So you've gone and done it. You've broken down, gone out and spent the money on that FC Daredevil that's on clearance at Toys R' Us. But what to do now? You want to make it fit on that spare type II Mego body you've got sitting around. But it's got that funky FC neck, and you just don't know what to do.

Well fear not, because here is a little short instructional on how to carry out that very conversion. There are two ways to make a non-standard neck Mego-compatible, and I have listed them both here. The first involves making a neck stump that is similar to Mego's. The second is more modern in that I take a cue out of the book of the great Charlee Flatt and show you how to give necks a rounded base, and attach them to a body so that the head can look up and down, as well as the standard side to side. Whichever you use is solely up to you.

Both methods require that you get your hands on some materials, the most important of which is one of the customizer's best friends: Plumber's Epoxy Putty. Epoxy putty is the same thing as Miliput. the only difference is that Miliput has a retardant in it that causes it to have a longer set time than standard epoxy putty. As such, you can tool it longer before it sets. So while standard Epoxy putty will set to hardness in 10-15 mins, Miliput will take about 2 hours. However, Miliput is much more expensive and will run you about $12 a package, when a comparable amount of generic epoxy putty will only cost about $5. So, if you feel confident that you can work quickly (and for a job like this, it's easy to do so) by all means, save yourself the money.

That said, let's get started.

To Make a More Standard Mego-like Neck Stump:

Materials:

- Plumber's Epoxy Putty
- PVC (vinyl) tape or electrical tape

A) Here we see the FC Daredevil head with the lantern jaw and fierce scowl (y'know, I make fun of these, but believe it or not, these little guys have grown on me, and with a little conversion, they live happily in the land of Megos). I have popped it off the FC body. This was easily accomplished by heating the head under hot water to soften the plastic. You'll notice the underside of the neck is concave with a hole in it. Widen the hole slightly with an X-acto blade.

B) Knead up a small amount of Epoxy putty (about the size of one of those large gumballs they sell at the store). Press it into the concave underside of the FC neck, making sure some of the putty gets forced into the hollow cavity of the head. This will anchor the rest. Shape the putty crudely into the basic form of a neck stump.

C) Grease the inside rim of a Mego torso neck hole slightly with vaseline. This will keep the putty from sticking. Now is a good time to mention that using a thin smear of vaseline on your fingertips, makes Epoxy Putty easier to work with. However, be careful not to get the vaseline on any surface you want the putty to adhere to, otherwise it won't stick. Sanding the area where you want to apply the putty helps as well.

D) Press the head with the putty sticking out of its neck down into the hole of the Mego torso. The putty that's pushed through into the body cavity will have the shape and width of the Mego neck. Some excess will squish out to the sides around the Mego neck base. Use an X-acto knife to cut this excess away.

E) Once the putty has set, you should be able to pull the head with the new neck stump out of the body. If the neck stump falls off, simply reattach it to the FC head with contact cement. Now if the stump is too loose in the Mego neck hole for you, you can give it a tighter fit by wrapping a length of PVC tape twice around the neck stump. This should give it a snug fit. However, it is VERY IMPORTANT that when you put the head back on the body after wrapping the tape around, you only press straight down into the neck hole. If you do turn the head as you push it into the hole, turn it only on one direction. A back-and-forth motion will cause the tape to buckle and come unpeeled.

So there you go. Your FC head now has a Mego-like neck stump. This procedure will work for many non-Mego heads, as well as heads from plastic model kits. This comes in handy when trying to make heads of monsters Mego-compatible.

But what of the other approach of which I spoke earlier? Well, for that you will need:

- Plumber's Epoxy Putty
- Round Elastic
- Small eye hook.

F) Here we have a FC head again, this time, for no apparent reason, it is The Vision.

G) Knead up some Epoxy Putty about the size of a marble. Press it into the concave surface of the underside of the FC neck. Roughly form it into the shape of a half-sphere.

H) With a little vaseline on your finger tips (or cooking spray oil), rub the rounded neck base into a nice smooth surface. If you find this hard, practice first with a bit of Sculpey until you get the hang of it, and then switch over to the Epoxy Putty.

I) Once this has set, take your drill and with a 1/16 bit, drill a small hole in the south pole of the neck base. Only drill about 1 cm in. Now twist in the eye hook until the eye of the hook is flush with the hardened epoxy. Turn the eye so that is parallel with the plane of symmetry of the head.

J) Run a length of round elastic through the eye hook and down through the Mego torso. Tie the two free ends off around the post that passes through the inside of the pelvis. However, don't tie it so tightly that the head can not look up and down. Just enough to keep it comfortably within the socket. There. Now you have a head that can look up and down as well as side to side, just like the heads on the female figures.