Mego Tin Man Armor

[dcohendmd]

is there a "best practice" for removing the Tin Man's torso armor?

[PNGwynne]

Do you need it intact? Do you plan to repaint it?

[dcohendmd]

i would like to keep the gun metal gray...but i have no qualms about a repaint...Im going to cut the collar off and was thinking about cuting the back vertically and trying to slip the figure out that way...then re-gluing it together.

[Nostalgiabuff]

well you could take the body apart and then just slide it up and off and restring the body, of course difficult to do without damaging the body suit

[dcohendmd]

i would like to remove the 4 grommets that hold the armor together...but i dont think i can easily find replacements!

[LonnieFisher]

It is glued together. It's hard to separate it without breaking some part of it.

[PNGwynne]

I doubt cutting up the back will work, it's aged styrene and will crack/shatter.

Nos is right about disassembling the figure, and this is particularly easy to do if it is a TI Tinman: 1. Remove the head. 2. Snip the elastic cord rigging. Remove the arm-sheathe armor and pull the arms out of each sleeve. 3. The rest of the figure and suit should pull out of the bottom of the torso armor. Then you can easily modify the collar.

If you want to put it back on a figure, I suppose it is possible to restring it with elastic and T1 or T2 parts from the inside. I've heard this done with knights. But it would require careful planning with a small hook, elastic, and interior restringing from the left side, across the pelvis, and up the right site--in and out through the neck-hole. All whilst trying to not snag the suit, as noted.

An easier option IMO would be to disassemble the torso armor, once removed as above, when you've worked on the collar. You can cut/dremel it apart more easily and delicately at the existing shoulder and side seams and reglue/patch these seams when putting it back on the figure. If you spray-paint the front and back pieces once disassembled, you'd just be doing touch-up painting when reglued.

Are you making a Mark I Iron Man? There have been several nice Mark I and II customs here using the Tin Man, and maybe others have helpful hints. These are just my musings on how I might do it.

[PNGwynne]

It is glued together. It's hard to separate it without breaking some part of it.

Yes, my T2 Tin Men have what appears to be heat-sealed plastic pins and gluing, not grommets.

[Nostalgiabuff]

you could probably snip the rubber bands the same way on a T2 body as on a T1, remove the head and use an xacto knife to cut the bands.

[dcohendmd]

thanks all for the suggestions...Its a T-1 TinMan so it has metal grommets or eyelets...i used a dremmel and slowly cut out the two right sided one..trying not to melt the plastic...once they were out..the armor spread open like a clam shell and i was able to easily remove the figure. Now i have to decide to take a sharp exacto knife or a hot knife to cut the collar off. My plan is to make a 1950s style robot...similar to a Mark I Ironman...but with a block head using a repurposed Disney Pez head!

[PNGwynne]

That's really interesting--my Oz Megos are all T2, and I had no idea about the grommets. That's what great about the museum, sharing information, ideas, and new discoveries.

You might be able to use small scrapbooking eyelets to replace the grommets for a similar look. I did that when restoring a GI Joe AT HQ playset.

I hope you'll share pictures of your custom. I was wondering if I could kitbash Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots custom Megos.

[zeedox]

Does anyone make a repro Tin Man heart sticker?

[PNGwynne]

Perhaps LaserMego?

[zeedox]

Didnt see one :-(

[PNGwynne]

PM him.