A friend who is new to customizing asked me how to swap the knees on modern figures. He couldn’t seem to find a tutorial for it online. So I checked the Joe Customizing Wikki and realized it wasn’t in there either. Most of us know how to do this, but for someone new to customizing a guide can be a big help. So here is my tutorial for swapping knee joints and lower legs on modern Joe figures. Mods may want to add this to the wiki.
Tools needed:
1) The legs you will be working with
2) A cup of very hot water (hot tap water microwaved for a minute and a half)
3) A pair of needle nosed pliers (to prevent the pliers teeth from damaging the legs I have wrapped them in masking tape)
4) A small tipped flat head screwdriver. I use a 2.0mm as anything smaller is more likely to cut or gash the figure parts.
Examine the legs:
You will notice that the pins that hold the lower legs to the knee and the holes they go in are 2 different sizes. On either leg the smaller hole is to the outside of the leg. Keep this in mind as you’re working.
Let’s do this!
Step 1: Drop one set of legs at a time in the hot water for 30 seconds to a minute. Don’t leave dark colors in hot water for too long or they will haze.
Step 2: Remove the legs from the water, insert the screwdriver between the lower leg and the knee on the outside (small hole) of the leg and pry the leg piece out and over the edge of the pin.
It should look like this:
Step 3: Use the tip of the screwdriver to push the pin out of the large hole
Parts after separating:
Step 4: Slide the lower leg onto the knee joint you want it on and place the pin small side first into the large hole.
Step 5: Push the pin into the hole as far as you can by hand, then use the pliers to squeeze the parts together and over the lock slots of the pin.
Finished!
Sorry for the fuzzy pics. I may try to get my wife to retake the pics and I'll repost them..