Onwards with the detailed treatment of getting Mr. Tendril back on his feet. Today we tear him down, take a look at his insides and give him a good bath. His first in almost 40 years, no doubt. Needless to say, his disassembly was straight forward and I was able to remove all 4 screws and pry apart both torso halves with ease. I’m glad for the fact no glue had been used by a previous owner.

Yes, that’s a Vegemite jar lid holding four screws. Those 4 screws are what holds the figure together.  Remove them and the figure’s torso can be pried apart.

Before we check out what Mr. Tendril had for breakfast, the first order of the day is to determine the cause of the rattle inside his broken right leg. After shaking it a number of times the loose piece of debris fell out. It wasn’t a broken shard from inside the shoulder as I had earlier suspected. Instead, I was surprised to have in my hand the serrated washer that previously held Mr. Tendril’s now lost tail in place. It had obviously come free of the tail and fallen inside the leg.

I’m always happy to recover one of these discs from within the figure but normally they’re floating around inside the torso if the tail is missing.  Despite its corroded condition – which is common for Kenner ALIEN figures stored for long years in neglectful conditions (Inside garages, attics, basements, dog kennels.  Yep. That’s right.  I have handled one that reeked of dog kennel odor; and it was covered in pet hair, too.) – I can use it to return a loose tail to another figure, elsewhere. Ultimately, Mr. Tendril will be getting his improvised rat’s tail returned to him once we are done so his serrated washer is just not needed.

All the same, let’s take this opportunity to wrap up the final details on the condition of his body parts. The rear torso piece has some damage to the slot between its shoulders and looks like the piece has experience more heat mutilation in that location. It’s a near worthless piece due to this condition as it can’t be repaired but the rat’s tail detracts from the damage a little when it’s all fully assembled.  So I’m good with that.

The right arm is severely scratched around the ball joint – I can probably reduce the visible damage and telltale wear with a good cleaning and a determined rub down with a dry towel to polish some of the abrasion out. Importantly, the original neoprene anchor that attaches the arm to the mid post inside the figure is intact.

That’s a bonus and I’ll be keeping the anchor in place; but it will be retired from use. You’ll see.

The quad appendages appearing on the back are also in good condition despite similar scratching and wear at the base where the softer ABS contacts with the much harder styrene of the torso but their attachment to their internal mounting plate is secure and confident.

Nothing is loose or broken or indicating such. This is good.

What we have seen of the figure’s internal condition is generally very good. It’s not possible to disassemble the head but as the jaw mechanism still works without a fault, it’s not an issue. So with this in mind, it’s time for Mr. Tendril to take a bath.  This is best performed while he is in this dismantled state, in separate pieces; and including his limp rat tail appendages, too, for that matter.

So, without further ado, it’s into the kitchen sink you go, you dirty, smelly old yabbie.

Hot water and mild dish washing detergent is all that is needed.   Not too hot, of course as the styrene will buckle if it’s too hot.  If you can place your hand comfortably in the water, it’s hot enough.  Otherwise, the styrene and ABS he is made of isn’t affected while the soapy water removes dirt, dust and odors.  I then left him in the kitchen sink, soaking for about 45 minutes or so.

Once ready, all the pieces were scrubbed with an old toothbrush to clear off any clinging detritus and make sure all the nooks and crannies on the parts were free of dust and dirt.  All the pieces were then laid out on the sink side board to drain along with a final rub down with a soft towel to help finish dry and manually buff the figure.  This helped to complete the cleaning exercise.  Now, the pieces are all left to air out for a good 24 hours to eliminate any residual odors.  It’s Winter where I live right now and if it wasn’t so overcast outside, I’d have him lying in the Sun to help evacuate any remaining odors.

Trust me, this exercise is totally worth it.  I’ll be posting a Before & After set of images at the conclusion of this ‘make over’ to demonstrate how a good scrub down of individual pieces can remarkably change a figure, taking it from being a long neglected toy and transforming it into a display worthy piece regardless of its condition.  Quite impressive, really.

So far, so good.  He’s all clean now and very little – if any – of the custom silver highlights have been removed during the cleaning process.  All the prep work is done and it’s time to start with the serious business of addressing Mr. Tendril’s various issues. The first ambition will be to get him standing confidently once again.  As both legs require attention  for different reasons, we’ll tackle each as separate exercises employing different repair techniques.

To this end, I’ll be documenting both repairs in the next 2 exciting installments of ‘Mr. Tendril’s BIG Make Over’. Read that out loud in a deep booming voice for maximum effect and you’ll receive some much deserved strange looks from any passers by.  Totally worth it, I say.

See you then and thanks for reading.

-Windebieste.

Part 1: Introduction.
Part 2: Assessment and Evaluation(1 of 2).
Part 3: Assessment and Evaluation (2 of 2).
Part 4: Disassembly and Cleaning.
Part 5: Loose Hip Joint Repair.
Part 6: Broken/Destroyed Hip Joint Repair (1 of 2).
Part 7: Broken/Destroyed Hip Joint Repair (2 of 2).
Part 8: Severed Arm Repair.
Part 9: Damaged Shoulder Repair.
Part 10: Improvised Replacement Arm.
Part 11: Final Assembly.