Vintage Star Wars Millennium Falcon Restoration challenge - Part 1/3 - Toy Polloi

Geek Force Millennium Falcon Restoration challenge - Part 1/3 - Unboxing and repairs.
The first part of my restoration on a vintage Kenner Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Buried in the ground for 30 years the guys at Geek Force thought this would be a challenge for me to restore.
Check out how I got on in part one of this challenge.
Watch part 2 here: • Vintage Star Wars Mill...
Watch part 3 here: • Vintage Star Wars Mill...
Follow Geek Force here: / @geekforce
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[@SniffHeinkel]

This is one of the toys I never got when I was a child. My friend Thomas had one tho and he would periodically let me play with it but not for a long time. It would be awesome to find one still intact at an affordable price.

[@capnjackgallows3204]

See this guy gets it!!!! A little grime can make things all the better!

[@gfunkin3d]

I used to have a Falcon when I was little. I completely forgot all about the gunner chair etc. I love your channel, such a trip down memory lane. Miss my Star Wars toys

[@toypolloi]

+Gareth Baddeley Thanks Gareth.

[@cheds1971]

woo hoo toy polloi/blue Peter badges! looking good

[@missionpassed4584]

Talk about buried treasure, imagine future archaeologists reactions to our buried relics!

[@scruffylookinnerfherder6998]

love it. cant wait to restore and display my old action figures and vehicles... thanks for making these videos.

[@DeepVeinZombosis]

I love these series

[@toypolloi]

Thanks

[@jdgibson6729]

really enjoyed your video and great ideas!

[@prmicrotech]

LOL - I see what you mean about the ironing. I used that to iron some Vectrex video game lay over sleeves which are very thin and now very old. Great job!

[@missionpassed4584]

Something very strong and great to repair and stay solid is gripfill it comes in a large green tube and sets hard it's pretty much a pre-mixed milliputt.

[@contactlight8079]

Love it.

[@autoneurotic]

Great video. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one turns out!

[@MS-qb3cp]

Id have been worried about the cardstock graphics. That looked with bad water damage and spots of mold on the back. But amazing job as always!!

[@sid479]

Great video!

[@davidJones-mx7yw]

Probably the weight of the mud on top of it and the kid jumping on the mud to Bury it as they said it was buried in the greenhouse or garden

[@larryghosthunter]

I restore star wars toys also , i would never try to repair cracks that big , i would replace that top hull with another one , remember people want it restored , not patched up

[@toypolloi]

And some people would like to see it repaired. It takes all sorts. And this was sent in as a challenge to see if it could be fixed. Which as you can see, it can. Never just give up on a toy. Cheers

[@squirrelkilla7371]

You could try Q-Bond. Works great for large cracks.

[@cscape1973]

FYI, you can get exactly the same product as Milliput in dIY shops in the plumbing section as pipe filler, it’s usually cheaper that way, also, have you tried knifing putty, you can get it at Halfords, it’s an acrylic filler, effectively very thick acrylic paint. It goes as hard as car body filler, but it’s much safer and non toxic.

[@pomeroy600287]

When you have cracks in plastic like that (that still fit together with no gap between them, like that snapped screw post), try using a solvent like dichloromethane (DCM) or methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). They should be used in a ventilated area but, when brushed on, they will wick into a crack, melt the plastic and then evaporate, essentially leaving a plastic-to-plastic bond that is as strong as the original, not to mention leaving no glue residue. You can find them pretty cheaply on ebay or something, and the use you get from one bottle is well worth it. This technique can also be used on transparent parts to fix cracks that you want to go back to being clear again. It can also remove dings and scratches, but it depends on the desired finish of the plastic. These solvents can bond alike plastics as well, so can very likely bond lego pieces to other ABS pieces, as ABS plastic is pretty common for toys. Acetone can also be used on ABS, but melts a smaller range of plastics compared to DCM or MEK. With these solvents, you can also scrape some plastic off a non-visible area of a piece to get some plastic flakes, mix them with acetone to get a plastic slurry that can be pushed into cracks or gaps and will fill them, before drying to be the exact same colour and material as the base plastic. This could be used to make invisible gap-filling repairs that don't need painting. The major benefit for me of solvent welding repairs is that it doesn't introduce any new materials like glue that might go yellow or de-laminate, and so the repair is as strong as the original plastic when done properly. Edit: I should add that acetone doesn't work well for gluing as it takes so long to evaporate and dissolves plastic relatively slowly, whereas DCM and MEK evaporate and dissolve very quickly and will form a glued bond in 10+ seconds depending how much you use. Acetone is better for slurry for this reason.

[@TheNightBadger]

I read recently that to remove mould / mildew from books, you should put them into a sealed plastic bag with baking soda and then stick it in the freezer for a few days, then dump the soda and replace with some fresh soda, and repeat as many times as neccessary. Apparently it works! I think it might have worked for the card on the Falcon.

[@toypolloi]

+TheNightBadger I'll look that up, sounds like something I could use.

[@OIFEagle]

Would UV light work as well? (on the reverse of course as not to fade the colors.)

[@six6605]

hi, why don.t u primer it at the end, the colour will be even. and would be nice with the lights. and also could fill the cracks on the outside before gray primer it. i like your videos a lot. u r doing a great job.

[@ebkas]

Nice vid! For the gun clip area, there is a Lego neck bracket piece which may work well.

[@toypolloi]

+Jedi Ebkas Thanks for the tip. I'll see if I can find something that would work.

[@drewbex2250]

I thought it would be pretty neat if you had designed a new cardboard back drop piece for the falcon in Photoshop, that looked a little more accurate.

[@JuniperArt98]

I might be an animal but my monkey brain really wants to take a bite of the unmixed milliput

[@toypolloi]

It doesn't taste nice!

[@AvengerII]

I see someone's a Gatchaman/G-Force fan by the flying emblem at the start of the video?

[@Grindhead_Jim]

Man, what an undertaking! Is this before you started using plastic weld? I am so all over the place with my Toy Polloi timeline.

[@toypolloi]

This is a pretty old video. Before I'd learnt about plastic weld, but still some good fixes.

[@allluckyseven]

David, have you ever tried using a bit of ABS dissolved in acetone (to form some sort of paste) to fill cracks of toys? I've heard of people dissolving sprues to do that, but maybe it would work with the bits of Lego you normally throw away after using a rod or something for some of your restoration work.

[@toypolloi]

+allluckyseven I know the technique, but have not tried it. This needed much more support as it was so damaged.

[@merlintolstyk8055]

As always this is wonderful stuff. Question for you: when you have large parts to wash like in this video have you ever tried putting them in the dish washer? The water jets in there should do a bang up job. Does this work or is it too harsh on the toy?

[@toypolloi]

+Merlin Tolstyk It may seem weird, but I don't have a dishwasher. So I have never tried.

[@Deviax28]

If I had to make a guess I would think the dishwasher would essentially destroy the toy. The jets put the water under pressure which by itself may not be enough to destroy the toy. But when you factor in hot water the jets would be shifting and reshaping what would be melting plastic.

[@justincull3893]

I've used the dishwasher on a few vintage SW figures and they turned out pretty nice. Just don't do it on a high temperature.

[@tcthepackrat]

I painted my stormtropper figure with glow in the dark back in the 70's, paint came with a ghost ship, thought the trooper would be cool glowing, but he wasn't, not sure how to safely remove it .. anyway .. love your videos

[@toypolloi]

I have a few videos on removing paint. Check out my bespin Luke video.

[@theheaterguyryan5052]

I was born in 1980 in rural lreland so these toys where too advanced for me l missed out really on the whole starwars thing l just remember seeing them when l was 5 and thought they where cool.l really love monsters and dinosaurs tho.

[@nolan7772]

bloop

[@justincull3893]

Bleep

[@paulsenior33]

Have you tried lazer bond by JML? I bought some to repair a vintage EV9D9. It cures with UV light pen which they supply with the glue.

[@toypolloi]

+paulsenior33 I've not. I'll check that out.

[@OIFEagle]

Do you think you could mend the hull by using a soldering iron on the inside to melt the cracks back together?

[@toypolloi]

The hull is actually pretty thin, so I doubt it. I have tried friction welding on them before and there is just not enough plastic to allow it to work.

[@TheToyBoy1978]

I was just wondering if polystyrene cement works on star wars vehicles & play sets? the slide show you viewed of my vintage action man leg restoration is done with poly cement, there really isn't anything better for it, it must be a near 100% match to airfix model plastic! I was just wondering if you've tried it yourself on anything & with any success?

[@brianartillery]

The original Falcon toy is mostly Polystyrene. The dark grey parts, like the guns and landing gear, were Acrylic, later ABS. I have fixed one of these toys using a liquid cement called 'Plastic Weld', which will cement Polystyrene, ABS, Acrylic, etc. It creates a join that is as strong as the surrounding plastic, and as it is liquid, if you apply a small amount with a brush to a join, it will run up the join due to capilliary action. It evaporates very quickly, to the point that it will leave a rime of frost on your brush. I've used it for about 20+ years, and it's always been of the utmost usefulness. I've brushed it onto tank kits to soften the surface, and then used a knife blade to create weld marks on plate armour, etc. Never use tube cement, it stays tacky too long.

[@innercircle8014]

Is there a timeline for that auction? Not that you should have much trouble finding parts, a few seem to have shown up in the comments already lol

[@toypolloi]

The ship is not finished yet. When it is the Geek force guys will be auctioning it off so check out their Facebook page and other social channels.

[@MeanJohnDean]

You really could use some sculpting tools. And you have some blunt paint brushes. How about getting some brushes that come to a point.

[@artkingofwholefoods74]

Toy Polloi. My life is broken. Please fix it…

[@toypolloi]

Only with Lego and glue.