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[Crimson Canuck]

I remember when I was around 10 I would wear out the Sears Christmas catalogue looking at the pictures of the GI Joe toys and dreaming of having them and begging my parents for them. Especially the USS Flagg and a Skystriker to land on its deck. Well that never happened, but it wasn't all bad as I did get one GI Joe vehicle from my parents for Christmas one year, the Killer Whale hovercraft. The rest of my joes I bought with money from chores and picking bottles. Fast forward to 2002 and my son was around 5. I had finally gotten a Skystriker a couple of years earlier and thought it would be nice for my son to have a landing strip for the jet so I made an aircraft carrier deck from some particle board, painted it grey and made some stickers for it.


I put hinges on it to fold it in half for easy storage, which is where it was for about 8 years until I rediscovered it and decided to use it as my table top.
Well I always wished I could have made the super structure for my son back then but wasn't sure how to go about it and then it got forgotten when the deck got packed away. That is until I was browsing eBay one day and saw this cracked, stained and warped super structure for cheap and figured I give it a go at restoring it.


So, in anticipation of the arrival of the super structure, I decided to repaint the deck.

[Crimson Canuck]

The super structure finally arrived as well as some other Flagg goodies and I finally got to give it a good inspection.

I decided I'd need to fix the warps and cracks first and then paint it to cover the yellowed and discoloured areas.
So I learned how to weld plastic and used a heat gun to reform the warped areas.

[Crimson Canuck]

Instead of making my own stickers I decided to use repo stickers and did that ever make the deck pop. Luckily my original measurements were pretty close as they were mostly guesses going off the original length and width.


It was also dumb luck that the thickness of the deck was a perfect fit for the super structure to attach
So I had my Flagg but kept adding and got the crane, davit and blast shield, which was deeper then I anticipated, so I decided to add a sheet of plywood that allowed for the depth of the blast shield and made my work space more useable.

I wanted it to appear as water but didn't want a solid blue so I painted a white base with blue on top that I placed plastic over while wet to create a rippled effect.

I know its not the original Flagg but it's a replica I'm proud of making and I can actually use the deck as a work space and not worry about damaging a vintage toy.

[Zenith27]

Very nice!

I never knew how many small parts a Flagg really is made up of until I got mine nearly complete a few years back. Other than the biggest pieces of deck everything is pretty small and light. One can start with a deck and get something pretty serviceable without spending a fortune all at once.

You now need to pick up the refueling car!

(Have you decided whether or not to "fill in" the interior of the conning tower? The ships wheel is the most expensive piece, the rest are pretty cheap.)

[Crimson Canuck]

Thanks, I believe I'm only missing a couple of ladders and the armory insert for the inside, I have the ladder for the outside and its twin coming. Actually the ship wheel wasn't too bad, the purge valve is very pricy on its own, but I bought the majority of the inside stuff in a lot (simpler and cheaper shipping). Wanted to get the flag and the net radar but with the plywood under it I don't think I have the room now. Still debating on the fuel tank and car.

[Zenith27]

Thanks, I believe I'm only missing a couple of ladders and the armory insert for the inside, I have the ladder for the outside and its twin coming. Actually the ship wheel wasn't too bad, the purge valve is very pricy on its own, but I bought the majority of the inside stuff in a lot (simpler and cheaper shipping). Wanted to get the flag and the net radar but with the plywood under it I don't think I have the room now. Still debating on the fuel tank and car.

Ah yes! I forgot about that damn purge valve.

As I recall the HQ flag is the same part, just with different decals and a different colour (dark grey rather than dark green), if you want to try out the clearance for it. Also, the radar sticks way out the back, you might need to pull the whole thing to the edge of your desk.

[Crimson Canuck]

Good to know, I'll have to check it out, Thanks.

[crazylegs]

Love what u did there man!
Reminds me and my love for my projects.

Makes we want to do the same or something similar lol

Keep it up bro!

[nighthawk]

Wow!  I wish I had the time, skill and place to do something like this!

[B]

That is awesome. I love you guys who can devout time to this. This is exactly what I've thought about doing for the past 10 years, I just can't find the time anymore. Still this is exactly what keeps me interested in this line. The fans passion. Keep it up.

[crazylegs]

I totally agree with B and all the comments
It's the collectors in the trenches that keep
The Joe line alive!

[Crimson Canuck]

Cool! Thanks, glad you guys like it. No way I would have done this if I hadn't got the main structure for $20. I don't think i've seen the structure floor by itself for less than $20.

So, my Skystriker was looking a little grungy now that I made my Flagg look a little nicer.

Got some labels from Cobrastickers, and now I've got a like new Skystriker on deck.