Swapping heads between Hasbro, 21st Century, and SotW figures
I'm still working on making my own custom heads, but for the time being I've come up with a method to mount the smaller heads that come with SotW historical
figures onto Joe and Sam bodies. Since that left me with a bunch of headless bodies and spare heads, I also came up with a way to install Joe and Sam heads
on SotW bodies.
Sam Joe
Fortunately, Classic Collection Joes and Ultimate Soldier Sams use virtually the same style neck post (see above), so they can swap heads directly.
Vintage and Masterpiece Edition Joes and Costwold Elite Brigade figures use a different system that I haven't played with yet.
SotW figures have a vinyl stub on the head that fits into a hole in the neck, so they need a neck post if you want to put a Joe or Sam head on the body. I call my neck post adapter a UHA - a Universal Head Adapter.
I make my UHAs using:
a #8 machine screw (about 1" long)
a 1/4L or 3/8L rubber bevel washer
4 #6 steel washers
1 #10 steel washer
1 #8 steel washer
1 #10 steel washer
a #8 nut
The 1/4L washer is a little smaller than the 3/8L, though I've seen a lot of
variation in the "standard" sizes (is this why sinks drip so much?). I use the 1/4L for
stiffer heads, and 3/8L for softer ones. The three larger steel washers at the bottom are there to
give the glue something to hold on to.
The next step is to remove the SotW head.
Most of them are a soft enough vinyl that you can just squeeze, twist, and
pull hard, and they'll pop out. If that doesn't work, try heating
the head with hot tap water or a hair dryer. That ought to do it.
If all else fails, you can cut the head off the mounting plug and then pull
the plug out of the body with a pair of needle-nosed pliars.
To avoid having to fill the body with glue, I first shoot some expanding insulating foam
down the neck to fill the chest cavity. You could use other materials - even a paper towel.
I glue the UHA in with 2-part epoxy. First I pour some glue in, then insert the UHA nut-end first, center it in the
neck hole, then hold it in place with masking tape. An hour or two later, the body has a neck post much like a Joe or Sam body!
When it's time to install a Joe or Sam head, I heat the head, again using tap water or a hair dryer, then squeeze it and
force it down on the post. It'll take some pushing, but eventually it will fit over the UHA.
Incidentally, this is what a sinus headache feels like.
If the seal is tight, you may have to play with the head to get it to reinflate and unsqueeze, but eventually
you should have a SotW body with a new head.
Sam with O-ring Joe with O-ring
To go the other way and install SotW heads on Joe or Sam bodies, you need
to slice the vinyl mounting plug off the neck. Be sure to leave a lip at the bottom of the neck - don't try to trim the edges of the hole.
Once you install a #31 or #48 O-ring over the neck post on the Joe or Sam body, the lip will catch on the O-ring and hold the head down on the neck.
You can even add an O-ring on a UHA-modified SotW body, and put the SotW head back on it! (This is known as going nowhere fast.)
UHA with O-ring
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