub work to get factory paint off with this, but it works. The second option is to use the Pro Acetone, but a whole lot less sparingly. Apply a little bit to the qtip, rub off a little paint on the part, then immediately wash with water. Repeat as many times as needed, but work a little bit at time (definitely not all at once). Option 3 I guess is to not worry about the butt and keep him face forward... I held off on responding to questions about this for a while. I wanted to make sure that the techniques described would remove enough of the paint. It take some effort to get all the paint out of the small little grooves of the scuplted texture. If you zoom in close to the HD pic (cick on photo to go to flickr for original size), you can still see little bits of the dark paint. These bits aren't really visible from normal visible distance or even when doing the process unless working under a powerful magnifying lense (I worked under the normal magnifying lense doing it). Getting the paitn out of the crevices requires just more time, and you might need a tootbrush, folded paper towel, or other pick device to get them clean enough per your taste. Also, I used acetone pretty liberally and multiple times--and no damage/melt to the parts. If you just can't get the paint out of the grooves in a uniform acceptable level, the other option is to apply a dark wash to the whole body, so that the look is uniform (a backup option I had planned if things went south). A bigger challenge is actually getting a helmet with matching paint. I used Vallejo 70.882 Middlestone which I use for my other my 25th Steeler and to clean up elbows of vintage Zap and Steeler. It's not a great match for the new mold, and I tried to use little dabs of Vallejo Deep Green and Vallejo Green Grey to get better, but pretty much gave up after a while. So that's today's info: paints removable with acetone with no damage or melt, on all parts except for the lower waist. Regarding the waist, hopefully we will see pics of that opened up from ZapR soon, and see what possible options we have with t-bars. |
07-03-2021, 03:25 AM | #42 |
Red Shadow (Lobo) :D
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Ireland
Posts: 1,020
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Do luv how you made classic Zap there Hiss, many thanks for writing down all the info and sharing, hopefully we’ll see more posts inspired by this and Zap etc, also perfect way to use that bazooka too, awesome work as always! ;)
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07-03-2021, 06:18 AM | #43 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 14,835
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Really like that Zap HHFF!!! I would like to see the split pelvis pics too.
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07-03-2021, 11:17 AM | #44 |
A Makeupless Clown
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,270
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So here is a Stalker after the waist was cracked open and he's just placed back together (no glue):
As you can see, the hip piece has deformed slightly. The front and back have arched out further than they used to and they are now slightly proud of the lower torso section. This was my first "crack" at it (rimshot!) so with practice it might be possible to avoid this deformation. Still, if I squeeze the waist section back together, the cracks on the sides disappear completely. Gluing and clamping would eliminate those side cracks without a doubt, so it's really just a small bit of arching at the front and rear that you're left with to show that you've ever opened up the waist. Here it what we have after the cracking is done: It's all pretty familiar stuff in there. The t-bar is very similar to other modern-era Joes in basic form. I didn't happen to have a spare loose metal t-bar or I would have tried a swap, but my gut tells me you could make one work really, really easily. Probably not native compatibility, but I would guess worst-case, you have to dremel out some material from the mushroom plug of the lower torso to make room for the top end of a metal t-bar then you can probably just drop one in after that. If anyone tries that at home, please share your attempt. The top end of this t-bar is a square that is visible from above in an un-cracked waist: Note the absence in this shot: And here you can see the t-bar a bit better, free from other parts blocking your view: So, process-wise, I first thought some snap ring pliers would make quick and insanely easy work of this since the hole was so large, but after looking a bit closer I realized that the entire top surface is just a relatively thin and somewhat flimsy layer. It's really just a rim of material. You can really see this once you have it open: So I resorted to a bench vise (my usual favorite) and a bit of cardboard for surface protection (couldn't find my shop rag). I only put the waistband part in the jaws of the vise and squeezed it so I wouldn't crunch the t-bar. The telltale cracking sound never actually happened with this waist piece, so you're probably going to have to make sure you can view the top end of the waist to see when it gives. This cracking process left some pretty nasty stress marks on the waist piece which was unpleasant to see but from previous experience I have found that a boiling water bath can reduce stress marks. I did that here (microwaved water until thoroughly boiling, then dropped the waist pieces in for about 45 seconds and scooped them out with a fork). This worked really, really well on this waist piece. The stress marks are totally gone from what I can see. It's possible that I could undo some of the front/back arching with another boiling water bath, but I haven't tried. So far I'm happy enough with where things ended up. The other bright news (for me at least) is that I think I can make a BFS torso adapter to put BFS torsos onto these figures and I will only have to make an actual torso adapter without having to mess with recreating the t-bar. If I can come up with a way to make the adapter snap into place I can totally avoid the need to even crack the waists for that. But that's a challenge I'm not sure I can meet with my available materials. Time will tell.
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Torso Adapters and Alternate Neck Pegs for MTF and BFS Figures Reproduction Vehicle Parts 3d-Printed Parts Gallery My BST Thread | My Feedback Thread | My Shapeways 3d Print Shop (1/18 scale creations) |
07-03-2021, 01:04 PM | #45 |
Hisstank.Com General
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Georgia
Posts: 14,835
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Nice work Zap!!! I think you will have the crack of he waist to get the lower abdomen piece back in. I was able to pull it out after a hot Bath, bit I don't think I'd be able to get it back in, no matter how hot I got the lower abdomen.
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07-03-2021, 01:16 PM | #46 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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Quote:
Anway, check out post 34 of this thread on how I reassembled without cracking. Let us know your results and if there are further tweaks to the method that may be helpful. I won't be doing this myself again anytime soon unless absolutely needed. |
07-03-2021, 01:32 PM | #47 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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Awesome work again Zap. Do you think it can be cracked without needing a bench vise? I don't have one of those. At least not yet...
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HissHissFangFan(g) Flickr | Facebook GI JOE: T13 O13//1982 1983-? | COBRA: O13//1982 1983 1984 1985-? Last edited by HissHissFangFan; 07-03-2021 at 01:35 PM.. |
07-03-2021, 01:38 PM | #48 |
The Man You Know & Love
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: In The Middle of a Late Night Crew Orgy
Posts: 28,210
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Reading this just turns me on.
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07-03-2021, 01:39 PM | #49 |
A Makeupless Clown
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,270
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Some people swear by channel lock pliers with the figure piece in the jaws and then whacking the channel lock pliers on the ground, but I prefer the torque and control you get with a decent bench vise (you can get a pretty substantial one for $60-$80). Then again, there may be something to be said for the shock of a quick strike to help the cracking happen. I don't know. If you don't mind risking the loss of a figure waist I'd say give it a shot with whatever method you normally use to crack ME Joe torsos. Just don't try snap ring pliers unless you figure out something to spread the force across more of the interior than just the thin top rim or I guarantee you that you will cause serious marring of that surface.
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Torso Adapters and Alternate Neck Pegs for MTF and BFS Figures Reproduction Vehicle Parts 3d-Printed Parts Gallery My BST Thread | My Feedback Thread | My Shapeways 3d Print Shop (1/18 scale creations) |
07-03-2021, 01:44 PM | #50 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
|
Quote:
Some people swear by channel lock pliers with the figure piece in the jaws and then whacking the channel lock pliers on the ground, but I prefer the torque and control you get with a decent bench vise (you can get a pretty substantial one for $60-$80). Then again, there may be something to be said for the shock of a quick strike to help the cracking happen. I don't know. If you don't mind risking the loss of a figure waist I'd say give it a shot with whatever method you normally use to crack ME Joe torsos. Just don't try snap ring pliers unless you figure out something to spread the force across more of the interior than just the thin top rim or I guarantee you that you will cause serious marring of that surface.
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