I just wondered if anyone had any tips on restoring the classic Thundercat figures?
Story time… Being new-ish to the boards you might not know much about me, but I’m an original 80’s fan and Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, Panthro and Snarf are the figures I remember having. But unfortunately they disappeared a long time ago (along with my Sword of Omens). So, inspired by the quite awesome collections of members on here I’ve decided to have a go at re-starting a humble little collection. I realise I’ll never have a collection as cool as some of you guys, as money (lack of) is a big issue for me, but I’ve picked up a couple of bargain loose figures to get me going… and satisfy my classic toy urge for now!
Back to present day… having just received Tuska Warrior, he needs a little restoring and I wondered what experience people might have had bringing the old LJN toys back to life - ie. how to clean them and what kind of paints might be best suited. :liono
I would love to get advice on this also. It would be nice to have money to buy everything in mint condition, but with the way things are you buy what you can afford. I have a few that could use a little TLC, but apart from cleaning the best I can I dont know what you can really do about things like scuffed/worn paint.
I’m no expert but you can try and use acrylic paints to cover the areas that have paint wear. It might take a bit of trial and error to get the exact color tone. Good luck!
Just had a look at the link Royal, very interesting site! Some great stuff on there, it’ll be really useful. I think I’ll do my best to clean them up to begin with and have a go at the painting side a little later - will put some photos up in the collections area :liono
I’m restoring Lion-o at the moment!!
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Lion-o is half done. I think the orange on the torso is a tad too dark but only by a very slight shade. The face and hair are quite crisply painted and the problem you get is that you can’t ever really match the diffuse spray Borders easily. If you hand paint you get a more defined line.
Anyway, I’ll show pics sometime this weekend and share tips on how to het a ‘perfect’ finish with minimal brushmarks, how to restore marked plastic, how to fit accessories and not Mark your paint, etc.
Lion-o now finished. In some ways I prefer it to the 8" classic. It has a nice charm. Pics tomorrow, then Snarf next.
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Here’s the restored Lion-o. I should have taken pics to compare, but the Snarf at the end was from the same seller.
Here’s some tips. Some of it will be obvious, but to ensure evryone of different skill levels know how to tackle it.
Cleaning up. I used cotton wool/ cotton buds and warm water with a small amount of detergent in. Then I used shower shine cleaner and kitchen roll, though I’d be wary of this step on a valuable figure. Use plain water and cotton wool to clean it. Don’t soak the figure and try not to get water into the body of the figure due to the metal inside.
Polishing the plastic. Those with girlfriends/sisters/mothers/others who polish nails with emeryboards - there’s a really fine grade for polishing. It doesn’t feel abrasive. You can use this with a small touch of water dabbed onto it to polish the plastic where worn.
To paint the areas use acrylic paints. Its better to use thin layers. I used 3-4 layers on each painted part. Then I watered the paint down with water - 60% ppaint/40% water and painted a thin layer. When dried I painted a 40%paint and 60% water thin layer. It gives a much smoother surface. I then mixed matt/gloss varnish, slightly more matt, to make a satin varnish - again a watered down layer x2 to give the same satin finish the painted figure would originally have.
The orange and pale yellow paints were custom made (be wary that they dry slightly darker than they look when wet). However the red hair is Games Workshop paint Blood Red, the boots/belt Enchanted Blue.
Fitting the accessories - the red shield glove can be warmed in very hot water for a few minutes, dried and then it’s much softer for a brief while and can be sligjtly pulled open to fit it on without rubbing. Similarly (along as the painted hand has dried for 48 hours first) it can be dipped in warm water to soften the sword hand, open it up and slip the sword handle in - again reducing paint rub.
There is a scuff on the left chest wall that I haven’t sanded out yet (as the emery board wasn’t very good). Sometimes a big scuff like this is hard to restore, so I’m aiming just to make it less noticable.
Wow, really impressive work Crimson! Lion-O looks so clean and sharp, the paint colours work so well - seeing your pics has inspired me, if I get anywhere close to that quality I’ll be happy.
Thanks for sharing your tips too, they’ll definitely help me when I get down to restoring, and I’m sure they’ll help lots of other readers too. Can’t wait to see how you get on with Snarf!
Wish I would have soon this thread sooner. If your not looking to paint the figure but rather clean it up and keep the paint all original, you can’t go wrong with Goo Gone. It is an orange based cleaner and works absolute wonders. I use it to clean all of my newly received figures.
If you look up my name on here you can find a couple of threads where I clean up figures as well as remove price stickers off of cards with that stuff.
Does anyone know how I can tighten the limbs of my LJN figures? Some of my gigures have very loose arms and legs. With the arms it’s not so much of a problem, but loose legs mean that whenever I stand my figure up, they turn into limbo dancers!
So, your figure falls over when you have it displayed or its non-battle-matic arm is really loose? Use a brace’s rubber band (small rubber bands that can be obtained from local orthodontic clinic) and slip it around the arm or leg you wish to be tight. Guide the band into the joint with a needle tool or toothpick. This should prevent your toy from falling or from having a loose arm or leg."
