CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES:101 – “ASSEMBLING GI JOE FIGURES” – TUTORIAL TUESDAY

CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES: 101 – “ASSEMBLING GI JOE FIGURES” – TUTORIAL TUESDAY
By Rob Panick

This week on CAF: 101, we’re going to learn how to reassemble a modern GI Joe figure after we’ve painted and sealed the parts. Many portions of this tutorial will carry over to other action figure lines as well. My earlier tutorial on disassembling modern GI Joes can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf3V6Wxknyk

There are a few things you will need to assemble your figure:
Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue – http://goo.gl/fM6E06
Precision Philips screwdriver- http://goo.gl/EkT5yY
Glue Applicators – http://goo.gl/CGNRFK
Hair Dryer – http://goo.gl/52xyXR

We’re going to start by putting the legs on the lower torso. Determine which set of upper leg halves are your right and left legs. Put the inner half on the correct side by sliding the slotted opening over the bar portion of the “T-joint” and seating the ball into the socket in the leg half.

Place the knee joint over the peg in the appropriate leg half. Be sure that you have the correct side of the knee upwards. You can usually determine this by looking for the small tab on the lower half of the knee joint.
Assemble the two halves and screw them together with the leg screw. (TIP: You can use M2.5 x 5 laptop screws as replacement screws:http://goo.gl/mdow0T )

Now we’re going to add the lower legs. For GI Joe legs, place the correct lower leg onto the bottom portion of the knee joint. The large hole should be to the inside of the leg. Place your joint pin into the hole, and press through the knee joint until you can see it through the small hole on the outside of the leg. Use your hair dryer to heat up the lower leg for approximately 30 second, then squeeze the lower leg together so that the pin pops through the small outer hole. If you are using Star Wars lower legs, you can follow the instructions in this tutorial: https://goo.gl/QU17L2 . Next, heat up the ankle sockets in the lower legs for about 30 seconds and insert the feet into the sockets.

Now let’s assemble the upper torso. Place your bushing onto the connecting pin in the top of the lower torso.

Seat the pin into the lower section of the back half of the upper torso.

Then, place the correct upper arm into the correct side of the upper torso, seating the flanged end of the joint swivel into the slotted portion inside the arm holes.

Using your glue applicator, apply your CA glue to the edges and pins of the back half of your torso.

Assemble the front half onto the back half, and squeeze them together firmly until your glue sets.

Next, heat up your upper arms so that you can insert the pin of the lower arm swivel joint into the socket. Be sure you have the correct arm on the correct side. Now you can pop in your hands and pop on the head, and your action figure is assembled!

As I say in every tutorial, the more you practice it the better you will be able to do it. Keep practicing and before you know it assembling figures will become like a second nature! Thanks again for joining us, and be sure to check back this weekend for our CAF: 101 reviews! See you in two weeks for the next Tutorial Tuesday!

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