Make your own Vintage Action Man Space Ranger Tabard - Toy Polloi

This is one of those projects that was way tougher than I expected. The vintage Action Man Space Rangers come with a silver fabric tabard, belt and holster. All of which suffer with age and are most often falling apart. The basic shape is easy to make, but getting the design printed on the front was a challenge. After much work and trial and error I finally managed to get a system that works and that everyone can copy.
See the whole process, failures and all in the video.
The files needed to make a new tabard are available on toypolloi.com
If you would like a custom design for your tabard, drop me a line and we can work something out.
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[@MG-bs5mr]

O.M.G I'd completely forgotten that I'd had the rubber suited space ranger as a kid. Nostalgia trip.

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

Space is a dangerous place....you’ve got to know where your tabard is..................great work!

[@BrynSmith76]

Custom gold fabric would be awesome for the captain. Maybe he could be some kind of commander. Great video. Shows the failures as well as the successes. Thanks for sharing.

[@50TBRD]

Great work. I know what it’s like trying different methods until you come up with something that you’re happy with.

[@theBolderBoulder]

Although I'm not quite familiar with this line, I'm always fascinated by videos like this! It's very satisfying to see these classic figures get "refurbished"! Good job

[@figrollin]

A good resource for the process of transferring images is The Crafsman KZbin channel. His first videos are all on transferring photos (laserjet printed) onto wood, metal etc. Glad you found a solution that worked, but might be worth checking that out too!

[@snellingjam1]

That's an amazing result with the water slide decals!..... Never would have thought that it would work, well done! A custom one with Toy Polloi on the front would look awesome! 🙂

[@vengeance1701]

Your photoshop skills are quite excellent:)

[@greghughes9375]

Great work on a difficult item. The original reason for the tabard was to hide the front opening on the rubber suit. You've actually improved on the original printing. I did the finished artwork for most of the range, which I enjoyed immensely, especially the later heat welded variety. Watching this was a real nostalgia trip for me,--- thanks.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks Greg, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a real challenge to get the print to work and look as good as you made the originals. These are childhood favorites of mine, especially the rubber suited version. Many happy hours playing with that.

[@DougPalumbo]

I was doubting the water slide decals but they were perfect! Excellent replacement!

[@MichaelJShaffer]

THOSE LOOK AMAZING!!! Proof that sticking to it and pushing through unsuccessful results can lead to something awesome. If I knew that I could have transferred all my Star Trek model decals onto shirts I would have been wearing Enterprise t-shirts for the last 40 years.

[@idiotproofdalek]

I had this back in the day....

[@FraDonaghyMusic]

Amazing job. Great to see all the trial and error throughout the process too.

[@korydoe4813]

If at first you don't succeed try try again! Cheers

[@portland-182]

Put bacofoil underneath the cloth to reflect the heat back up into the fabric... You might like to experiment with decal softener to help the decals settle onto a textured surface, Tamiya Markfit, or Micro Sol are popular ones. Love the backwards cymbal sounding like the steam iron!

[@retrorevival617]

Wow! they turned out great Dave looks like I was on the right lines with that silver pleather! Great to see your photoshop skills at work I knew you would ace this - another brilliant video :)

[@GreyHulk2156]

Gary Anderson?! Love his TV shows. ;P

[@DSModeler]

You should use a Decal Setting Solution with the decals. It helps lay the decal down flat over textures and bonds the decals to the surface better. Do not use a clear coat over the decal when applying a decal to fabric.

[@jonboldrey5339]

Wow dave! Nice work 👍🍻👍

[@jasonhunter6514]

Very nicely done sir! 👍🏼

[@Tim-57]

Quite the process you went through to make these Dave, I am sure that you have made many collectors happy🙂 Thank you for all you do. Take care

[@jon9550]

This makes me sad. I already get notified about new videos, now I'm getting notified for notifications...

[@FraDonaghyMusic]

I'm just liking and commenting here so you get a notification for that too.

[@TheToyBoy1978]

The best thing ive ever seen you make.

[@chewydifiore5541]

I never thought the decal paper would work on pleather , that’s amazing. You sir impress me more every time.

[@toypolloi]

I didn't expect it to work either. Sometimes you just have to try.

[@luvz2reed]

Great thinking using that decal paper! And knowing to use the spray varnish.

[@Dustin2112]

T-SHIRT TRANSFER DETAILS: I used to work in a custom t-shirt shop when I was a teenager and learned quite a bit about transfer mediums: Consumer transfer medium is designed to work with cotton and/or cotton/polyester blended fabric; the reason that the transfers were spotty is because of the blend of fabric that you are attempting to use. Fabric blends are strands of thread types woven together in a matrix; the transfer medium wants to stick to SOME of those strands and maybe even "jump over", like a bridge, other strands but not truly adhering to them uniformly. I was actually surprised what you showed turned out as well as it did but indeed it is spotty, figuratively and literally. There is ONE MORE OPTION that you can try that might come in handy for repeating this project OR for another project in the future: it’s called “DARK T-SHIRT TRANSFERS”. Without boring anyone too much further, white or light t-shirt transfers use the white/light background of the garments themselves as an essential portion of the design (i.e. - There is no white ink being applied). Dark T-Shirt transfers are thin white polymer coating applied to a paper backing. The coating can be printed directly on; once printed, you peel the polymer coating off the paper backing and then press the coating straight onto the fabric. Actually, you are MELTING the coating onto the fabric. I SUSPECT using the dark transfer medium would work with that shiny/sleek fabric just fine and produce as good or possibly even better results than the water slides.... EDITED BELOW... I take back my thought about it working as well for these uniforms, I forgot that the silver shows through the middle of the design. The polymer coating would have to be cut out in order for this to work and I DOUBT that it would look as good as the water slide. Carry on... forget I said anything. LOL

[@deafbear18]

You don’t hurry to peel off when ironing’ s done. I let it cool down before I peel it off. I use 100% cotton white fabric sheet to cover up transfer paper on fabric before iron ( it prevent melt or burn ).

[@johnfaulk7775]

Better than the original!!!

[@lofi-guy]

Good workaround that, using decal paper! For future projects if you print on fabrics try YOLO heat transfer paper. For white t-shirts I used SoftStretch. When I used to print hundreds of T-Shirts it was the best around by far. Unfortunately printing on synthetics (unless possibly using opaque transfer paper) is a different scenario and some sort of sublimation printing would be required which utilizes a different printing method entirely.

[@samuelrivera4542]

The decals does look nice. Hope it last long and doesn't fray. Nicely done.

[@Laura_M-16]

This sent me on a deep dive and I learned about tabards, surcoats, and monastic scapulars.

[@drawingbyhand]

on the space ranger tabard you didnt put the number 3 on it. iam glad the end result came out perfect. great project toy polloi.

[@toypolloi]

The numbers are stickers that you added later. They are not part of the main tabard. And I never liked them. But you can get a file for that from toypolloi.com as well if you want to add them. Cheers

[@TheSkullReviews]

Excellent job

[@carlorjj]

Great Video!!! Nice decals !

[@greenlanternhg5141]

Great job

[@The1queencollector]

I wonder if the silver ironing board cover could work if you cant get the other material. Nice video as always

[@brianartillery]

I think that the silver pleather didn't work was because the silver finish would dissipate some of the heat from the iron, and if I remember rightly, iron on transfers need fibres to grip, when being bonded to cotton, etc. The result, using waterslide decals, is impressive, though. It opens up a large area for customising - how about a tabard bearing the logo of the 'Action Force' (3.75" figures all with the same face - Action Man's) 'Space Force'? Or a custom 12" costume to make an Action Man into Baron Ironblood?

[@DarioDarrow]

Years and years ago...probably over 30...I had some T-Shirt transfer liquid, it was a bit like applying Copydex glue. I remember it working really well but I can’t find anything like it today on Amazon 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@DavidSmith-vw5eg]

Always enjoyable! Have a great weekend.

[@aussiecoastie72]

Great job ! 👏

[@toypolloi]

Thank you! 😃

[@caldridge6201]

thanks toi polli. just got some he-bands and attempted to put them on without checking your video out first. wrecked one he-band. watched your video and hey presto. thanks!!

[@peterrobinson9402]

I would have been tempted to make the head hole bigger than the original.

[@toypolloi]

I tend to take the heads off when I put the tabards on. Makes things much easier.

[@tonycelona8918]

Always enjoy your insights. A Non Sequitur, do you plan to review your Fortress of Fangs playset?

[@jasonkowitz4598]

Wow how u did this was very helpful in giving me some ideas. Now I can make designs for some of my own custom work. It will really work well for making capes for my figures.

[@mikesmith2718]

Love waterslide decals they make custom jobs stand above the rest and these look amazing . Curious as to why you didnt put the numbers on them ? Great job

[@toypolloi]

The numbers are additional stickers and I never liked them. If you want to add them you can, and I have a file for them on toypolloi.com if you want to.

[@MeanJohnDean]

Your red is darker than the one on the original and you've weaved the belt differently in the new and old versions. Which is correct?

[@simonphillips9098]

GREAT JOB if you fail try try again

[@white8crow]

Be careful about keeping that material in an attic or hot environment. It' may peel and shed if you aren't careful about keeping it fairly cool, at least not in a hot environment.

[@UnicronHound]

I know the old one is probably not repairable, but would you be able to fix the old one's creases just by ironing. I know you can't really do anything about the wear around the neck. You could also potentially use the new decal over the old one if it lines up perfectly.

[@toypolloi]

I'm not sure. The fabric is very thin, and I worry the heat would damage either the silver, or the print on it.

[@lostonwallace1396]

The waterslide decal method turned out great! What kind of clear coat did you use on the finish, David?

[@toypolloi]

Just some clear spray varnish or lacquer. The instructions for the decals say either works, so I just followed those.

[@NumberOneGeek]

I am so pants with decals.

[@mattherbert2213]

Is that second piece of music a version of Take My Hand by Matt Berry, the melodies seem close enough..

[@vegontoastog]

Have you tried Illustrator to produce the art? I find it easier.

[@grotgrusson5124]

Cool and educational video as always, but I do to have admit that I didn't pay notice.., did you use transfer paper for dark color clothes, or white clothes? If you only where testing for white, my suggestion is to do a test with transfer paper intended for dark fabric. =)

[@toypolloi]

Sounds like you need to watch it more closely.

[@grotgrusson5124]

@@toypolloi Ha, ha. I will do. Was during my lunch break =)

[@porkwilliam]

I’m going to ask my mam if she can make me a full-size Space Ranger tabard to wear, for going down the pub, going to work and going out in the evenings with my lass.

[@danje748]

I have actually heard from a very reputable toy restorer that this, this "the wrong way" to use Photoshop. So let that soak in a little. It is actually "the wrong way". Just mind blown here. Imagine what Toy Polloi could do if he used it "the correct way"... Mind blown again. I am willing to bet money Toy Polloi also is using left hand scissors and left hand knives just because that also is "the wrong way" to use those. Just no "expert" on those have spotted it yet... So you herde it here first. He probably uses a left handed scissors and knife as well.