hey guys im new here and i need some help. ive got one of the original optimal optimus transformer and his purple and blue paint is starting to wear off doed anybody know the color of those certain paints(with that chrome look)? and also how do you tighten the hip and knee joints cuz mine cant hold up hih weight when standing.
thank you very much.

if there is still silver on the metal vac'd parts, you can touch up very small areas with a sharpy marker, but as soon as contact is made on the are areas, fade the ink with your finger. if the joints are shot, you might want to get an incomplete optimal optimus of ebay, the incompete figures are relatively cheap and you have all of the accessories already.

what color of sharpy marker do i use. i dont realy want to try to get an optimus off ebay to fix it are there any other ways to do it like tightening the skrews or puting something inside the joints tolimit its movements?

Prismacolor markers work great as well and they have more colors to choose from.

For the chrome, if it's completely worn away, do the following:

1) use chrome paint to touch up the area LIGHTLY. use it sparingly.

2) use a transparent paint, like tamiya blue transparent. But make sure the chrome is COMPLETELY dry first.

as for the joints, take them apart CAREFULLY, and examine them. Usually, if it's a ball joint, the ball otr the socket will have excessive wear. if it's a ratchet joint, the teeth on the ratchet are worn. the first can be remedied with a thin coating od plastic welder. spread it on, and let it dry, The sand it down until the joint begins to fit snugly again. that's when you put it back together.

The ratchet joint is a little easier: use a needle file to sharpen up the teeth on the ratchet joint. Usually, they slip because they are worn. To compensate for the worn away material, put a little plastic welder on the back of the black-disk insert (the one with the teeth, and let dry. then stretch the backing spring SLIGHTLY, so it can compensate for being over-compressed all that time. then you can reassemble the joint, and it should work like new.

One word of caution: keep all the loose screws, springs, and small parts in a cup. it's EXTREMELY easy to lose thee pieces. I usually lay the parts out in an "exploded' view on the table, so i know how they go back together.

hey man thanks alot ill try this some time next week, u know cuz of the holidays. to answer the question of if the chrome is worn off, no it isnt just the purple and blue in some spots. do they sell prismacolor at any reatail stores... walmart, walgreens, target, etc?

Prismacolors are usually sold in art supply stores and sometime at university book stores. Not sure if retailers sell them or not.

what is plastic welder?