Doll Rescue #3 - GI Joe Restoration from Dog Attack! #1 - Hand Resculpt and Boots

Hey Magicians!
I know, I haven't posted in forever (feels like I'm always saying this!) but school and the pandemic had me shut down for a while.

Today, I'll be showing off a project I've been working on for a good while.  I recently bought some used 12" GI Joe action figures, most of which had suffered a pretty serious dog attack.  I'm talking everything from small tooth marks to entire limbs broken or gnawed off.  But, I figured these guys deserved a new lease on life, so you'll be seeing a few posts from me detailing the process for each one.

Today's Joe had a chewed-up right foot, and his left hand had been totally bitten off (luckily after the wrist).

So of course, the first step was to go in with Apoxie sculpt and fix up the foot:

I also decided to just straight up resculpt the hand.  I've never sculpted a hand before, so I wasn't really sure how to start.  I decided to patch up the palm and then do the fingers in stages, one knuckle at a time.  The first pass looked like baby hands!

Second pass:

Third pass:

Final pass and details:

I also added some color to his face and repainted the worn spots in his eyes and hair.

Before:

After:

The last step was to sand and paint the new foot and hand to match the rest of his body:

I do think the original hand was articulated (since the other one is) so it's sad that he can't move his fingers anymore.  But still, an improvement.

He needed some clothes, too.  This action figure had on a jumpsuit, which I washed and repaired, and these black boots, which had also taken some serious doggy damage:

I filled in the holes and smoothed out the toes with hot glue:

 Then, I sanded everything down for a cleaner finish:

To get a more unique texture, I cut out pieces of faux leather to wrap around the sides of the boots.  The brown side pieces are shown here; I also covered the toes in black faux leather and cut strips for edging.

 With a little paint and some sealer, these boots are looking fresh!

And here he is!  G.I. Joe is happy to be back in action, I think.  I'll be posting some of his buddies' stories soon, so stay tuned!

As always, feel free to comment below or email me at modelhorsemagic@gmail.com.
 And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel, Miniature_Magic, for unboxings, collection tours, DIY tutorials, and more.
Bye Magicians!

~Miniature_Magic